Akim Daouda stands before a classroom of sixth graders at the Engineering and Science University Magnet School (ESUMS), a New Haven public school.
He informs the students that he is from Gabon, a small country in Central Africa. He asks if any of them know of it. Nobody raises their hand.
Daouda, a former CEO of Gabon's Sovereign Wealth Fund, shares a few facts about his country: Two million people live there. Forest covers 88% of its land. It is located within the Congo Basin, the Earth's second-largest rainforest.
"Why is it important for students in Connecticut to care about the Congo Basin?" he asks.
A student says it's important because the Congo Basin contains a lot of biodiversity, and its trees remove carbon dioxide from the air.
"Bravo!" Daouda says. "Do you want to come work with me when you finish school?"
Daouda is the founder and CEO of Mwaana Inc., a venture studio that supports efforts to conserve and restore the Congo Basin, a 500-million-acre region threatened by deforestation, poaching, and natural-resource extraction. He is also a member of the 2025 class of Yale World Fellows, a program operated by the International Leadership Center at the Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs. Each fall, the program brings innovative individuals from across the globe to campus to share their knowledge, build their networks, and broaden their horizons.
