Nicholas Mwaura Kinyanjui (Independent)

Nicholas Mwaura Kinyanjui Nicholas Mwaura Kinyanjui is Dean of Students at Riara University, Kenya, and a BOF Doctoral Fellow at the Department of Educational Studies, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Ghent University, Belgium. His doctoral research addresses a persistent gap in Education for Sustainable Development scholarship: the marginalisation of African higher education contexts in frameworks that claim global relevance. Funded by the Special Research Fund (BOF) Scholarships for Candidates from Developing Countries, his project investigates sustainability competences and graduate employability in Kenyan higher education advancing knowledge that is grounded in African realities, validated by African stakeholders, and oriented toward African futures. With over 15 years of experience in higher education leadership and education management, Nicholas brings both scholarly rigour and on-the-ground institutional knowledge to the challenge of sustainable systems change. His work engages critically with the future of work, green economic transitions, and the structural dimensions of graduate unemployment in Africa issues that sit at the intersection of SDG 4 (Quality Education) and SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), and that demand locally led, globally connected responses. Beyond research, Nicholas has extensive experience in grants management, institutional advancement, alumni relations, student affairs, and the development of entrepreneurial universities. He joins Catalyst Now as a practitioner-scholar committed to co-creating solutions and to building the cross-sector, cross-regional collaborations that systemic change in African higher education requires.