Saara Niitenge – Public Management, University of California, Davis in Davis California

Passionate about numbers for nature, Saara Niitenge advocates for the use of environment statistics for better planning and decision-making.

She is one of the founding directors of the Environmental Economics Network of Namibia, with experience in biodiversity finance, valuation of ecosystem services, and trade data analysis.  She has also previously served on the Board of Directors for the Economic Association of Namibia.  Outside her profession, Niitenge is a girl-child mentor and enjoys adventure.

After the Mandela Washington Fellowship, she plans to continue supporting the establishment of environment statistics in Namibia and contribute to policy frameworks that are geared towards achieving the country’s National Development Plans, as well as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.