Edna Njeri Wanene was born and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada. She is a first-generation Kikuyu girl as well as a first-generation college graduate. She graduated in 2022 with a bachelor’s in biology from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and is currently working as a community health worker for a non-profit called Immunize Nevada. She is very passionate about her work as well as loves to dance, travel, and learn new things. She is very involved and active in her community. While in school, she was the public relations officer for the African Student Association, president of the Eta Chi Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., and the president of the National Pan-Hellenic Council. She is currently a part of the African Diaspora Las Vegas, the Las Vegas Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., the Black Caucus of Health Workers, and the Black Community Health and Wellness Association. She wants to go back to school to get her MPH and specialize in global health. Her goal is to become an epidemiologist and work abroad to help those communities that suffer from
pandemics and epidemics.
Her platform is called “Fear is Not Your Future”, named after the Tasha Cobbs song. She wants to empower women who have experienced domestic violence to take back their stories. This is so important to her because she has had personal friends who have experienced domestic violence from their partners. It is not easy to talk about it, let alone tell your own story. Although she never experienced it herself, she wants to be an ally and a voice for those who feel helpless and hopeless. Her hope is to partner with the Agatha Amani House in the center of Naivasha and Maui Mahiu regions. This is a grassroots safe house for women who are victims of sexual abuse and domestic violence. They provide shelter, support groups, a micro-finance program, and counseling and reconciliation. With the Miss Kenya USA 2023 title, she would love to bring awareness to their cause as well as fundraise to send items and donate to them.
She would also collaborate with her sorority, the Las Vegas Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. on their S.T.O.M.P (Standing Together Opposing Misuse of Power) program that they have every year. She wants her name to be remembered in history books. She is not a person that takes her future lightly because she knows how bright it is. Her parents and family inspire her to make a large impact on the world, bigger than herself. She knows she is on the pathway to success. She leads people on a daily basis, and she inspires to lead a generation to success and give them the tools they need to reach the stars. She hopes her story will be told one day, and that it will inspire other African and black women across the world. She is devoted, confident, and strong in her beliefs in equality and education. She wants to help the helpless, care for the sick, and heal the broken.