Kidan Araya is a policy and communications strategist working at the intersection of environmental policy and emerging technologies. She is the Founder of the Africa Climate x Nature Salon, an initiative activating frontline innovators and global funders to accelerate African-led solutions to climate and nature challenges. Ms. Araya is a 2025 MIT Reality Scholar and an Official U.S. Speaker Program Participant for the U.S. Department of State on national security, trafficking of natural resources, and critical energy transition issues. She has consulted for a variety of government and non-governmental organizations including but limited to the U.S. Department of State, Meta, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the U.S. Department of Energy. She also served as a Women Leaders in Energy Fellow at the Atlantic Council Global Energy Center and was a 2022 U.S. National Security & Foreign Affairs Leadership Honoree. She was previously named as one of the top 10 voices on climate change on Twitter/X by Africa No Filter.

In 2021, Ms. Araya testified before the U.S. Congress House of Representatives Financial Services Committee on how illegal natural resource trade harms African communities. She was invited by the U.S. Department of State and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to speak on a panel at the inaugural United States-Africa Leaders Summit on environmental justice and a just energy transition. Beloit College awarded Ms. Araya with the Young Alumni Award in 2023. She previously served as a Board Member for the Africa Policy Accelerator, a network for the next generation of US- Africa policymakers at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, DC.

Ms. Araya holds a Master’s Degree in Geography from the University of Washington at Seattle and a Bachelor’s Degree in International Relations and Environmental Studies from Beloit College.