Loveness MPANJE
Board Member & WAU President
Loveness Mpanje
Board Member, WAU President & former WAU Secretary
Originally from Malawi in southeastern Africa, Mpanje is WAU president since April 14, 2023, serving a three-year term. Before that, she served as WAU Secretary for two three-year terms.
Mpanje has striven to increase visibility of WAU to the public to attract attention to its mission of promoting educational excellence, outreach and collaboration with like-minded organizations.
Under Mpanje's leadership WAU has progressed to 501(c) (3) status, established a Board of Directors, developed meaningful partnerships locally and nationally, received grants for capacity building, accessed the Kansas Leadership Center for leadership training & participation in community gatherings, and NonprofitGO for grant writing and nonprofit training. WAU has lately seen a sharp increase in individual financial support and for the first time, has received some funding from local foundations. WAU has leveraged partnerships to increase its impact on students, the youth and the community by connecting resources to the needs in the community. WAU's reach has expanded going as far as Washington DC (AU, the UN, & Capitol Hill), collaboration with local schools, Kansas state entities such as Kansas Department of Commerce creating opportunities for the African community to participate in global trade during Kansas Global Holiday Market in the fall, K-State Sedgwick County Extension on nutrition education for the African community, and on the continent of Africa impacting education for students there through partnerships with 501(c) (3) organizations that are like-minded and operating in Africa.
Mpanje is a Petroleum Geologist, employed by a local Oil & Gas Company, F.G. Holl Company, LLC, where she is responsible for production and compliance. She has been with the company since February 28, 2000. Mpanje relocated to the USA in January 1999, to pursue further studies at Wichita State University (WSU) where she studied Petroleum Geology.
Before moving to the US, Mpanje worked for Malawi Government under Ministry of Irrigation & Water Development, where she held three different positions. Mpanje successfully managed, in collaboration with line partnerships, the implementation of a multi-donor national program, Community Based Water & Sanitation Program, August 1995 to January 8, 1999. The program drilled 3,000 boreholes across the country and for each borehole, user communities were mobilized to form water committees that were trained in leadership, hygiene education, maintenance, and management of their boreholes to promote ownership and sustainability. The impact was significant reduction in cases of waterborne diseases, reduced downtime and increased productivity by school children and community members from time saved from fetching water from long distances. Before her assignment to the project as Acting Project Manager, Mpanje served as Water Supervisor, May 1993 - July 1995 and Hydrological Officer, June 1992 - May 1993.
Education: Master of Science, Geology (Earth, Environment & Physical Sciences), WSU, 05/2008. Bachelor of Science, Geology (Cum Laude), WSU, 12/2001. Diploma in Agricultural Engineering, University of Malawi - Bunda College of Agriculture, Lilongwe, 6/1992.
