Gideon Pirandoni is an economist and Indigenous community leader from Northern Kenya and the Founder & Director of ACTNOW KENYA, a youth-led community-based organization working with communities across the Mukogodo Ecosystem. His work focuses on climate justice, sustainable food systems, ecosystem restoration and resilient livelihoods, with a particular commitment to strengthening opportunities and economic resilience for pastoral communities.

Gideon’s work is shaped by lived experience in a pastoral community and a strong belief in the ability of young people and local communities to lead solutions to the challenges affecting their lives and landscapes. Through ACTNOW KENYA, he leads the development of community-led initiatives that connect environmental restoration and climate action with food systems, livelihoods, youth engagement and local economic opportunities.

He brings experience in community development, youth engagement, programme development, stakeholder engagement, facilitation, monitoring and evaluation, data analytics and partnership coordination. His approach draws on local resources, Indigenous ecological knowledge, human-centred design and community-led solutions.

Gideon holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Kabianga, graduating in 2022 with Second Class Honours (Upper Division). He has also undertaken professional training in data analytics through ALX, monitoring and evaluation through the Kenya Institute of Management, and community leadership and social-impact approaches through CorpsAfrica, including Community-Led Development, Asset-Based Community Development and Human-Centred Design.

In 2025, Gideon participated in the Change Makers Program, implemented by Wyss Academy for Nature, Emzingo and Goodwall. He joined young changemakers from Kenya, Peru and Madagascar and participated in an international learning exchange in Peru, exploring community-led approaches including agroecology, ecotourism, forest landscape restoration, value chains and the integration of culture into conservation and development. He also presented ACTNOW KENYA’s work to an international audience and engaged with community and conservation initiatives in the Peruvian Amazon.

Beyond his organizational work, Gideon contributes to international youth and climate spaces. He has engaged through YOUNGO, SDSN Youth, the Climate Education Coalition, YPARD, and the Loss and Damage Youth Coalition Research Working Group. His work on Loss and Damage has contributed to youth research and knowledge-sharing around climate impacts and justice, including a contribution to the publication Intersectional Climate Justice in Eastern Africa by Bloomsbury.

His interests and advocacy sit at the intersection of climate justice, Loss and Damage, pastoral livelihoods and mobility, sustainable food systems, ecosystem restoration, youth leadership and community resilience. He is particularly interested in bridging the experiences and priorities of climate-vulnerable communities with wider policy and global decision-making spaces.

Through ACTNOW KENYA, Gideon continues to build practical pathways for young people and communities to turn local knowledge, ideas and resources into action—working towards people, place and resilience.