Leroy Mwasaru

Leroy Mwasaru was born in Nairobi, Kenya. He attends Maseno High School, which in recent years constructed its newest dormitory. While Maseno students were jubilant over the dorm’s completion, Leroy and a group of fellow students could not ignore the negative impact the building had on the greater community—the stress it placed on the sewage system that flowed into a nearby river, the neighborhood’s only source of water. Through Innovate Kenya, a mentorship program of the nonprofit Global Minimum Inc. (GMin) that fosters innovative ideas, Leroy and his team found a solution to the problem. They built a human waste bioreactor to remove waste from the 720-student dorm, preventing the pollution of natural resources, creating a safe source of methane fuel, and providing the school with KSh 3.92 million in gas savings. During the first Innovate Kenya camp, through one-on-one discussion with students from MIT and lecturers, Leroy and his team were able to develop their innovative ideas into prototypes. At the camp, they engaged in fun activities like the Wallet Project, which asked them to create the most creative and multi-functional wallet. At the second Innovate Kenya camp, Leroy and his team exhibited their prototype’s success and raised funds to purchase an underground digester that could be piped directly into the school’s kitchen. His team went further and launched a campaign for the project by creating the school’s Innovate Club. The club aims to solve problems faced by the local community.