Manja Kargbo is a senior climate action, urban governance, and strategic communications leader with over 20 years of professional experience, including more than 17 years working in Sierra Leone across public policy, institutional strengthening, private sector development, and civil society engagement.
She currently serves as Team Lead at the Mayor’s Delivery Unit, Freetown City Council, where she provides strategic leadership for the delivery of the Freetown City Transformation Plan and several of the city’s flagship initiatives. In this role, Manja oversees a portfolio of more than 30 multi-sectoral projects, providing strategic oversight, analytical support, and policy advice to the Mayor and senior leadership on climate resilience, inclusive service delivery, institutional performance, and policy execution.
A core component of her work involves providing strategic and coordination leadership for #FreetownTheTreeTown, Freetown’s internationally recognised urban reforestation and climate-adaptation programme. She supports cross-departmental coordination, partner engagement, and high-level strategy, helping position nature-based solutions as a central pillar of the city’s climate response while ensuring alignment with broader urban priorities, community needs, and global climate commitments.
Manja has been instrumental in advancing city-led climate and urban innovation in Freetown. She has supported the mobilisation and stewardship of significant international financing for climate-aligned urban initiatives, including USD 1 million from Bloomberg Philanthropies, USD 2 million from the City of Zurich, and EUR 1.5 million from the European Union. Her work demonstrates how empowered local governments can translate global climate ambition into tangible, people-centred outcomes.
Beyond her formal public-sector role, Manja is deeply engaged in civic leadership and women’s empowerment. She has been an active member of the Rotary Club of Freetown Sunset since 2016, serving as Treasurer, Public Image Director, Projects and Fundraising Director and contributing to community service and public engagement initiatives. She is also a long-standing leader within Power Women 232, where she has held roles including President, Secretary, and Public Information Officer, advocating for women’s leadership, participation, and inclusive development.
A committed advocate for women’s leadership in climate governance, Manja works to amplify women’s voices in decision-making spaces and to integrate gender equity into climate policy, programme design, and delivery. She regularly represents the Mayor in high-level national and international forums and collaborates with governments, development partners, civil society organisations, and community actors to bridge advocacy with implementation.
In addition to programme leadership, Manja oversees strategic communications and public engagement for the Mayor of Freetown, shaping narratives that make climate action accessible, relatable, and accountable to citizens. She has also co-designed city-to-city exchanges across sanitation, urban greening, migration, and security, supporting the scaling and replication of innovative African city-led climate solutions.
Manja is a 2024 Yale Emerging Climate Leader Fellow and a 2023 Earthshot Prize Fellow, recognising her leadership at the intersection of climate advocacy, governance, and urban transformation. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from Marymount University (USA) and completed executive education at Harvard Kennedy School. She also serves on the board of KEK Insurance Brokers and remains actively engaged in advancing inclusive, just, and locally driven climate solutions.