Awarded September 29, 2023
2023 Young Alumni Award

When Kidan Araya’13 was considering colleges, her criteria included an international focus, experiential learning, study abroad, and an interdisciplinary curriculum. She was looking for an education that would prepare her to create positive change in the world. She chose Beloit College, where that work began in earnest, double majoring in International Relations and Environmental Studies, while also taking many Health and Society classes. Her experience was truly interdisciplinary.

While at Beloit, Kidan was a Ronald E. McNair Scholar, a member of Kappa Delta sorority, and Black Students United. She served as an Upward Bound and Help Yourself Tutor, and as President of Women’s Health Club. She was a Charles Winter Wood Scholar, a Weissberg Scholar, and earned the Weissberg Human Rights Fellowship in 2013. She studied international development, politics, and forest policy in Cameroon in Central Africa. After graduating, she earned a Master of Arts in Geography at the University of Washington and received a fellowship to study in Sweden.

Kidan Araya’13Ten years later, Kidan is an internationally respected policy strategist and communications consultant with expertise in climate and energy policy, national security and privacy policy, and illicit trafficking of natural resources. She recently served as a Women Leaders in Energy Fellow at the Atlantic Council Global Energy Center and is a 2022 U.S. National Security & Foreign Affairs Leadership Honoree from the Center for Strategic and International Studies. She was named one of the top 10 voices on climate change by Africa No Filter, a nonprofit that challenges harmful narratives about Africa. She has collaborated with the U.S. Congress, the Department of State, the Department of Energy, and global organizations.

In 2021, she testified before the House of Representatives Financial Services Committee on illicit natural resource governance in Africa. She was invited by the Department of State and Environmental Protection Agency to serve as a panelist at the inaugural United States-Africa Leaders Summit to speak on environmental justice and the global energy transition.

“Kidan has become a world leader in her field,” notes Beloit professor and mentor Pablo Toral. “She is immensely generous, and credits Beloit College for allowing her to build her education on her personal passion, and for the know-how that has helped her to excel.”