Professor Maathai is the Founder of Africa's Green Belt Movement, a grassroots organization whose main focus is the planting of trees with women groups in order to conserve the environment and improve their quality of life. In December 2002, Professor Maathai was elected to the Kenyan parliament with an overwhelming 98 per cent of the vote and was subsequently appointed Assistant Minister for Environment, Natural Resources and Wildlife. She serves on the boards of several organizations including the UN Secretary General's Advisory Board on Disarmament. In 2004 she received the Nobel Peace Prize for 'her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace.' She also won the Right Livelihood Award, known as the Alternative Nobel Prize "for converting the Kenyan ecological debate into mass action for reforestation". She has been named by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential leaders in the world.