Mazvitashe Mellisa Mangisi: Future Business Leader
Still setting up the pawns, it's only a matter of time before Mazvita works her way to become a leader in the business and leadership world.
Mazvitashe M. Mangisi
Connecticut College '12
Mazvitashe Mellissa Mangisi is known to most of her colleagues as "Mazvi". She comes from the small town of Kadoma in Zimbabwe from the densely populated neighborhood called Rimuka. Her name "Mazvitashe" is the Shona phrase for "Thank you Lord" and it's no surprise she also owes her gratitude to God, family and friends for their support that has seen her through challenges. She is the youngest in a family of 4 children and has 3 older brothers. She attended Thornhill High School, a boarding and public school in Gweru, Zimbabwe. In high school she was involved in dance, drama, poetry, athletics and drum majorettes. Due to her outstanding leadership capabilities, in high school senior year she was selected by teachers and staff to be the Deputy Head Girl and the Head of the boarding house for girls. In high school, she also received District and Provincial recognition for being one of the students with the Best results for the Ordinary Level national exams. Through the help of USAP Zimbabwe, she was admitted to the competitive liberal arts college, Connecticut College.
She is pursuing a major in Economics and a minor in Mathematics and Statistics. In 2010 she received the Cynthia Paul Walker '67 Award given to a woman who has demonstrated passion and excellence in Economics and in 2011 she received an Award for excellence in Econometrics. Currently, she is a scholar of the Holleran Center for Public Policy and Community Action which teaches students about social change and being global citizens. This is because she is passionate about social issues such as eradicating poverty through grassroots projects and helping widows and orphans affected by HIV and AIDS. She believes in Margaret Mead's words that say, "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." She has served as house senator on the Student Government Association, treasurer of the African Students Union, a mentor through the SISTER mentor program and choreographer for African and Caribbean dance. She is also involved in the Peggotty investment club on her campus, and this club manages $50,000 of the college's endowment. These experiences have enhanced her leadership skills appreciation of teamwork.
Apart from pursuing social justice, Mazvitashe is a business minded and enterprising. She seeks to seize every opportunity to learn and develop her skills in business finance and entrepreneurship. In 2009 she was selected to be part of the Emerging Leaders Program at her college, and in 2010 she was chosen to attend one of the most selective national entrepreneurial conferences, that is the BASES Entrepreneurial conference at Stanford University where she met Joe Kennedy the CEO of Pandora and Steve Blank amongst other entrepreneurs from the Silicone Valley. In the summer of 2011 she interned in New York City at Wells Fargo Advisors. Her goal is to work in the financial services industry and in the future she also hopes to facilitate the financing of start-ups for green projects in Zimbabwe. She hopes to work with teams of professionals across the board to improve the standard of living in her home country.