Zimbabwean fashion and media entrepreneur and women empowerment activist, Mellisa Mazingi, believes her participation in President Obama’s Young Leaders Initiative (YALI) will give her new contacts, outlooks and perspectives.
“Programs such as the Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders promote networking and understanding between people of different business and social backgrounds; this widening of perception allows participants to return to Zimbabwe with new contacts, outlooks and perspectives to establish and grow effective businesses and social projects which have knock-on effects for the Zimbabwean economy.”
She will spend six weeks at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. “I’m excited to be in such amazing company, to have the opportunity for learning and networking that the Fellowship will offer and to share with other Africans and Americans more about Zimbabwe,” she says.
On returning to Zimbabwe, she says she hopes to be able to implement the business and entrepreneurship innovations gleaned from both African and American colleagues to expand her business. “I look forward to implementing growth strategies for my clients to encourage the growth of Zimbabwe’s fashion industry, particularly with regards to increased retail of local fashion,” says the Director of Runway Productions, a fashion events management company.
Mellisa runs the award-winning fashion website, Zim Fashionista (www.zimfashionista.com) and she is a firm believer that “the growth of individual fashion businesses in Zimbabwe can spur economic growth and create employment.” She adds: “The fashion industry particularly advances entrepreneurship and empowerment amongst women, which is something I am passionate about.”
Her company has been involved in fashion events that include the fashion program for the Harare International Festival of the Arts (HIFA), as well as producing PR and marketing campaigns for fashion designers and boutiques.
In 2013 the Zim Fashionista business expanded to include Zim Folio- www.zimfolio.com– an online media store retailing magazine subscriptions.
Mellisa developed her media and journalism skills through the Women Journalists Mentoring Program (WJMP) which works to promote professional writing and leadership skills development among women journalists.
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She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting and Auditing from the University of South Africa and previously worked for 3 years at a Big Four accounting firm in Harare. Her other engagements include being a trustee of the Women’s Education and Empowerment Trust (WEET – Women Engage), which works with women and girls providing seed project funding and scholarships.
You can follow Mellisa via Twitter on @zimfashionista
