Nokwanda Zulu,
Social Entrepreneur,
South Africa
How to turn your childhood disadvantages into a success story....
Starting her mentorship program...
Nokwanda grew up wanting to be an entrepreneur taking after her mother, she knew that she had to study accounting so that she would be able to understand the financial side of things, and living in the girl’s shelter in 2002 changed her whole perspective on life. She had always thought she had a tough childhood but circumstances of other girls changed her and the way she looked at things. In that instant, she realized the importance of work that social workers do. Nokwanda aspired to become a social worker so that she could help girls in similar situation. Nokwanda could not afford to go to university due to financial constraints, she did not even apply, her aim was to work and provide food for her family.
In December 2006, God sent her a guardian angel who asked about her current status at that time, She then told him she is working as she don’t have money to further her studies. He asked her to get 2500 Rands for registration and he would assist with a NFSAS application. The challenge was getting her registration fee, a friend offered to give her the 2500 Rands from her school fees. The following year she started her Diploma in Accounting, she went on to do her Bachelor degree in Accounting. At university Nokwanda was involved in an organization, where she was a mentor to young kids in an orphanage; she would help them with homework etc. Then later joined a student chapter called ABASA (Association of Black Accountants in South Africa) where she was a Treasury. In 2008, we co-founded an NGO called “Hope for All” with four other varsity mates. They travelled to rural schools to assist with tutoring Accounting, Math’s, and career guidance. The biggest constraint was finding funding. In 2010, she got a job in one of the biggest company in the utility industry. After four years working in it, she felt a void in her inability to fulfilling her purpose in life. The following year her purpose led Nokwanda back to the orphanage shelter where I grew up to mentor young girls who were in the same shoes she had been in, and that’s how the love and yearning for a mentorship program was realized.
In December 2006, God sent her a guardian angel who asked about her current status at that time, She then told him she is working as she don’t have money to further her studies. He asked her to get 2500 Rands for registration and he would assist with a NFSAS application. The challenge was getting her registration fee, a friend offered to give her the 2500 Rands from her school fees. The following year she started her Diploma in Accounting, she went on to do her Bachelor degree in Accounting. At university Nokwanda was involved in an organization, where she was a mentor to young kids in an orphanage; she would help them with homework etc. Then later joined a student chapter called ABASA (Association of Black Accountants in South Africa) where she was a Treasury. In 2008, we co-founded an NGO called “Hope for All” with four other varsity mates. They travelled to rural schools to assist with tutoring Accounting, Math’s, and career guidance. The biggest constraint was finding funding. In 2010, she got a job in one of the biggest company in the utility industry. After four years working in it, she felt a void in her inability to fulfilling her purpose in life. The following year her purpose led Nokwanda back to the orphanage shelter where I grew up to mentor young girls who were in the same shoes she had been in, and that’s how the love and yearning for a mentorship program was realized.
What has she been able to make from her childhood disadvantages?
Nokwanda met her mom when she was thirteen years old and lived with her for a year, that year felt like a lifetime the journey had so many ups and downs from having a successful business to losing everything .They lived in the street while she was a student, sometimes she would make her situation a joke by saying she is fasting while she knew they had nothing to eat.
Life will hit you hard; it’s not about how hard you fall, but about how you get back up from a seemingly impossible situation. Everything happens for a reason, your storms in life serve to mentor and navigate you towards your purpose in life.
Nokwanda’s moto is, “She wants to be the mentor she wished she had.”
Life will hit you hard; it’s not about how hard you fall, but about how you get back up from a seemingly impossible situation. Everything happens for a reason, your storms in life serve to mentor and navigate you towards your purpose in life.
Nokwanda’s moto is, “She wants to be the mentor she wished she had.”
Why did she chose mentorship? What is her area of focus?
Looking back at what she went through, it’s not ideal to focus on one group, hence she focuses on women and youth empowerment through education, entrepreneurship and sport. Her pitfalls in life can serve to mentor other kids who have been told they will amount to nothing.
How she turned mentorship into a profession...
Giving back completes her; it all started as a hobby as it felt like her purpose in life was not being fulfilled. Certain things you go through in life qualify you to be the answer or voice to others who are voiceless. For now she travels to rural communities and assemble a team that we train to pass the knowledge to others in communities. Her job is to monitor, evaluate and to ensure that the volunteers adhere to the values of our organization. Each organization has its values, with that being said; those values serve as rules and procedures.
Her advice on mentorship, being her profession...
You have to love what you do, serving people emotionally. You have to look at yourself as an answer God has to empower and pass on the knowledge, never try to copy someone’s style, your character has to be in shape to avoid glitches in what you do because there’s so many people who look up to you.
What she enjoys most about what she does...
Putting a smile on someone’s face makes her happy, having a positive impact in someone’s life. It inspires her seeing somebody whom she has mentored, succeed.
Her target group with regards to age, gender and educational / financial status?
Children from 3 to 6 fall under her early childhood development program.
Youth from 8 to 15 years fall under mentorship program mostly from orphanages.
Women in business, where she does skills and business development.
Most of her target group is from the rural areas and children homes as she feels a lot of development is needed in these areas basically in the low income groups.
Youth from 8 to 15 years fall under mentorship program mostly from orphanages.
Women in business, where she does skills and business development.
Most of her target group is from the rural areas and children homes as she feels a lot of development is needed in these areas basically in the low income groups.
Her plans for the immediate future...
To be able to train and mentor other change agents who would understand and share the same vision so that they can be ambassadors of her organization. She wants to expand to other African countries in the future.
Her endgame for the mentorship program...
To have the same program in other provinces, then expand to other African countries.
Mostly to leave a legacy that will continue for generations to come.
Mentor active change agents who will be future leaders of Africa
Mostly to leave a legacy that will continue for generations to come.
Mentor active change agents who will be future leaders of Africa
Events have you hosted so far and the topic of focus...
She hosts events every quarter (4 times a year), but she also has events that she does in between to serve a certain purpose or on request by her stakeholders.
- Women empowerment workshops
- Career expo for rural communities
- Disability awareness campaigns
- Homework assist for girls in a children’s home
- Individual and business development workshops
- CV clinic
- Hiv and AIDS awareness campaigns
- Reading
- Fun days ( sports ,picnics )
- Mentor start-ups civil society organizations’ in rural communities
- Network Marketing workshops
Her advice to someone who is facing same problems as she did...
Whatever you go through in life, God will never forsake you. He’s shaping a leader inside of you, and learns to take the positive from your circumstances and grow with it.
Other programs she indulges in, apart from mentorship...
Nokwanda is part of an organization called JCI, her profile is Vice President Development where she develops other active youth in the province and bring them over to be part of the chapter.
She also started a project for building an Information Center back in my rural village which they build from the ground up.
She is a co-founder of Kuhlekutuseka projects which is under a construction sector.
Co-founder of Hope 4 All and skills development
Recently participated in Cohort 4 of the Young African Leaders initiative (YALI) Regional Leadership Centre, Southern Africa, which is a signature initiative by USAID to build the next generation of African leaders through intense leadership training and experiential, learning.
She also started a project for building an Information Center back in my rural village which they build from the ground up.
She is a co-founder of Kuhlekutuseka projects which is under a construction sector.
Co-founder of Hope 4 All and skills development
Recently participated in Cohort 4 of the Young African Leaders initiative (YALI) Regional Leadership Centre, Southern Africa, which is a signature initiative by USAID to build the next generation of African leaders through intense leadership training and experiential, learning.
For now Nokwanda based in South Africa but the aim is to expand, charity begins at home.
Undoubtedly, Nokwanda would not have chosen this career path if she had not experienced such disadvantages in her childhood. She is truly a role model for the youth she mentors.
Other than mentoring these girls, Nokwanda provides necessities to these girls,based on her means, but mostly she uses her network to ask for donation and funds to meet certain needs at that time.
Undoubtedly, Nokwanda would not have chosen this career path if she had not experienced such disadvantages in her childhood. She is truly a role model for the youth she mentors.
Other than mentoring these girls, Nokwanda provides necessities to these girls,based on her means, but mostly she uses her network to ask for donation and funds to meet certain needs at that time.