Nyari Mashayamombe- Editor in Chief
It is not always that we find outliers in the field of medicine especially when they are women. Phillipa Sibanda Mandisodza is here to show us that all things are possible for women, girls, youths who are fighting a difficult economy. Read on!
ID: Tell us about yourself?
PSM: My name is Phillipa Sibanda Mandisodza, muyeraHumba Makombe. I am a 42 years old and mother to a 10 year old son. I have had a long career of over 15 years as a Healthcare Professional and Social Impact Entrepreneur.
My specific skills as a Respiratory Care Practitioner include working with patients on Ventilators from the neonatal unit to adults however, I have also been leading healthcare projects such as clinic start-ups, Robotics in Intensive Care settings and Telehealth. The bulk of my career has been in the state of California in the United States after getting an education and graduating from the state of Texas.
Prior to healthcare, I was a leader in the BPO space, I led large teams supporting the telecommunications industry. I started off early in aviation as a pilot with my initial training at Charles Prince Airport until that journey led me to fly to Miami, Florida to further my studies.
My local Zimbabwean entity is called Hwela Healthcare. In the social impact space I founded an innovation HuB called Global Business Innovations or in short The GBI HUB. Dominion Innovative Creations which branded Tanya Muzinda and other platforms like DiasporaInsights a crowdsourcing platform for diaspora issues are some of the entities out of our Innovation HuB whose work has been impactful.
My new focus is really supporting women founders on their journey through our Prolific Network and I believe that will be truly where my legacy will lay.
ID: What drives the work that you do?
PSM: At this age, I am living a purpose driven life. At the core of my heart, I seek to usher a great future for my young son and the young entrepreneurs I see in the different communities GBI serves. To lead that mission requires some real elbow grease and that’s really what keeps me going daily.
ID: What do you see in the near future?
PSM: I really see a bright future as a new generation of Millenials begins to see their need to lead and start taking their place. This future will only happen if we have leaders with the soul of the nation at heart.
We can succeed if we;- the millennials own responsibility to mentor and create great possibilities for Gen X and Gen Y who make the bulk of our population in Zimbabwe. I will be using my experience to open up room for them to shine.
ID: What are your parting words or advice?
PMS: I recently toured Great Zimbabwe, and I was reminded about our origins and our identity. Spending 20 years of my life in the US, I felt so fortunate to have such a deep sense of knowing where I am from. Identity is so important as it gives us the confidence to champion that which makes us PROLIFIC.
Phillips l hear you are partnering with companies in US and connecting them with labour sourced from Zimbabweans.
I am keen and available to join your practice my strength is administration span over 28years experience. My name is Caroline
Look forward to hearing from you 0772 269 916