Nyasha Zimunhu’s passions for innovation and community service have inspired her to make impacts on Penn’s campus, in her home country of Zimbabwe, and beyond.
Early on in her Penn journey, she “[fused] Penn’s culture of innovation with [her] ethos of giving back to communities” by attending the 2018 Clinton Global Initiative University Conference, where she polished the skillset she needed to help a startup in Zimbabwe launch a network of tech education centers for young people from less privileged neighborhoods.
She then traveled to Rwanda as a participant in Penn Engineering’s Global Service Learning program, where she collaborated with students at a local girls school to develop a hydroponic gardening system that expanded the school’s agricultural output.
As the Vice President of the Society of African Internationals at Penn (SAIP), Nyasha helped coordinate the Penn African Summit, providing a pathway for the Penn community to engage with African leaders and “motivating students to reimagine how they could use their Penn and life experience to make an impact on Africa.” She also served as a Weingarten Learning Ambassador, partnering with a student from Hong Kong to develop strategies for Penn international students to transition to a new academic environment.
“Coming from a country that is constantly in turmoil, I came to Penn also representing the hope and the resilience of my fellow citizens. […] I am also proud that through Penn’s rich diversity, I have expanded my outlook on the world and now hold a global citizenship mindset.”
As her Penn journey comes to an end, Nyasha is spearheading an interview series with Zimbabwean Penn graduates from as early as the Class of 2006. Her project will shine a spotlight on the diverse, inspiring post-Penn experiences of international alumni and will feature Rhodes Scholars, CEOs, professional engineers, the founder of Venmo, and more.
