Bulawayo woman honoured with Goldman Sachs-Fortune Global Women leaders award

Fortune Magazine announced the winners of the Goldman Sachs & Fortune Global Women Leaders award which will be presented on October 2nd in Laguna Niguel, California, U.S.A. One of the three honourees is Precious Simba, a Zimbabwean woman from Bulawayo.  

The Fortune Global Women Leaders Mentoring Partnership, which was established in 2006 in cooperation with the U.S. State Department, pairs up women in leadership positions around the U.S. with women who have demonstrated leadership potential in emerging nations. The program awards the most stand-out alumni of the mentorship program funds to take their experience in the U.S. and leverage it to benefit their home countries.

Precious Simba's project was chosen from amongst applications from women all over the world. She captured the attention of the award adjudicators for her establishment of a variety of community programs in her native Zimbabwe, all aimed at producing young people who lead and inspiring young people â€" young women especially â€" to rise above their circumstances and positively influence the communities they live in.

A former Spar senior manager, Precious left her retail career in 2011 to pursue her passion of inspiring young girls from under-privileged backgrounds.  This is when she started the Girls Development Initiative, an organisation that empowers girls with education opportunities and life skills. In addition to her girls' education and mentoring program and a youth empowerment outreach called YouTalk, Precious has launched a new empowerment series called 'Future Self'. This initiative, created collaboratively with Shelley Diamond (Worldwide Managing partner √ɬ¢√¢‚Äö¬¨" Young & Rubicam U.S.A) and Christa Carone (Chief Marketing Officer √ɬ¢√¢‚Äö¬¨" Xerox Corporation U.S.A), features stories of influential female leaders such as Deputy Director at N.A.S.A Goddard Space Flight Center Christyl Johnson alongside other Fortune Women Leaders Mentors, which share reflections on rising up against challenges, choosing different career paths, and how women can and are rising in the workplace.

Precious had this to say about the award "This award has truly humbled me. To be picked amongst some of the great women initiatives from around the world is an honour. This is an honour not just for me but for the girls we are working with and my country"

Along with the prestigious award Ms Simba has received an invite to this year's Fortune Most Powerful Women summit October 2-4 in Laguna Niguel, California, U.S.A where she will bring her organisation and her country on the world stage when she steps up to receive her award in front of more than 400 of the world's most powerful women in business and philanthropy. Lloyd Blankfein, C.E.O of Goldman Sachs will present the award to her.