The photo above is a picture of Dudu Simelane with text from a interview with her as April Mentor of the Month for the East Africa Women’s Mentoring Network. The photo also includes a map showing her home country as Kenya. Full text of the photo is below.
April Mentor of the Month: Dudu Simelane, Team leader at the International Planned Parenthood Federation Africa Regional Office (IPPFARO)
She has over 20 years of working experience and has extensive experience working with the UN and NGO sectors, with a focus on Gender, HIV/AIDS, and SRH.
Why did you want to become a mentor?
I wanted to be a mentor because as a woman leader, I wanted to share my experience and impart a few skills to younger women who aspire to grow in the same career as mine. I am also a firm believer in growing and nurturing talent in order to build strong institutions.
What is your advice to young women entering the workforce in Africa?
- Be focused, know what you want. Set your goals and plan to achieve them within a certain time.
- Assert yourself; the workplace can be very competitive at times. As a young woman you can be overshadowed. However, in doing so, avoid being aggressive.
- Start to think strategically, be a visionary leader and at the end, plan to leave a legacy for which you will be remembered even long after you have gone.
- Be willing to listen, communicate, give feedback and also be willing to receive feedback. A good leader will be open to feedback
- Always remember to involve members of your team in decision making. It is important to involve others so that they own the decisions. In addition, acknowledge and reward good performance.