Emily Nemapare is the head of Cooperate and Customer Services for First Capital Bank in association with Barclays and a board member for Junior Achievement Zimbabwe. She is a person who loves working with partners in terms of community development and is passionate about young people. Besides work she is a mother of five daughters.
Emily has known JAZ for over ten years now. “I have seen JAZ grow from bounds and lipsover the past ten years ever since l joined Barclays. I have seen the work that they have been doing back then and up to now and l believe they have made a huge difference in the communities we live in”, said Emily.
She believes that joining the board for Junior Achievement Zimbabwe posed an opportunity for her as she was able to shape some of the marketing and curricular that the organization is portraying.
“I am looking forward to the opportunities that the board provides us as First Capital bank. But it also allows us to maybe even look at other ways how we can strengthen the relationship”
Emily believes the most important thing that JAZ is doing is developing soft skills for entrepreneurs. This is vital as soft skills are now necessary in our day to day lives. The reach speaks to how we are talking to our alumni and other organizations who deal with youths.
She went on to say that the organization is enriching youths through the programs it offers. She believes that we are enriching the future generation at one point we have to make our objectives and achieve them.
There is need to create platforms for youths were can challenge the issue of employability.
“A lot of youths and students are facing problems and I would love for the number of schools reached to increase but due to the financial constraints in the country that can be a problem”.
Emily applauded JAZ for working hand in hand with the new curriculum from the Ministry of Education and said that is commendable to do these days.
“I would like to create structures and platforms for us to share our narratives as JAZ. The organization has been there for a long time but engagement platforms have been few. I believe we can create online classrooms whereby those who cant access the lessons at school can virtually access them online. However we have to look outside the box and think of innovatives that can help us reach the students in rural areas,” said Emily.
She believes that the partnership that JAZ and First Capital bank have will not change because of the transition from Barclays to First Capital Bank.
“It’s either it is going to align with what we already have moving forward or it might change shape. I don’t think it’s a relationship we are willing to leave as we have invested a lot into it. To further sustain the relationship they are many programs that we can start up together.
She went on to describe the role JAZ is playing and said it is being underplayed. She wished the organization to be on more platforms, more provinces and more schools.
“I love the primary school program because that’s where the conversation starts. I think if we start nurturing kids from that age upto university level that can improve our visibility.”
My word of advice to the youths out there is that even if you are going through a challenging phase , my message is about resilience and exposing yourselves. Maximize on the resources that you have which are there to build you up and not destroy you.
She encouraged the youths to be able to ask questions. There is need to initiate conversations with people that we do not know, which can help in confidence building. Lets remember that we do not know everything in life. It is important to value networks so that we grow together in terms of business.