Into Washington | June, 2025

June has been a beautiful paradox: deeply grounding and wildly expansive.

Iโ€™ve now been in Redmond for 7 weeks, settling into the slower pace and sharper expectations of summer at Microsoft.

In the midst of all this, something personal and precious quietly happened: I republished my first book, By the End of Your Teens.

It is strange, and also deeply affirming, to reread those early reflections now โ€” especially as I inch toward 30. The words still carry weight, but I carry them much differently now.


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Happy New Week, and wishing you a Fabulous July ahead!

All my love,

Ntha

Microsoft Corporate Giving: Seattle Children’s Hospital

The past week, we had the Intern Celebration and Hackathon Week. My favourite event was the โ€œSeattle Childrenโ€™s Hospitalโ€ event making blankets for the kids โ€” it was our first volunteering activity as interns through the Microsoft Employee Giving Program. Thereโ€™s something powerful about being in spaces where doing good is institutional, not optional.

Personal Development: On Staying Visible

Xbox HQ

Being in Seattle is stretching me in the best ways. Not professionally โ€” at least, not only โ€” but also in many ways spiritually.

Washington has a rhythm of its own. Iโ€™m learning to lean into stillness, to be comfortable not knowing everything on day one, and to remember that visibility comes with a cost. The more spaces I walk into, the more I realize how often we perform certainty.

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These days, Iโ€™m finding peace in observing before acting, letting curiosity lead rather than pressure.

Professional Growth: Balancing Learning and Leadership

Work at Xbox has officially kicked off. Iโ€™m currently supporting the Developer Acceleration Program (DAP) โ€” helping identify insights on how independent developers succeed across global markets. It somehow is VERY challenging, yet also very insightful.

Itโ€™s been a crash course in gaming, analytics, and strategic storytelling (Balancing Learning, Leadership, and Innovation + Into the Gaming Industry).

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Microsoft Campus โ€” Redmond, Washington.

Every meeting reminds me that even the biggest companies still experiment. What makes the difference is clarity, care, and community โ€” things Iโ€™m learning to bring into every room I step into.

Entrepreneurship & Innovation: Ntha Foundation U.S. Launch

Archer Hotel โ€” Redmond, Washington

This August, we are launching the Ntha Foundationโ€™s presence in the Pacific Northwest โ€” starting right here in Redmond.

Iโ€™ve spent the past few weeks engaging with local partners and mapping out how our Malawian-born vision for creative empowerment can scale in this new context. The innovation hub we built in Mangochi was always meant to travel โ€” and now it is.

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Through this launch, weโ€™re creating new spaces where African-led systems meet global opportunity. It is more than expansion, it is a new chapter.

Lifestyle: Restaurants in Redmond Town Center

I live in Redmond Town Center, and this haven has quickly become a little oasis in my weekly routine.

Whether Iโ€™m taking solo walks, catching up with fellow interns, or just looking for a cozy dinner spot, this place continues to surprise me.

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Kizuki Ramen & Izakaya – Redmond, Washington.

Iโ€™m curating a longer list of spots that give me the comfort of stillness while still feeding my curiosityโ€”and my appetite.

Featured: #StoptheCount Campaign

This month, I partnered with UN Women and the European Union through Equality Now, to launch the #StopTheCount campaign โ€” a four-week advocacy initiative aimed at ending child marriage and gender-based violence across Eastern and Southern Africa.

What the full video here.

To kick things off, we in 2024 in partnership with the Family Planning News Network travelled to Ntakataka Village in Malawi, where I sat down with Chief Theresa Kachindamoto for a Community Voices episode on Lessons Conversation โ€” my first time hearing her speak directly.

Through weekly storytelling and content via the Ntha Foundation, Iโ€™ll continue amplifying her voice and calling for governments to protect girls by enforcing the legal age of marriage at 18, with no exceptions.

Up Next: Lessons

Starbucks Reserve โ€” Seattle, Washington.

Next month, I begin sharing on Lessons โ€” one of the books I am writing as I prepare to turn 30.

I like this book because it is slightly different from ‘The Tens’ series โ€” it retraces the through-lines: what Iโ€™ve learned, what Iโ€™m still unlearning, and what I hope to leave behind.

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I am excited for the rest of the summer, and keen to see what July has in store for us. July promises to be expansive, and I arrive well-prepared!

Spotlight: 2025 Consumer Choice Awards

You voted, and the Award made it to Redmond, Washington!

Most Inspiring Female Corporate Leader in Malawi.

At 29โ€” just in every way humbling. I hope you know… from the deepest parts of my being, that this is deeply appreciated.

โ€”โ€”โ€”

As I (intend to) continue thriving with Microsoft and beyond, I carry you ever with me. All of it has been possible because YOU have been a part of this journey. As a digital creator, it is not lost on me that ๐˜ ๐˜ข๐˜ฎ, because you are.

To be the second woman receiving this award in Malawi, a year after it was awarded Prof. Address Malata (a woman I so deeply respect and admire)โ€”the Vice Chancellor of my Alma Mater: the Malawi University of Science and Technology renders me absolutely speechless.

Zikomo kwambiri. Yewo chomene. Sikomo kwejinji. Thank you very much. ๐Ÿ™๐Ÿฝ๐Ÿค

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