Writings
Recent
November, 2025
This year, I committed to experimenting with a monthly newsletter — a space to think out loud as I unpacked the strange, beautiful intersections of my life: Malawi and Michigan, the UN and Microsoft, agriculture and gaming.
Declutter(ing)
December comes with winter — a kind of cold that forces you to stay indoors, which works for me because I never really go anywhere to begin with. But it also gives me time to sit still and sort through the year.
Why Smart Innovation Farms?
As I plan my next steps, agriculture keeps resurfacing as the logical point of entry for any meaningful development work.
October, 2025
After weeks of careful deliberation, I made a decision to step back from the recruiting cycle and focus fully on building my company — Q2 Corporation.
What It Will Take: Building an Autonomous Africa
At the perimeters of the 80th United Nations General Assembly, I had the privilege of speaking at a webinar hosted by the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) and Digital Frontiers Institute — a global conversation on Scaling Impact Through Women in Digital Finance.
Lady at the Helm – Africa’s First Female Inland Marine Captain
For as long as I can remember, I have lived in the light of a name larger than my own. My mother, Captain Lonnie Kalua-Manduwi, was the first female marine captain in Malawi — a woman whose brilliance and determination defied the boundaries of her time.
Coloniality of Knowledge: The Making of the Grateful Scholar
In every corner of the continent, you will meet them: some of the brightest minds of their generation, armed with prestigious degrees from world-class European universities, fluent in the language of global policy, and deeply committed to Africa’s development.
Africa’s Hea(r)t: A Youthful Populus
Permission to Nerd Out — Demographer Style This past weekend, while preparing a Consumer Insights
September, 2025
For twelve years, I have curated this blog (and by extension newsletter) as a personal journal — a window into my journey from Malawi to the United Nations, to Microsoft, and beyond. As I step into a new decade and a new chapter, I feel the need for something different: a space not just to chronicle my life, but where both you and I can make sense of the systems we are all navigating.
Entrepreneurship within Education: Not Either/Or
When I was pursuing my undergraduate studies, it was almost framed as a choice: education or entrepreneurship. specially in developing contexts, it’s often assumed that young people must choose between “staying in school” and “chasing a dream.” But what if that decision never needed to be binary?
