Director of Development
Tsitsi Sithole was raised in the beautiful country of Zimbabwe where she attended primary and secondary school. After attending college in Canada, Tsitsi moved to the United States where she focused her work around equity in education for historically disenfranchised children and their families, first in Boston, Massachusetts, and then in Washington D.C. Tsitsi’s 20 year experience in the field of education includes research, classroom teaching at the early childhood level, graduate-level instruction, school leadership, program management, workshop facilitation, curriculum assessment and design, mental health counseling and instructional coaching.
Tsitsi has always held a passion for the education of young children and after leaving Zimbabwe, she resolved to one day return and open a program for children orphaned by AIDS. Tsitsi’s vision was to develop a free, high-quality early learning program to create a more equitable opportunity for these children to achieve future success. Because play is the optimal vehicle by which young children learn, Tsitsi conceived the idea of naming her future program ‘K.U.T.A.M.B.A.’, an ode to the Shona word for ‘play’. The acronym stands for the principles of Knowledge, Understanding, Teaching, Awareness, Mindfulness, Building and Action.
In February of 2020, Tsitsi learned of the school at I AM Mbare through a post written by Edward Tsango on Zimcares Network, a virtual networking space for Zimbabwean charities. Tsitsi contacted Edward to learn more about the school and after meeting, it quickly became clear that the program that she had wanted to open would find a perfect home under the umbrella of I AM Zimbabwe Trust. Tsitsi’s work in I AM Zimbabwe Trust has now extended beyond the establishment of the early childhood program to include fundraising, grant writing and program development. Tsitsi has a deep and abiding love for her country and feels that her purpose driven work with I AM Zimbabwe Trust fulfills a God-given calling to service. She is inspired by the selfless and innovative work carried out in each of the I AM Zimbabwe communities and sees this work as a beacon of hope in an otherwise challenging climate. She feels privileged to have the opportunity to play a role in the growth of the organization and looks forward to what the future holds.
Tsitsi received her B.A. in Psychology from McGill University, and her Ed.M. in Adolescent and Early Childhood Risk and Prevention from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She currently works as an instructional coach for an urban teacher preparation program in Washington D.C. and resides in the Washington D.C. metro area with her husband and their three children.