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Achiever of a string of awards

Written by Wendy Macodawa

The Young Achievers Award 2005, the President’s Award for Outstanding Achievement, the Award for Pioneering Leadership 2008 and Exemplary Performance and Leadership 2008 – 26-year old Marcia Mangadi now heads Limkokwing’s prominent global campus, Limkokwing Lesotho. Wendy Macodawa tells her story

Students are presented with Government scholarships to study abroad with a range of various Universities. In Marcia’s case, out of the different Universities, she made a decision to join Limkokwing University of Creative Technology and this decision made all the difference in her life.

Farsighted Marcia saw the University as a place of ideation, creativity, innovation and individuality. The most attractive part was the fact that students were able to use the latest technology in the studies and the opportunity to emerge as a global citizen; which was rare in her homeland.

Marcia had dreams of starting her own PR consultancy and media company but after her graduating in BA Mass Communication in 2005 an opportunity arose where she was offered a job to work with Limkokwing University. This opportunity meant keeping her dreams on hold, but it was an opportunity that was worth every experience.

Three years later, her skills and talent were exemplified to the rest and have gained her a reputation as a promising leader. Being a holder of such a reputation, she was then entrusted to be the Assistant Director of International Development for Limkokwing’s Lesotho branch, which was opened in 2008.

Though I am African, there are significant cultural differences which also translated to the way business is conducted. A woman my age in Africa has to face even more challenges as she has to prove that she is as competent as men in this line of work, who are very often older than she is

Representing the University as a Brand Ambassador, Marcia serves as the key liaison for all the University’s stakeholders, a job that challenges her leadership qualities even further.

“The job is simply challenging,” she said, “because it makes one think outside the box and be a quick and proactive decision maker.”

Her performance escalated tremendously over time and she now overlooks Lesotho’s campus development, corporate communications, media relations, public relations, international marketing and students’ welfare.

Marcia confessed that initially, her efforts at setting up a campus in Lesotho had been difficult as she had to adjust to the different cultural environment in the new country she found herself in. “We often take for granted how different and how unique each country is,” she said.

“Though I am African, there are significant cultural differences which also translated to the way business is conducted. A woman my age in Africa has to face even more challenges as she has to prove that she is as competent as men in this line of work, who are very often older than she is,” explained Marcia.

Nevertheless, Marcia’s perseverance—rooted in her assertive, goal-oriented, ambitious and daring personality – paid off when Limkokwing Lesotho opened its doors for the first time to a student population of 1200.

From having a dream of starting her own PR consultancy and Media Company to now having the ambition and motivation of being the first female President of the Republic of Botswana in order to make women’s voices heard, Marcia shows that she is a person who is driven by vision. A principled person who believes that the formula for achievement lies in certain values embraced by himself or herself, Marcia is willing to share some of these values with others.

“When the going gets tough, you keep going,” Marcia said, “Passion, belief, humility, integrity, respect and confidence will keep you going, because if you believe that you can, eventually you will.”

Passion, belief, humility, integrity, respect and confidence will keep you going, because if you believe that you can, eventually you will

“There are no goals that are too high if you climb with care and confidence. You have to have passion in what you do, and you will do it well” she said, as she adds that she is working on doubling the number of intakes and adopting a charity organisation for the Lesotho campus.

Looking back on her days as a student at Limkokwing University, she believes that her experience in Cyberjaya had given her an experience of a lifetime that cannot be measured with words. Her years as a student have been important as it granted her the learning and experience needed for her to emerge as a mover and shaker of the industry.

“I became more confident and competent as well as a more open-minded person who is sensitive to all cultures and characters.”

Marcia, who sees the world ‘FAIL’ as an acronym for “First Action in Learning”, intends to take up International Relations and Diplomacy for her postgraduate studies. Viewing success not as how much money one can make in a lifetime, Marcia believes that success is measured by the number of lives that one can touch in a lifetime.

She is certainly touching many lives and making a great difference in her line of work. “Education is someone’s future and the only tool to best empower the younger generation,” she said.

“If we all see it that way as education providers, then we would all want the best for the next generation. Once we see everyone the way we see ourselves, then we would want for them what we want for ourselves.”

Marcia concludes with a statement: “The more difficult life seems, the better I want to make it for everyone else.” During her leisure time, she enjoys travelling, reading, cooking, writing, dancing and socializing.