The American Association of University Women, as it comes close to its 129th year of service, has named its 2010-11 Student Advisory Council. Mount Holyoke’s Chiedza Mufunde ’12 has been named as one of ten college students from across the United States to the Council. The MH News caught her in between classes this week to talk about her selection.

MHN: What does it mean to you to be a member of the Student Advisory Council for the AAUW?

Chiedza: The National Student Advisory Council is a 10-member board of undergraduate or graduate college students, and we are the voice of the other college student members across the country. Basically, our role is to advise the AAUW on the needs of students, young women who are leaders on their campuses.

MHN: How do you plan to serve the Mount Holyoke community that is already very familiar with women’s education empowerment messages?

Chiedza: I already have a background in women’s issues, and I’m more stimulated about these issues because I go to Mount Holyoke College. [There are women here] who are aware of the need for more young women leaders and this organization offers opportunities for personal leadership development and for meeting and networking with other college students across the country… I feel I have a clearer contribution because I have experience leading with other women and being a part of an organization for women.

MHN: What sparked your passion for women’s leadership and education?

Chiedza: My experience the summer just before beginning at Mount Holyoke—I consider that my “turning point” for figuring out what I wanted to do with my life. I interned with an organization called Campaign For Female Education, and they work with young women in rural Zimbabwe, Malawi, Tanzania and Zambia, and I worked with them training young women in leadership roles in their communitites… Having that experience with other young women just as I was about to go to college in the U.S., and seeing their potential as well as how they support their families was really powerful. Because some of them do not have the opportunity to go to college, the education they would get through this program is the only one they will get, and this sparked my interest in women’s education.

MHN: What courses or other extra-curricular activities prepared you for or made you more motivated to pursue this opportunity?

Chiedza: Since my first year, I’ve been really involved with the Weissman Center, and I did Leadership 101, which was incredible, with Lois Brown. That really set the tone for my leadership development at Mount Holyoke and beyond. In the spring of my first year, I received a grant through the Weissman Center to go to a week-long seminar on women’s leadership in Congress in Washington, D.C., so it was very U.S.-focused. In one of our events, a woman from the AAUW came in to talk to us about this annual conference they had, and I thought “Oh wow, that sounds really interesting.”

MHN: What do you hope to do after you graduate from Mount Holyoke with these experiences?

Chiedza: This summer, I really want to work on the ground and do community-based work, because I’m so into community development and social work…There is so much “rhetoric” about change and women’s education, and so I really want to immerse myself in women’s educational communities and see how their lives are actually changing.

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