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Blessing Bonga Business Reporter
BUSINESS executive Mrs Stella Dongo’s hunger for success has catapulted her to great heights as she has just made history after being elected the first black female Rotary district governor for District 9210. She is in charge of Rotary International’s district that covers Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique and Malawi.

Mrs Dongo said she was humbled by the honour and privilege to be elected to head one of the districts for such a reputable humanitarian organisation that is one of the oldest and biggest in the world.

“This is a great honour and privilege to be elected district governor and more so being the first female black in an organisation that was established in 1905 and dominated by the white race back then while females were only allowed to join the organisation in 1986,” she said.

Rotary International has its headquarters in the United States and is present in 168 countries and in Zimbabwe it started off with just one club in 1930 and to date it now has a total of 27 clubs.

Before being elected to the helm of the district, Mrs Dongo first joined the Rotary Club of Highlands in June 1996 and has served the Highlands Club for several years in various capacities including being club secretary, director of youth foundation, club services and community service.

She became club president for the Rotary year 2005-2006 before rising to become assistant governor the following year where she served for two years in that capacity. Mrs Dongo also served as the district administrator from 2008-2009 and the country co-ordinator for Zimbabwe in 2009-2010.

She led a highly successful group study exchange team to New York District 2007 which created key relationships with both Rotary District of New York and Rotary District of Colorado,USA, culminating into the huge 3H Grant Project in some high-density areas of Harare. She also said since the organisation seeks to better the lives of communities they have so far managed to score many successes.

“The Rotary Foundation has funded more than US$300 000 in training 5 000 women and youths to create economic groups which empowered them and have so far benefited more than 250 000 urban poor communities.

“Rotary has also had the pleasure to partner with such respectable people such as Mr Bill Gates in the End Polio Worldwide programme and to date only about three countries remain endemic to polio and globally that is about less than 1 percent,” said Mrs Dongo.

They also work closely with the United Nations and since 1984 to date Rotary International has been playing a pivotal role in UN National Immunisation Days in collaboration with the World Health Organisation.

Rotary International also holds an annual International Convention and this year she was part of the African delegation that travelled to Portugal for the event where over 30 000 Rotarians converged.

The annual convention involves a combination of business programmes as well as networking and fellowship between Rotarians from the world over.

The district governor added that in May next year her district would host the regional version of the International Convention where more than 400 delegates are expected to attend.

“I am really excited that come May 2014 we will be playing host to more than 400 delegates from the region in the localised version of the International Convention and as the district governor I feel very honoured by such recognition,” she said.

Mrs Dongo is also a member of the Grant Committee for the Community Empowerment in Zimbabwe Project and is the co-ordinator.

She is well travelled and has visited a number of countries in Europe, America and Asia and in the region. She has attended Rotary International Conventions in Birmingham (2009), New Orleans (2011) and the Bangkok Convention in 2012.

Mrs Dongo says when she grew up she aspired to become a nurse but says God had other plans for her as witnessed by her achievements to date after growing up in Mufakose.

Born 57 years ago in a poor family of four sisters and a brother in the high-density suburb of Mufakose in Harare, Stella attended schools in Mufakose for both her primary and secondary education.

Mrs Dongo started her professional career in retail as a sales person just before independence and she says that is when she realised she had leadership qualities after rising through the ranks in a short space of time.

“I started as a salesperson just before independence and was fortunate enough to be quickly recognised for my leadership qualities and possibly my performance as well so I started going up the ladder within a short space of time.

“So from being a salesperson by 1986, I had become the first black branch manager for one of the top retail organisations then, which I cannot divulge without their consent (name given),” she said.

Three years later she was elevated to the position of regional manager in charge of a number of branches within and outside Harare.

Mrs Dongo was then appointed general manager in charge of merchandising within three more years and duly became an executive of the company.

She joined her current company TN in 2002 when it was still Tedco as general manager for credit finance before becoming the chief executive officer for TN Furniture Retail in 2007, a position she still holds.

She is a graduate of the University of South Africa where she majored in economics and had an illustrious career in retail which spans for more than 35 years.

Mrs Dongo has held executive management positions in a number of listed companies in Zimbabwe in the clothing and furniture industry and also serves on the board of World Vision Zimbabwe.

She also says despite her demanding roles as CEO TN Furniture, Rotary district governor and a housewife, her family and in particular her husband are very supportive and therefore she does not have any problems in fulfilling her different roles.

“My husband is very supportive in making sure I manage my responsibilities well and, above all, I believe God gave us women a special gift to be able to balance all our responsibilities both at work and at home.

“I also believe commitment and passion have been key attributes that keep me going,” she added.
Stella is married to Emmanuel, who is chief executive officer for Mono Pumps Zimbabwe, a pump manufacturing company and the couple is blessed with eight children -three sons and five daughters.

They are also proud grandparents of eight grandchildren. They are also active Christians in the Anglican Church at St Paul’s Marlborough.
A fitness enthusiast, Stella enjoys sports, music, travel and community-related activities.