George L. Mutale is Community Liaison at BongoHive and his role has allowed him to connect with people in different spheres of life, and at various stages of their entrepreneurial journeys. His work involves a lot of networking, event management, project coordination and project management, thus his volunteer role with TEDxLusaka complements this broad skillset that George uses every day.
George chose to volunteer at TEDxLusaka to make a difference in people’s lives, and be part of a movement that creates impact and change in our society. The work is meaningful to him because it is aligned with his values and desire to provide a platform for people’s voices to be heard. He shares that working with the speakers is one of his highlights. “It’s always humbling to note how they listen to your instructions and advice and trust you to help them give the most impactful talk.”
Even as he volunteers and lends his expertise to the TEDxLusaka team, George has also learned a great deal, with his biggest lesson being the power of community. He says that everyone has an equally important role to play in contributing to the bigger picture.
In addition to learning from speakers he has enjoyed many of the talks delivered over the years. His favourite talk was by Mark Mondoka titled “What is Life Minus You?” George enjoyed this talk because the speaker emphasized the importance of not just making a living, but making a difference to those around you.
This year, BongoHive celebrates its 10th anniversary and over the past years that George has been working with the innovation hub, he has used skills from BongoHive with TEDxLusaka and vice versa to contribute to a community of people, start-up founders and partners, helping to build viable solutions with them. Most important to George is creating a space to exchange ideas and practices that embolden and empower this community.
