How Vee Kativhu Turned Education Activism Into a Career

Unveiling the inspiring journey: how Vee Kativhu forged education activism into a fulfilling career path.

You would recognize her by her dazzling smile and animated voice, if, by chance, you come across one of her videos on social media. This is Varaidzo “Vee” Kativhu—everyone's favourite educational activist, YouTuber, author and all-around ray of sunshine.?

At just twenty-five years old, Vee Kativhu has managed to become the epitome of the term “girlboss”. She is a PhD student by day, studying for a doctorate in Education and by night she attends red-carpet events to receive prestigious awards alongside other illustrious people.

She is the recipient of the Diana Legacy Award, which is only awarded to twenty young people every two years for their social action and humanitarian work. Most recently, she received the Point of Light award from the Prime minister of the United Kingdom, which aims to recognize the work of inspirational volunteers and activists in the Commonwealth.

In her acceptance letter, Vee Kativhu seized the opportunity to highlight the discrepancy of being given such an honour by the Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, when the UK government itself had recently cut funding to girls education and global education by 68%.?

Vee Kativhu truly is audacious and unafraid to speak up for what she believes in. These qualities have contributed greatly to her success, and are, indeed, qualities that anyone who seeks to flourish in their endeavours should have.

Vee Kativhu celebrated International Women's Day by being named one of Net Porter’s twelve Incredible Women of 2024 (how befitting) and this is only the most recent accolade that she has received.

Throughout her budding career, she has been named a UN Young Leader, hosted the 2023 Diana Awards alongside Prince Harry, was one of BBC’s 100 most influential women in 2023 alongside women like Michelle Obama, and much more.

She has walked the red carpet countless times, has been featured in Vogue, has worked for the United Nations, been invited to give a lectureship even though she, herself, is still a student, travelled around the world, building schools in Mexico, or educating girls in Zambia about periods— Vee has truly done it all.?

Vee Kativhu is the embodiment of productivity at its peak. She has figured out a schedule that works for all her endeavours and how to make what she is passionate about lucrative, which has led to her being awarded greatly for this. Any entrepreneur could take a leaf out of her book by figuring out what they care deeply about and working tirelessly to achieve their goals, all while staying on top of their game.

Vee seems like she has the perfect life, but she is no stranger to setbacks. When she was seven her father died, prompting her family’s move from Zimbabwe to the UK. Her time experienced in the British school system, as well as the stories she heard from back home, in Zimbabwe, of girls education being cut off for one reason or another, ignited her passion for education activism—a path which has led her to be friends with other incredible activists like Malala Yousfzai, who was also her classmate at Oxford.?

When Vee was applying for university, her guidance counsellor told her to not bother with schools like Oxford because she would never make it. This did not, however, discourage her, and when she did get into Oxford, she decided to create a YouTube channel to help other students like her, who might have faced setbacks when applying to university. Her YouTube channel now has over 200,000 subscribers, and the number keeps growing.

Vee did not take no for an answer and was rewarded for it. She was resolute in her goals, persistent, and confident in her ability, and this resulted in Vee graduating from Oxford and Harvard, furthermore, now she is currently on track to getting a doctorate and becoming a bona fide Doctor of education.

Determination, persistence and confidence in one’s ability are all essential qualities of a great entrepreneur, and we can all learn from Vee that it all pays in the end.

She has also written a book titled Empowered: Live Your Life with Passion and Purpose, which serves as a guide to young people on how to achieve their dreams and aspirations. The book is a bestseller and has been critically acclaimed. Malala Youfszai, who is also a successful autobiographical author, describes Vee's book as being? “Dynamic and transformative,” which is high praise coming from a Nobel prize recipient.

Vee is also the founder and director of Empowered by Vee, which is described as “an academic empowerment organization bridging the gap between student ability and self-belief.”

This charity organization seeks to give students the skills required to successfully transition from high school to university and it is an extension of Vee Kativhu’s YouTube channel. It particularly focuses on students from low-income and underrepresented backgrounds and advances her agenda of making education accessible to all.?

Her ardent support for the cause of education has led to Vee meeting Michelle Obama, Prince William and many more highly esteemed individuals.? She is a risk-taker, a goal-getter and a committed individual.

She has managed to achieve great things and yet has still managed to keep a smile on her face. Her followers have described her as a “ray of sunshine,” and it is very fitting because she never fails to brighten your day with one of her videos

?This highlights the importance of attitude in any work that you do. There is no doubt that Vee's great attitude has been a key contributor to her success.?

It seems like Vee has done it all: Oxford and Harvard Graduate, recipient of numerous awards, bestselling author, social media influencer, successful study-tuber and much much more.

Whatever she has touched has, undoubtedly, turned to gold. However, one thing is assured about Vee Kativhu: she will keep setting the bar higher for herself. Her productivity, passion, and determination are unmatched, and whatever she achieves in the future will surely be great.