Zimbabwe Career Connect Internships - More Than Professional Development

Zimbabwe Career Connect is an initiative by Education Matters, aiding Zimbabweans and refugees with international education in transitioning to meaningful careers within Zimbabwe and Africa. The Internship Program matches second and third-year Zimbabwean and refugee students studying in countries like the U.S., Canada, India, Rwanda, Ghana, and many more, with Zimbabwean companies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) for hands-on, experiential learning. 

These internships allow students to gain valuable practical experience, apply their international education, and contribute meaningfully to Zimbabwe’s development. However, the program provides students with opportunities and experiences that far exceed professional development. 

Weekly Intern Skillbuilding Workshops 

Every week throughout the internship, interns gather at the Education Matters’ offices for sessions led by Education Matters’ staff and guest speakers. These sessions serve to expose interns to various topics of discussion to supplement their professional learning, as well allow for collaboration and network-building among the intern cohort. Session topics include The Art of Staying Relevant, Safeguarding, Personal Branding, Transitioning to Zimbabwe, and Investing in Zimbabwe. 

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Exploration Trip

As part of the internship experience, all interns take part in an exploration trip that includes an educational excursion, and a social activity to allow for connection-building and socialising among the interns. This last cohort visited the Art@84 Gallery in Harare to explore the arts in Zimbabwe, and also visited Mazowe Dam to enjoy the natural beauty of Zimbabwe and spend time participating in activities. This outing brought the intern group closer and also provided an opportunity for the interns to engage with Education Matters’ staff informally and learn more about the young professional experience living in Harare, outside of the work environment. 

‍Inter-Organisation Engagement

Interns are exposed to other companies/organizations in Zimbabwe through their peers’ experiences, but also through the program farewell where supervisors and colleagues from each organization are present and learn more about the different Education Matters’ ZCC partners. This April, we were also fortunate to have a professional development workshop on AI use from the UnCommon.org team. Interns were able to network with staff from the organizations represented, as well as better understand the different career paths available to them should they return to Zimbabwe after their graduation.  

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2026 First Cohort Intern Quotes 

What did your host organization do well?

Provided me with mentorship and guidance all throughout my internship...Helped me understand systems better...and also how to do presentations for large companies

Giving exposure to actual engineering work and skills

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What was the most impactful part of your internship experience?

Getting work experience and learning about the dynamics of work.....i got to learn a lot from my supervisors.....as well as my peers.I got to meet new people ,learn from them...and learn more about teamwork…

ZCC farewell day when we got feedback from multiple employer partners.

Being able to interact with non technical parents and teaching them about robotics and hardware so that they could prompt their children into Robotics.