Dr. Patricia Gonde (Zimbabwe)

Dr. Patricia Gonde

(⁠Head of Academics, Lusitânia Primary School, 

Global SDG Ambassador & Founder, BRIDGE / GLOW)

Dr. Patricia Gonde is a distinguished senior educational leader, international speaker, published author, and global philanthropist with over 34 years of impactful service in education and community empowerment. She currently serves as the Head of Academics at Lusitânia Primary School and is a Doctoral Candidate in Management Studies at the Kazian School of Management. 

A passionate advocate for sustainable development and servant leadership, Dr. Patricia is a Global Ambassador for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and a member of the prestigious Forttuna Global Excellence Council. She was recently honored at the Icons of Africa Awards as an African Youth Ambassador and received the Gold Award for Rural Impact at the Women Changing the World Global Summit in Paris. 

As a visionary changemaker, she is the founder of several transformative initiatives, including the Heartfelt Teachers Network Global, Girls Leading Our World (GLOW), and Building Relationships in Developing Girls, Women, and Educators (BRIDGE). Driven by the philosophy of Unhu/Ubuntu, Dr. Patricia dedicates her life to mentoring the next generation of educators and empowering vulnerable women and children across Africa. 

Concerning her Contributions to the WASH Sector: 

In alignment with SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation) and Agenda 2063, Dr. Patricia’s philanthropic work directly addresses infrastructure gaps and health equity in rural and developing educational environments. Her targeted initiatives include:

•⁠  ⁠Rural School Infrastructure Development: As the patron for development at Maguni School, she orchestrates critical rural infrastructure projects. This includes the current mobilization of resources for a dedicated Early Childhood Development (ECD) building block, paired fundamentally with the construction of modern student sanitation facilities to ensure rural children have access to clean, safe, and private hygiene spaces.

•⁠  ⁠Advocacy for Girls' Education and Hygiene: Through her organizations, GLOW and BRIDGE, she champions the intersection of water access, sanitation, and girls' education. She actively works to dismantle the barriers rural schoolgirls face due to inadequate sanitation, promoting menstrual hygiene management (MHM) and clean water access to keep girls in school.

•⁠  ⁠Community Health and Resource Mobilization: Operating with a grassroots, servant-leadership approach, she coordinates with corporate partners and local leadership to secure building materials (such as cement and plumbing resources) to establish sustainable water and sanitation systems in underserved communities, ensuring long-term health and dignity for children and educators alike.

(Information verified from Dr. Patricia Gonde's direct statement)