Ms. Natalie Tadiwanashe Mhanda is a Zimbabwean multilingual communication scholar and practitioner, and an alumna of the University of Zimbabwe. She holds a Master’s degree in Language and Multicultural Communication and a BA Honours degree in Translation and Interpretation Studies. She works as a freelance translator and interpreter, facilitating intercultural dialogue across diverse linguistic communities. She also serves as an assistant editor for Royalty Books, contributing to manuscript development, scholarly refinement, and quality assurance in published works.

Her research and professional interests lie at the intersection of multicultural communication, Indigenous knowledge systems, decolonial epistemologies, and digital knowledge preservation. She is particularly interested in how African Indigenous knowledge can be documented, transmitted, and legitimized within formal research spaces while remaining grounded in community realities. Her work reflects a commitment to participatory research approaches and inclusive knowledge production that amplify marginalized voices.

As an AFRIAK Fellow, Tawida envisions contributing to rigorous, community-responsive research that advances African-centered scholarship, strengthens transnational academic collaboration, and fosters sustainable intellectual networks across the continent.