Michell Mamombe ’27 has first-hand knowledge of hurdles girls in her hometown of Gweru, Zimbabwe, face to realize their potential. In addition to gender discrimination and stereotypes writ large, most high school girls are not aware of programs that exist to help them succeed.
Mamombe seeks to remove some of those obstacles starting this summer and has been awarded both a Projects for Peace grant and Donald A. Strauss Foundation award to support her project.
UNBOUNDED is the name of the girls’ club she is starting. The club is equipping 35 girls at Matinunura High School with hands-on skills in research methods, coding, and social entrepreneurship.
“The program will serve as a steppingstone,” says Mamombe, “encouraging girls to look and aim higher. I want them to use those skills to solve problems in the communities they are in and to learn to be change makers and leaders.”
Mamombe feels very fortunate to have found out about opportunities that brought her to where she is now. A high school physics teacher encouraged her to apply to USAP Community School, a residential 11th- and 12th-grade school started in 2020 that educates high-achieving, low-income Zimbabwean students. A scholarship-funded education sounded too good to be true, and her parents required a lot of convincing to let her attend.
At USAP, she joined a 24-person cohort of students in her grade and was exposed to opportunities including national and international science fairs and a capstone fellowship. The school also supported her in her college application process.
The small size of Pomona College drew her in and has since provided myriad ways to pursue her chemistry focus.
The summer after her first year, she conducted research in the lab of Professor of Chemistry Chuck Taylor. There, she synthesized Metallic Organic Frameworks, which led to an opportunity to present at the American Chemical Society Spring 2025 Meeting. Now she is a part of the lab of Professor of Chemistry Jane Liu, which has been “a significant intersection to explore biochemistry as a chemistry major,” says Mamombe.
In the long term, Mamombe hopes to attend graduate school and conduct research in chemical biology.
UNBOUNDED, in many ways, brings her passions for social change and science together.
The lens through which the girls are learning about social entrepreneurship, coding and research methods is a chemistry one, as they explore ways to purify water in their community, making it safer to drink.
“I've always been passionate about bringing change, and being a chemistry major does not change the fact that I want to be impactful in my community,” says Mamombe.
For her project, Mamombe recruited teachers at Matinunura High School to be “the pillar of the club” as well as tutors through the nonprofit Girls in Tech Zimbabwe and volunteers through Empowered Youth Generation, an NGO in Zimbabwe.
Mamombe was overjoyed when she learned that she would be able to implement her project through the two awards.
Projects for Peace, which “encourages young adults to develop innovative, community-centered, and scalable responses to the world’s most pressing issues” awards $10,000 for efforts carried out between May and August.
The Strauss Foundation awards $15,000 to juniors and seniors at California colleges and universities for a year as they “undertake a high-impact project in public service or social change.”
“When young women perceive they are valued and capable, they respond to the expectations,” Mamombe says. “There is a need to empower and nurture girls to become leaders of tomorrow in a traditionally male-dominated society. To achieve this, bold and transformative measures must be taken.”