Our team is made up of a diverse crew of employees, freelancers and support staff that expands and contracts depending on the project, event or collaboration, but we’d like to introduce you to our core champions.
Chibuye Susa “Susa”
Joanna Tosetto “Jojo”
Meet the Glue that Holds Us Together
Lonah Shawa “Shawa”
Meet the team
“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”
-African Proverb
Lonah is Head of Events and Productions Manager for all events worldwide. She’s Mwai’s right-hand woman and go-to for all things Exalt Africa. Lonah’s resume includes on-air appearances, modeling distinction, event success, and planning prowess. In possession of her modeling talent still today, you’ll often see her featured in our styled wedding and event shoots.
Family and friends are two forces that give Lonah’s life significant meaning and purpose. She’s caring and creative, introspective, and social. Lonah is our paradox that you can’t quite put in a box, and we adore her!
Favorite Drink: Tea, please!
What Others Say: Her loyalty is gold.
When She’s Home Alone: You’ll find her saying a prayer for strength and encouragement or grabbing a pillow, plate of food, comfy spot on the couch and eating until her tummy can’t take it anymore.
Jojo is full of mojo. She’s always working her magic on our content, calendar and creations. Jojo is our Office Manager and Social Media Manager. Like all of us, she is multi-talented and wears many hats. Her training is in events management and she deposits a wealth of insight and skills into many of the Exalt Africa businesses.
Favorite Drink: Tea with fresh mint
What Others Say: She thrives in the midst of chaos and always adds spontaneity and entertainment to life. Her loved ones never go without and you can always depend on her to stand up for you or show up when it counts.
When She’s Home Alone: You’ll find her cooking, baking and singing outloud to unwind from the bustle of life. Either that, or she’s soaking in the bath long past the time of pruned fingers and cold water because she’s immersed in a great show.
Susa is brainy, curious, thoughtful and engineering. She nurtures ideas to fruition and people through celebration. Susa goes out of her way to make people feel comfortable and implement a plan of action that’s going to deliver better results. She is our guest liaison in charge of customer care, support and hospitality. Her resume declares her skillfulness in project management and administration and her volunteer record tells the story of a woman passionate about development, education and community healing.
Favorite Drink: Coffee! Coffee! Coffee!
What Others Say: She embodies “ubuntu” and is always bringing people together, uplifting them or making them feel celebrated with a surprise event.
When She’s Home Alone: You’ll find her as comfortable as she can be with her favorite snack in hand and show on repeat.
Precious Kalunga Mwila-Michelo
Precious is the Business Development Manager for all of our brands across Exalt Africa. A beacon of efficiency and expertise, she helps us grow our organization and enhance the services we provide. From finding new opportunities to solidifying our processes, we’re stronger because of her talent and initiative.
Precious cultivates strong relationships and makes clients feel seen, heard, and understood. Full of positivity and delight, like her name, she is precious to our team.
Favorite Drink: It changes with her mood, but warm tea with honey and gin with lime are current faves.
What Others Say: You need a Precious in your life!
When She’s Home Alone: You’ll find her reading or with a pen and paper journaling her thoughts.
Josephine
Tembo
“Maddy”
Maddy is the Project Manager and Accounts Administrator for Exalt Africa. Cool and collected, she can think on the spot and find flexible alternatives to any obstacle. She organizes, plans, and implements our projects with incredible skill and attention to detail.
Witty and intelligent, Maddy keeps us on our toes and is always thoughtful about better and brighter ways of doing business. She handles every project and account with dependability, excitement, and sophistication, and is always generous with her time and talent.
Favorite Drink: From black tea to oolong tea, nothing beats a good cuppa or tropical smoothie for refreshment.
What Others Say: She’s not as quiet as she seems!
When She’s Home Alone: You’ll find her dancing, reading, and praying.
Dr. W.W. Chakanika (“Papa Wanga”) dedicated his entire life to uplifting Africa and her people. While he was our founder’s father first and foremost—playing the role of both mum and dad after Mwai lost her mother at a tender age (and refusing to leave her with anyone else throughout her childhood, so much so that she became lovingly referred to as his “handbag”)—he was also a dad to anyone who had the privilege to know him. He was a fierce family man, protector, advocate, and, perhaps most importantly, educator.
He was best known as an unmatched champion of the African education system— and shaping countless minds across Africa as vice chancellor.
Ask any one of his students, and they will all paint beautiful variations of the same picture: his lectures were filled with laughter; he never professed from a book but, rather, from the seemingly infinite knowledge he possessed within his mind and could draw upon at any time; he linked subject-matter to reality, rather than to tests; he taught students about their rights and how to fiercely protect those rights; and if you ever fell off track, he was the first person to encourage you to dig deep within yourself to see through your education and secure the freedoms that came with it.
Passionate, loyal, brilliant, empathetic, encouraging—while all of these words accurately describe Papa Wagna, they still somehow fall short. What, after all, do you call a man who gave countless minds the opportunity to learn, grow, and achieve their dreams? Who dedicated his life to uplifting his home country of Zambia and helping the world esteem Africa in higher regard? Who taught our founder to not work for herself, but to work for Africa and all of its people?
We do not know that we’ll ever find one right word to encompass all that Papa Wanga embodied—but what we do know is Africa is forever enriched because of his time on this Earth. It is our honor to carry on his legacy through our work here at Exalt Africa.
