Before joining the Master of Public Policy (MPP) at the Blavatnik School, Ropafadzo, "The StartUpBae", was already working at the centre of Zimbabwe’s entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem.
At Elevate Trust, a youth-focused non-profit, she supported young people to turn ideas into viable ventures, while also engaging directly with government, universities and the private sector.
She joined the organisation four years ago and served as Chief of Staff, overseeing programming and advising the director. Alongside this, she led the entrepreneurship pillar. “Under the incubation hub, we worked with young people to take their ideas and commercialises them into running businesses,” she says.
“I was driven by my passion to see Africa rise through the power of young entrepreneurship.”
Her work also involved collaboration with the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, helping to develop innovation and incubation programming across universities. Ropafadzo often found herself acting as an intermediary across the ecosystem – “I was trying to be a go-between between the private sector, government, and universities”, she explains.
After several years in this space, Ropafadzo began to reflect on how she could scale her impact further.
“I realised that what I was doing was creating ripples, which are important, but I wanted to make waves.” she says. “The real foundation of creating lasting impact in the entrepreneurship space is to be involved in policy.”
That insight motivated her to apply for the MPP. Having previously completed a Master of Laws at the University of Cape Town, Ropafadzo had spent time analysing policies across the continent.
“Across Africa, there are so many great policies and laws on paper,” she says. “But they’re not being implemented. I was curious why this was and wanted the MPP to help me craft something that is more implementable.”
Once on the programme, the experience challenged her expectations. Rather than being primarily theoretical, the MPP combined policy theory with practical application, shaped by a diverse cohort.
“There are 140 people from completely different backgrounds,” she says. “I’m learning alongside people from all these different fields and I'm starting to consider how change can look different in every region.”
One of the most significant aspects of the MPP for Ropafadzo is its collaborative culture. “They tell you the MPP is a team sport,” she says, “and you think, with 140 people, how can that be? But it really is.”
She has found the peer-led learning environment especially valuable. Beyond formal lectures, students regularly organised their own study sessions, with those who had expertise in areas such as economics taking time to support others.
“When I arrived, I knew nothing about economics,” she says. “What really saved me were the student-led discussions. People with experience in certain areas take time out to help the next person.”
For Ropafadzo, this support meant she never felt isolated in the programme. “You will never feel alone,” she adds. “There’s always someone ready to extend help.”
Through applied modules and role play, the MPP has also reshaped how she understands government and policymaking, developing greater empathy for the realities of public institutions.
The Policy Challenge module, delivered by Professor Emily Jones, was particularly formative. Role play encouraged her to think carefully about incentives, power, and the reasoning behind political decisions.
“You start to think about what would have made someone think in this way,” she says. “What are the trade-offs, and what is the philosophy behind what’s being suggested?”
Guest speakers also left a strong impression. Ropafadzo highlights Dr James Manyika, Vice President at Google-Alphabet, and former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. Ardern’s reflections on leadership resonated deeply.
“She spoke about her journey to become Prime Minister and empathetic leadership,” Ropafadzo says. “It inspired me to think that I could become a leader one day too, there is a place for my kindness even there.”
As an Oxford–Oak Zimbabwe Scholar, Ropafadzo also reflects on the importance of financial security in shaping her experience of the MPP.
“The fact that I’m able to be here and to have that belief in my leadership has been amazing,” she says.
Looking ahead, Ropafadzo plans to return to Zimbabwe and continue working at the intersection of innovation, entrepreneurship and policy. She hopes to contribute more formally to policy review and advisory work, particularly around intellectual property structures for universities and student innovators both in Zimbabwe and Africa.
Alongside her studies, she has begun exploring this space in practice through her role with the Oxford-Africa Conference 2026, where she leads the Seed Innovation Fund. The experience has reinforced her interest in how innovation initiatives are structured and governed, and how policy and institutions can support African innovators. She hopes to apply these insights back home to connect government, universities and the private sector.
“I want to bring all the parties in this ecosystem together,” she says, “and implement what I’ve been learning here into what they’re already doing”.