Profile of Rachel Nyaradzo Adams
Rachel Nyaradzo Adams is the founder of Narachi
Leadership, a leadership consultancy aimed at developing
deep benches of leaders for the African continent. Frustrated
by the constant criticism of poor leadership on the continent,
and equipped with leadership training approaches from some
of the best institutions known to the world, Rachel has merged
her frustration with her expertise in leadership development to
help leaders transform themselves and their environments. In
this work she offers her expertise as a leadership practitioner,
ontological coach, mentor and speaker. She works with
corporates, entrepreneurs, teams and individuals. Her particular passion is working with
emerging leaders across Africa (she has worked with emerging leaders from seventeen
African countries thus far) whose currently under-mined potential will be the catalyst for the
continent’s transformation.
Rachel is also passionate about expanding opportunities for growth and engagement within
educational institutions. Her previous role was with Yale University where she led the
launch of its Africa Initiative as Associate Director for Africa. Here she helped to initiate and
develop partnerships between the university and African institutions in both the public and
private sectors. She also supported admissions recruitment in Africa making sure that
talented young Africans from diverse backgrounds have better access to Yale. She helped
build Yale’s African alumni networks and to expand press and social media coverage of Yale
on the continent.
Other roles were with McKinsey and Company as head of the McKinsey Leadership
Program (MLP) which she co-designed, implemented and managed. She also worked with
the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation as Regional Program Manager for leadership and
entrepreneurship, Gauteng Region. Rachel is a Mandela Rhodes Scholar, a Desmond Tutu
Leadership Fellow, a Mellon Mays Fellow and a Felix Scholar. She is a recipient of the Mellon
Mays Leadership and Service Award. She read for her Masters in African Studies at the
University of Oxford (St. Anthony’s College) and her Bachelor of Social Science in Social
Anthropology and Media at the University of Cape Town. She also writes on various topics
including race relations, culture, education and leadership and speaks on panels and events
relevant to leadership development and education.
65 Goodhope Rd, Goodhope, Westgate, Harare, Zimbabwe
+263 77 553 5283 | +27 60 459 9849, [email protected]
Summary of leadership expertise and offerings
Rachel has been working in leadership development all of her career. She has closely trained,
coached and mentored leaders at all levels (see testimonials on page 2). She is known for
being razor-sharp at identifying the leadership gaps in an individual or an environment and
enabling individuals and teams to create the leadership solutions that can transform them
and their environments. Her time at Mckinsey & Company honed her skills in delivering
leadership content through facilitated workshops and coaching. Her time at Yale saw her
designing content for leadership programs like Barack Obama’s Young African Leaders
Initiative (YALI) program (now Mandela Washington Fellowship), Yale Young Global
Scholars program (YYGS) and Yale’s Young African Scholar’s program (YYAS), all
distinctive programs developing emerging leaders for the continent and the globe. Her
backgrounds in anthropology and African studies enable a deep understanding of the
continent. These have equipped her with the insight to create content that speaks to the
specificity of our leadership challenges AND possibilities in Africa. She combines local
African examples of tradition and leadership with global leadership themes to create locally
relevant AND globally competitive workshops. Because of their local resonance, these
workshops challenge mindsets and provide tools for authentic, creative and courageous
leadership.
Her training as an ontological coach equips her with the coaching skills to help groups and
individuals shift the way they perceive and experience their world therefore enabling them
to access new possibilities that they may not have previously been able to access. Her
coaching approach connects leaders to the language, emotions and dispositions for effective
and authentic leadership.
Testimonials
“Rachel Nyaradzo Adams, founder of Narachi Leadership, is unmatched to any workshop
consultant we’ve ever had at ZOL Zimbabwe. She is an absolute professional. The skill set
she brought in conducting our Effective Communication workshop is flawless. Her
information dissemination was meticulous and non-harassing; she created a highly
conducive workshop environment that assisted us to tackle a topic that most people
assumed they are good at. Our entire staff compliment cannot stop talking about how
powerful and life changing her programme was. I strongly recommend Rachel for
65 Goodhope Rd, Goodhope, Westgate, Harare, Zimbabwe
+263 77 553 5283 | +27 60 459 9849, [email protected]
Communication and Leadership coaching as we will definitely be looking for ways to work
with her going forward.”
Chenai Penduka, Head of Customer Experience, ZOL Zimbabwe
"We invited Rachel Nyaradzo Adams to speak at our Winter School on the state of business
and politics. Her global exposure means that she can bring perspectives that are both fresh
and compelling while being locally relevant. She clearly has a passion for empowering
professionals to be skilful in their leadership and bringing them up to speed with global
standards. She puts a lot of research into making her delivery powerful. I look forward to
working with her again in the future and would strongly recommend her as both a speaker
and a facilitator".
Lovemore Kadenge, President, Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators
"Rachel's workshop on "Leading from your strengths" is extremely useful no matter the age
of her audience. She led workshops for high performing secondary school students from
around the world at Yale and for high performing African students of the same age at the
Yale Young African Scholars Program. By leading the students through the thought exercise
of exploring their natural strengths, the students were exposed to new concepts that truly
impacted their goals and outlook on their futures. It was so wonderful to see the light bulbs
turning on!"
Erin Schutte, Deputy Director of Yale Young Global Scholars program, Yale University
“Rachel is incredibly gifted! My coaching journey with her remains one of the greatest
experiences of my entire life. She created a safe, open and understanding space for me where
I was able to explore and own my story (as I am) then use that as a way to reflect and create
an enlightened new path for myself. I feel lighter and authentically myself after our journey
together. I would highly recommend Rachel to every young African Leader who is wanting
to lead their lives and make a positive difference in this continent.”
Neliswa Fente, Founder, SpringAGE
“If I think about your strengths as a coach, you are not only passionate but are extremely
gifted in leadership development. You have an amazing talent of knowing when to care and
comfort but also when to push and challenge a person to grow. You are also a great reader of
peoples’ mindsets and picking out subconscious destructive thought patterns that could
hinder a leader’s impact. You are a dedicated professional who makes a conscious effort to
develop yourself in order to develop others.”
Moshebi Thulo, Coachee
65 Goodhope Rd, Goodhope, Westgate, Harare, Zimbabwe
+263 77 553 5283 | +27 60 459 9849, [email protected]