British-Malawian Shiba Melissa Mazaza is a South Africa-based campaigns manager and media strategist working with those that value new and exciting voices across Africa. At Mount Makeda, African creators can come together to ring in the next generation of culture creators who draw their strength from each other and from within — harnessing the power of a truly creative continent.

BACKGROUND

Starting as a music journalist at the now-defunct One Small Seed Magazine and Okayafrica in 2014, the following years saw her silently building an interest in the machinations of the music industry at large and how to navigate this ever-changing world in authentic ways. In 2018 she was named an honoree on the SheSaidSo Alternative Music Power List, started as a response to Billboard’s Power 100 List with the aim to challenge conventional music industry standards. Since then she has penned cultural content for internationally acclaimed platforms such as Red Bull Music, TRUEAfrica and Mixmag. She's cut her teeth through 2019 in SA's mother city working with management company Black Major, representing artists such as DJ Lag, Blinky Bill, Moonchild Sanelly and Bongeziwe Mabandla, and began a new decade in 2020 managing campaigns with Apple Music’s Platoon in the New Music Africa division, readying impassioned artists for the many realms of campaigning and content creation. Over the years she has also managed stages at, and programmed festivals at Design Indaba, Encounters International Film Festival, Cape Town Electronic Music Festival and Littlegig, as well as the hands-on task of discovering new talent for Afropunk, while traveling to participate in music markets and conferences such as IOMMA (Indian Ocean Music Market) & Sakifo Reunion, FEMUA Cote D’Ivoire, Oslo World Norway, Lake of Stars Malawi, By:Larm Norway and Atlantic Music Expo Cabo Verde.

Simultaneously, she enjoys a fruitful voice over career as the current voice of Volkswagen and Emirates, while building a non-profit organisation with her father, dubbed the African Consciousness Institute, which aims to contribute to the wellbeing of African creatives with the help of mindfulness, consciousness and spiritual health practices, cultivating unique narratives and lasting relationships around the globe.