Nonhlanhla’s career in operations and supply chain management started during her first bachelor in Zimbabwe: BSc (Hons) Applied Mathematics.
Upon completing her first bachelor in 2006, she received a position as a logistician for the Dutch section of Doctors Without Borders (MSF). She started off as a general logistics and was quickly elevated to the position of Supply Logistician where she focused primarily on drug supply and inventory management in this resource-poor setting.
In 2008 Nonhlanhla achieved her second bachelor’s degree in the Netherlands: BSc (Hons) International Business Administration, as well as her MSc in Economics and Business. During this period, she performed research work on humanitarian operations and interned within the Procurement Unit of MSF in Amsterdam for over 6 months. She eventually became a board member within MSF in Amsterdam having been elected primarily for my knowledge and experience in humanitarian logistics and supply chain management. She served for a single term of 3 years which ended in 2015 and overlapped with the start of my PhD- also in the Netherlands.
Currently, Nonhlanhla primarily conducts research and teaches but has also taken on some projects to remain in touch with the humanitarian world. One of the projects she has been involved in since 2016 is a data improvement intervention in Afghanistan. This is a multi-million-pound project sponsored by the Global Vaccine Alliance (Gavi) which ultimately seeks to improve the availability of, and access to, vaccines all over Afghanistan so as to combat childhood deaths.