My name is Collines Mugisha and people who know me would say I’m relaxed, friendly, approachable, confident, intelligent, Creative innovative, hard working, kind generous, a good observer, and business minded. I love seeing the creativeness around the city and love attending social enterprise events, pitching and learning from incubators and accelerators. I really enjoying applying my engineering and innovation skills to come up with new and creative ideas. I also love networking and making friends alongside cooking.
Growing up as a first generation immigrant, I’ve faced unique challenges and had no mentor to understand the current world changes and way of life. I was motivated to overcome my challenges by surrounding myself with likeminded people that spoke highly of themselves and their accomplishments. While education as a valuable stepping stone for my life, it has also come with its own challenges. But I have learnt the importance of focusing on the goal at hand, regardless of the ups and down.
I heard about Babbasa through a friend at a networking event. He referred me and assured me that it was worth a try. I became a Youth Ambassador for and hosted the Business and Finance event with City of Change. I learned to host and learn a lot about virtual communication skills, networking and acquired knowledge about business start-up stages from one of the panellists. I also learnt how to prepare for presentation, manage my time effectively and learn effective communication skills.
Zoe, the Challenge Lead, was such an amazing help during the programme. She kept me motivated and optimistic for the betterment of my personal development with interpersonal skills. I have gained effective communication skills as we had to write a cases study and also improved my confidence levels towards public speaking. I was also lucky to meet interesting individuals with similar mindsets and hoping to learn and develop more.
Networking with Babbasa has given me the opportunity to become more resilient and take on roles that will bring about change, equality and inclusion. Looking ahead I want to create as many jobs to employ young people to develop their ideas and eradicate poverty for all. I’m looking forward to getting mentored to start my own business hoping to employ others.
The only advice is that we are our ancestors wildest dream they knew we can make it as long as we do it. Liking what you do is happiness and doing what you like if freedom.
We believe Bristol’s most marginalised deserve access to support at their own pace; have their voices heard; and have access to real work opportunities.
Do you believe that too? then get in touch!