Emzingo is a Swahili word typically spelled m’zingo. It means “community” or “circle” in different dialects. It stresses the importance of the community and bringing others together to work together. One of our founders, a Haitian-Congolese American, speaks Swahili and thought the word held a lot of meeting for what we intended to accomplish. We added the “E” to make it easier for all of us Anglophones to pronounce.

Our tagline: “Preparing Leaders. Empowering communities.” refers to our dual purpose of building responsible leaders by engaging them in social impact projects that help amazing organizations have an even greater impact in their communities. All of our projects look to build the capacity and capabilities of local organizations and leaders and to broaden and strengthen their reach within their communities.

Emzingo was founded in 2010 by three MBA students at IE Business School in Madrid. Ramon Marmolejos, Drew Bonfiglio, and Amani M’bale, began their MBA at the onslaught of the financial crisis in 2008. Just about the time they arrived in Madrid, Lehman Brothers collapsed. With the ensuing crisis that enveloped the entire global economy, massive bailouts that shook Capitol Hill, and the irresponsible BP oil spill that spread through the Gulf in 2010, they realized that we not only had a crisis of financial markets, but that we also had a crisis of LEADERSHIP in the world.

They realized the need for this next generation of leaders to be so much more responsible to society, to each other, and to the environment. Though the business environment had changed, not much of business teaching had changed. And they recognized they needed to disrupt the way that education was taught, by actually asking students to get their hands dirty and learn first hand about the major problems facing the world and society including poverty, inequality, corruption, greed, and failed leadership.

Students had to open their own eyes to the world around them and leave their comfort zones, to achieve a true, deeper learning. Learning by doing. Learning by thinking. And perhaps most importantly, Learning by Reflecting. This was, above all, a leadership crisis, and they decided to focus on providing responsible leaders with the tools to take responsible actions.

At the same time, the three founders had experience in the public and non-profit sectors. They observed that many organizations often struggled because they lacked the strategic vision or processes that were present in the for-profit sector. So they had an epiphany. What if we combined on-the-ground leadership training with consulting projects that brought for-profit frameworks to the public sector and brought public-sector experience to the for-profit sector? With that, our award-winning Emzingo NexGen Fellowship was born. And we have thankfully been growing ever since.

Collaborative, honest, and straightforward. We're here to guide the process, bring ideas to the table, and keep things moving.

We offer flexible pricing based on project type and complexity. After an initial conversation, we’ll provide a transparent quote with no hidden costs.

You can reach us anytime via our contact page or email. We aim to respond quickly—usually within one business day.