Varaidzo Kativhu

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Kathivhu in 2021 Head and shoulder shot of Vee Kativhu.jpg
Kathivhu in 2021

Varaidzo (Vee) Kativhu is a British Zimbabwean education activist and social-media personality. She has received a Diana Award and been listed on the BBC's 100 Women list in 2023 as a "Content creator and YouTuber".

Contents

Early life and education

Varaidzo Kativhu was born in Zimbabwe and grew up speaking the Shona language. When her father died, she moved to the UK at the age of seven. She first lived in England, then in Pontypridd in Wales and then moved to the West Midlands of England. [1] She attended Dudley College and worked at McDonald's in Birmingham. [1] [2] She was the first person from her school to go to the University of Oxford, where she studied classical archaeology and ancient history at Lady Margaret Hall. [1] [3] In 2021 Kativhu graduated with a Masters in international education policy from Harvard University, studying on-line because of COVID-19 restriction. [4] She subsequently began PhD research about education leadership at Claremont Graduate University in the USA. [5]

Career

Whilst at Oxford, she set up a YouTube channel in 2017 under the name Miss Varz and vlogged about her experiences of university. [3] [6] [7] Her friend and fellow student Malala Yousafzai appeared in some of her videos. [8] Afterwards kativhu set up the charity Empowered by Vee, to help to make higher education more accessible for men and women students from underrepresented and financially disadvantaged backgrounds. [3] [9] [5] In 2021, her self-help book Empowered: Live Your Life with Passion and Purpose was published. [10] She continued to be a StudyTuber and as of June 2025, her channel had 279,000 subscribers. [11] [12]

Awards and recognition

In 2021, Kativhu's achievements were recognised with a Diana Award [13] and the United Nations selected her as a young leader for the Sustainable Development Goals. [4] [14] She was listed on the BBC's 100 Women list in 2023 as one of the world's inspiring and influential women. [9] In 2024 Kativhu received an honorary degree from the University of Bradford. [15]

Publications

References

  1. 1 2 3 Thomson, Alice; Sylvester, Rachel (19 October 2017). "Varaidzo Kativhu: 'I just assumed Oxford university would be for the posh'" . The Times. Archived from the original on 7 September 2023. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  2. ↑ Marsh, Stefanie (27 November 2021). "Meet Vee Kativhu, the YouTuber who makes studying cool" . The Times. Archived from the original on 25 March 2023. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 "A conversation with YouTuber and girls' education activist Vee Kativhu". Assembly. 1 September 2021. Archived from the original on 27 September 2022. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  4. 1 2 "LMH alumna Vee Kativhu receives the Diana Award". Lady Margaret Hall. Archived from the original on 3 July 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  5. 1 2 "Empowered by Vee - Home". Empowered by Vee. Retrieved 5 October 2025.
  6. ↑ Tognotti, Chris (22 April 2018). "Malala Yousafzai & Her Best Friend At Oxford Unwind By Listening To Beyonce & Hard Same". Bustle. Archived from the original on 7 March 2021. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  7. ↑ "Five things from Oxfordshire". BBC News. 3 August 2018. Archived from the original on 29 November 2023. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  8. ↑ Corcoran, Kieran (21 April 2018). "Malala's YouTuber best friend says they stay up all night at Oxford listening to Beyoncé and eating Indian food". Business Insider. Archived from the original on 29 November 2023. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  9. 1 2 "BBC 100 Women 2023: Who is on the list this year? – BBC News". BBC News. 21 November 2023. Archived from the original on 28 November 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  10. ↑ Efemini, Claudia (6 September 2022). "Education activist Vee Kativhu's trip to Zimbabwe". New Zimbabwe. Archived from the original on 27 September 2022. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  11. ↑ "Vee Kativhu – YouTube". YouTube. Archived from the original on 14 August 2023. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  12. ↑ Fitzgerald, Clare (11 April 2019). "10 StudyTubers You Need To Check Out". Ten Eighty. Archived from the original on 21 March 2023. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  13. ↑ "THE 2021 DIANA AWARD ROLL OF HONOUR". The Diana Award. Retrieved 5 October 2025.
  14. ↑ "Influential young changemakers recognized by UN". UN News. 21 September 2022. Archived from the original on 10 June 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  15. ↑ "Hon-grad Vee's on a mission to change the world through education". University of Bradford. Retrieved 5 October 2025.
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