Tanatswa Amanda Chikaura
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Tanatswa Amanda Chikaura is a Zimbabwean mental health advocate, researcher and founder. She is the founder and director of the Ndinewe Foundation, a Zimbabwean organisation focused on youth mental health. She is also a PhD researcher at the University of Cambridge, where her research focuses on autism, mental health and suicide prevention. In 2025, she was selected as one of the United Nations Young Leaders for the Sustainable Development Goals.[1]
Early life and education
Chikaura is from Zimbabwe. She studied psychology at the University of Zimbabwe, where she completed a Bachelor of Science Honours degree in psychology. She subsequently studied at the University of Cambridge, completing an MPhil in Basic and Translational Neuroscience in 2023 before beginning doctoral research.
Chikaura was awarded a Beit Cambridge Trust Scholarship to pursue postgraduate study in the United Kingdom. The Beit Trust identifies her as a Zimbabwean scholar who completed the MPhil in Basic and Translational Neuroscience at Cambridge and describes her as the founder and director of the Ndinewe Foundation.
Career and research
Chikaura's professional work has combined mental health advocacy with academic research. She has worked with organisations involved in youth empowerment, mental health and research, with a particular focus on improving mental health awareness and support for young people.
At the University of Cambridge, Chikaura is a PhD candidate affiliated with the Autism Research Centre and the Department of Psychiatry. Her research interests include autism, mental health and suicide prevention.
She has also contributed to research on mental health and lived experience. In 2023, she wrote about her participation in the Lived Experience Advisory Group for the Atlas of Longitudinal Datasets project, a Wellcome-funded initiative examining longitudinal datasets relevant to mental health research.
A 2025 manuscript on factors contributing to suicidality among autistic people lists Chikaura as a co-author alongside researchers from the University of Cambridge and other institutions.[2]
Ndinewe Foundation
Chikaura founded the Ndinewe Foundation, a youth mental health organisation based in Zimbabwe. The organisation focuses on mental health education, awareness, peer support and initiatives aimed at children, adolescents and young people. The Diana Award reported that the foundation provided mental health education in marginalised urban communities and had reached thousands of people through social media and hundreds of young people through support and workshops. The organisation also collaborated with the Ministry of Youth, the police and professional psychologists on mental health advocacy.
In an account of her work with the foundation, Chikaura described its approach as focusing on mental health in the Zimbabwean context and incorporating young people's experiences into its programmes.[3]
Awards and recognition
In 2022, Chikaura was recognised as one of the honourees in the Junior Chamber International (JCI) Zimbabwe Ten Outstanding Young Persons programme for her work in psychology and mental health advocacy.
In 2023, Chikaura received The Diana Award for her work in mental health advocacy through the Ndinewe Foundation. The award's official Roll of Honour describes her work providing mental health education and support to young people in Zimbabwe.
She has also received recognition from youth and mental health organisations in Zimbabwe. The Young African Leaders Summit named her its Young Leader of the Month for June 2026 and highlighted her work in youth mental health advocacy and research.
United Nations Young Leader for the SDGs
In 2025, Chikaura was selected as one of 17 United Nations Young Leaders for the Sustainable Development Goals. The United Nations Youth Office programme recognises young people working to advance the Sustainable Development Goals and related areas of social development.
The University of Cambridge reported that Chikaura was 26 years old when she was selected and described her as a Hughes Hall PhD candidate whose research focuses on autism, mental health and suicide prevention. The university also highlighted her role as founder and director of the Ndinewe Foundation.
The United Nations subsequently featured Chikaura in its youth programming, describing her as a Zimbabwean PhD researcher at Cambridge and founder and director of Ndinewe.
In July 2026, the United Nations published a feature on Chikaura's mental health advocacy and her work with Ndinewe, describing the organisation's provision of mental health resources, peer support and education for young people in Zimbabwe.[4]
See also
- Sustainable Development Goals
- Mental health
- Youth activism
- University of Cambridge
- Ndinewe Foundation
References
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