Lena Nozizwe with Katie Couric
Emmy award-winning broadcaster, author and educator Lena Nozizwe’s (Len-nuh No-zeez-way’s) life story reads like an improbable movie plot.
She has been beating the odds since she almost died at birth in a tiny village in Malawi, Africa. The pioneering reality show, This is Your Life, plucked her family from that village so that Lena’s mother, Dr. Alice Princess Msumba Siwundhla, could star in the program hosted by the legendary Ralph Edwards.
Once in the land of opportunity Nozizwe faced her share of challenges. She was the original Ugly Betty who was tormented by critics who told her she was too ugly and too stupid to achieve her dreams.
“I found refuge in the library. Whenever I was between the covers of a book I was accepted, captivated and inspired,” says Nozizwe.
Among her favorite books were self-enhancement books. It’s no accident that she would grow up to write a motivational book herself, Starring in Your Own Life (ISBN-13: 978-0-7432-1811-50), published by Simon & Schuster. Her books now sit on the shelves of the libraries in where she once found solace.
At the age of 17 Lena published her first national article in Seventeen Magazine. At 18 she wrote and produced a school project at San Diego City College that turned into an Emmy nominated special on ABC-affiliate KGTV.
After graduating with a journalism degree from San Diego State University Lena was hired at KFMB AM-FM radio where she covered news and hosted a series of taped and live radio programs and won a number of awards, including a New York Film Festival Silver Award for a story she contributed to Associated Press Radio.
From radio Lena made the move down the hall to CBS-affiliate KFMB TV to become an on-air reporter. There she covered everything from fires to floods-- the homeless to Hollywood. Her work at KFMB TV earned her an Emmy, a Golden Mike and a C Everett Koop Award.
Lena left San Diego for Washington DC to become the original on-air correspondent-producer for Fox's America’s Most Wanted. Assignments have taken her around the world, from Dublin to Brooklyn, Stockholm to South Central, Paris to Portland. Along the way Nozizwe has interviewed everyone from Gwen Stefani to Little Richard to Merv Griffin.
Along the way she has covered a number of major news stories including the Oklahoma City bombing, the West Memphis Three, the murder of designer Gianni Versace. She scored a number of exclusives in reporting the murders of rappers Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls, including a jailhouse interview with Death Row CEO Suge Knight.
She was nominated for a national Emmy, which pitted her against the likes of Andy Rooney and Peter Jennings. She didn't win that night but, as she puts it, “I was in the room,” at New York City’s Waldorf Astoria to be precise.
Nozizwe has also appeared on BET, SKY TV, Hallmark TV and ESPN.She has never forsaken her love for writing for print and she’s been published in a variety of venues including Complete Woman, Vibe and Malawi First.
Her spontaneity, honesty and quick wit have made her a popular speaker for youth groups, high schools, colleges, churches, women’s associations, and literary groups around the world, including the University of Malawi, Virginia Tech, Northern Caribbean University, the Congressional Leadership Council, the Diamond Literary Festival, African American Women on Tour and Federally Employed Women.
Her message to students and adults alike is, “It’s all about the inner bling.” Translate: It’s not what you have on the outside if you don’t shine on the inside. Nozizwe guides her audiences on ways to maintain enduring radiance, which include finding your starring role and casting co-stars who will make you shine.
She uses her production and promotional skills as the head of company, Malume Media.
She’s currently in post-production on her documentary, Hut to Hollywood. Clips are now available online. Through Malume Media Nozizwe also works, on a limited basis, consulting, marketing and promoting artists and businesses.
Education has made an enormous difference in her life and she occasionally lectures on journalism and public relations at her alma mater, San Diego State, where she was named Most Influential Professor in 2002.
Her interests include photography, computers, knitting, sewing, flower arranging, eating, baking and cooking food from around the world, especially vegetarian and Malawian cuisine.