Mental health education is often introduced when a young person is already struggling. Thembelihle Zwane is interested in changing that timeline. Through Halo Sim Labs, the South African healthcare professional and entrepreneur is exploring what becomes possible when young people are taught how to understand emotions, navigate social challenges and make healthier decisions before those challenges escalate into crisis.
Her approach is shaped by an unusual combination of healthcare, psychology, education and technology. After witnessing the growing mental health challenges affecting young people, Zwane recognised that awareness alone was not enough. Young people needed opportunities to practise the emotional and social skills they were being encouraged to develop, in environments where it was safe to make mistakes, reflect and try again.
That insight became the foundation for Halo Sim Labs, an EdTech social enterprise using simulation-based learning to teach emotional intelligence, resilience, empathy, decision-making and mental health literacy.
Rather than asking learners simply to absorb information about mental health, the platform places them in realistic scenarios where they can engage with difficult social and emotional situations and consider the choices they make. Halo Sim Labs describes its philosophy simply: emotional intelligence cannot be memorised, it has to be experienced.
The model is already attracting interest. Halo Sim Labs currently reports interest from more than 39 schools, with hundreds of learners involved in pilot programmes, including schools in rural communities. Its work is designed to make preventative mental health education more practical and accessible, particularly for learners who may have limited access to traditional mental health resources.
For Zwane, however, building the technology is only one part of the work. She is also intentionally becoming the kind of leader capable of taking an ambitious idea through uncertainty and into sustainable impact.
“I am intentionally working on becoming a leader who can think beyond immediate challenges and focus on long-term impact,” she says. Her experience as a founder has taught her that vision is only the beginning. Turning an idea into something that can change lives requires resilience, discipline and the courage to keep moving even when the path is unclear.
That has meant stretching beyond the boundaries of her healthcare background and becoming increasingly comfortable in spaces that once felt unfamiliar. She is developing her confidence as a decision-maker, learning to trust her instincts while remaining open to feedback and continuous growth. At the same time, she is focused on building systems and teams that can carry the work beyond her individual contribution.
Empathy is central to that evolution. Zwane believes effective leadership requires more than knowing where you want to go. It requires listening carefully, understanding the needs of others and creating conditions in which people can thrive. That perspective is particularly relevant to the work she is doing with young people, where trust, emotional safety and genuine understanding are critical to meaningful learning.
Her five-year ambition is therefore much larger than growing a technology company. Zwane wants emotional intelligence and mental health literacy to be recognised as essential life skills, rather than optional additions to a young person’s education. She envisions a future where young people, regardless of their socioeconomic circumstances or where they live, can access practical tools to understand their emotions, navigate challenges and know when and how to seek support.
Halo Sim Labs is being built toward that future through school partnerships, pilot programmes, stakeholder engagement and continued development of its simulation-based learning experiences. The company’s current work includes a particular focus on underserved and rural communities, while its longer-term innovation roadmap is also considering accessibility for learners with disabilities.
The ambition reflects Zwane’s broader belief that prevention should be given as much attention as intervention. If young people can develop emotional competence before they encounter some of life’s most difficult moments, they may be better equipped to respond to pressure, relationships, conflict and uncertainty. In that sense, her work sits at the intersection of healthcare and education, but its potential reach is ultimately societal.
Her trajectory is already receiving recognition. Zwane has been recognised through initiatives including the FFIG 50 Under 50 Awards and the Global Recognition Awards, while Halo Sim Labs has also received recognition through the African Excellence Awards. She has continued to build her capabilities through professional development and entrepreneurship programmes, while taking her work into wider conversations around education, technology and youth wellbeing.
Yet one of the clearest lessons from her journey is not about recognition. It is about beginning before everything feels certain.
“For a long time, I believed I needed more experience, more qualifications or more certainty before pursuing bigger goals,” Zwane says. Her experience has taught her that growth happens through action and that confidence is built by consistently showing up, learning from setbacks and continuing to move forward.
It is a lesson she hopes other women will carry with them. Their ideas, perspectives and ambitions do not become valuable only once they have accumulated enough credentials or reached a particular level of seniority. Sometimes the first step is simply deciding that an idea is worth pursuing and trusting yourself enough to begin.
Zwane’s own work demonstrates what can emerge from that decision. She is taking knowledge shaped in healthcare and applying it to a problem that reaches far beyond a single profession, using technology to rethink how young people learn about themselves and each other. As Halo Sim Labs develops, her challenge will be to keep that vision grounded in evidence, accessibility and the realities of the communities she wants to serve.
The opportunity is significant. Across Africa, where access to specialised mental health services remains uneven, preventative education that can reach young people through existing learning environments could become an important part of a broader wellbeing ecosystem. Zwane is building toward that possibility by treating emotional intelligence not as a soft extra, but as a skill worth teaching, practising and strengthening.
Thembelihle Zwane is an honouree in the 2026 Future 54 Leading Women Cohort, recognising women shaping Africa through leadership, innovation, entrepreneurship and meaningful impact.
