Regina Honu

Regina Honu founded Soronko Academy, West Africa's first coding and human-centred design school for children and young adults. By 2021 it had trained more than 20,000 women and girls. The BBC put her on its 100 Women list in 2017.

Background

She was born Regina Fremah Agyare and attended Holy Child High School in Cape Coast. She graduated from Ashesi University with the class of 2005 and founded Soronko Solutions, a software company.

Soronko

She set up the Soronko Foundation in 2012 and the academy in 2017 to teach tech and soft skills and narrow the gender gap in technology. Companies now hire women from its programmes. The team works with pastors, imams, mothers and teachers to back their students and uses a "reverse mentoring" model.

Recognition

CNN listed her among 12 inspirational women in STEM, and her story appears in Sheryl Sandberg's Lean In. She was Ghana StartUp Awards entrepreneur of the year in 2016, Vlisco brand ambassador in 2016 and winner of Northwestern University's Buffett Award for Emerging Global Leaders in 2017. She is an Ashoka Fellow and a Mandela Washington Fellow.