Her passion to empower young women and girls in Science, Technology and Engineering drove her to quit her prestigious job at an international bank where she was the first and only female in the IT department.
She is described as a Ghanaian tech guru who wants to develop the next generation of women in technology.
Regina Honu, one of Ghana’s first ‘Social Tech-preneurs’ has become a force rocking shoulders with men in the Tech industry in Ghana.
She is the founder and CEO of Soronko Academy, the first coding and human-centered design school in West Africa where students are taught technical and soft skills such as coding, entrepreneurship, presentation skills and more.
So far, Soronko Academy has trained over 10,000 young people with 90% being women and girls in initiatives such as Tech Needs Girls, Women in Digital Skills, and Code Academy for the Deaf. These have taken place in eight regions in Ghana and has expanded to Burkina Faso in partnership with Tuares. The programme currently has 200 volunteers & mentors who are either computer scientists or engineers.
As Ghana marks International Women’s Day on March 8, we want to highlight trailblazing achievements of such an extraordinary woman who, through her effort, has empowered young girls who hitherto would not have ventured into the male-dominated science and technology industry.
The day marked worldwide is a time to reflect on progress made, to call for action in addressing persisting and widespread inequalities and violence against women and to celebrate acts of courage and determination by ordinary women who have played an extraordinary role in their countries including Ghana.
Her impact extends far beyond Ghana. In fact, she is a global citizen who was named as one of the six women making an impact in Tech in Africa and one of the 10 female entrepreneurs to watch in emerging economies.
My passion for putting this amazing woman on the spotlight is because I’m also beneficiary of her vision.
I benefitted from the Soronko Academy digital skills training, social media management and also build responsive websites with WordPress for free.
As part of the training activities, I also gained soft skills training in public speaking, CV writing and personal branding to equip myself with employable skills.
Many young ladies like myself have also been on coding. This project by Soronko Academy is in partnership with Rotary Club Accra – Airport and Rotary Club Limburgerhof/Vorderpfalz with the support of Rotary International.
Her motivation, she said started after a competition she won as a 16-year-old took her to Norway on an AFS study abroad programme.
From that transformative experience, she has not stopped questioning the status quo and is now making bold steps to change the lives of girls and women in Ghana and throughout Africa.
Once I came back, I started asking a lot of questions. I didn’t just take things for granted anymore. Now I really wanted to change the lives of other people, see things from their perspective. AFS transformed me and I am thankful for that experience that expanded my worldview.
The shy and reserved tech guru finds joy when young girls become more confident and find their voices after taking part in her training programmes. Some are also offered scholarships to further their education both home and abroad.
All these fetes achieved over the years did not come on a silver platter, she said.
Even now when I say I want to teach children to code, some people say it’s difficult, that children won’t understand it, especially the girls. Stereotypes that science and math are for boys are still present. It’s hard when a community doesn’t know what an empowered girl is. This was a difficult challenge, but we partnered with trusted community leaders. Once we had their support and endorsement it became easier for us.
Her plan for the future is to expand the curriculum to include the Internet of Things (the internet connection between computing devices embedded in everyday objects), Artificial Intelligence (AI) and robotics.
Each morning when I wake up, I am thankful for a new day and look forward to a bright future where my technology solutions and success stories will be replicated in other developing countries.
Accomplishments
Over the years, she has been awarded both locally and globally for her impact in the tech industry.
She was listed as one of BBC 100 most inspirational and innovative women for 2017. She was awarded the 2017 Northwestern University Buffet Institute for Emerging Global Leaders Award and awarded by Coca Cola in the Coca Cola young achievers award as one of the big six and a leader in technology. She was also unveiled as the 2016 Vlisco Brand Ambassador. Regina won Startup Entrepreneur of the year and Soronko Solutions won Social Start-up of the year for 2016 at the Ghana Startup Awards. She was awarded Young Entrepreneur of the year by the GPA Awards from Africa 2.0 and JCI Ghana Outstanding Young Person award for scientific and technological advancement. Soronko Solutions was nominated for the editor’s choice award in the Women in IT award in the UK.
She is an Ashoka Fellow, Aspen Institute New Voices Fellow, GOOD Fellow, Global Shaper of the World Economic Forum, Vital Voices Fellow and a Change Leader with Tigo Reach For Change. She belongs to the Africa Leadership Initiative, West Africa. Mrs Honu is currently a Global Shaper of the Accra Hub, part of the World Economic Forum.