Active Global Citizen |
Regina Honu, Soronko Solutions |
Tackling |
SDG #4 Quality Education, SDG #10 Reduced Inequality |
Role |
Founder of Soronko Solutions, Soronko Academy, Tech Needs Girls |
Contribution |
Regina questions the status quo and makes bold steps to change the lives of girls and women in Ghana and throughout Africa. Her initative, Tech Needs Girls teaches girls from underprivileged or disadvantaged communities (so far 5,500 girls from eight regions in Ghana) coding skills, critical thinking and problem solving. |
Quote |
“Today’s world requires that children explore their creativity and get more practical knowledge and skills. Education should give them local context relevance, such as why certain problems exist and what resources are available to tackle them. Technology can bridge many infrastructural gaps and help create a virtual world for children to explore and push boundaries.” |
Regina is the CEO of Soronko Solutions. Faced with resistance and misperceptions about the full potential of girls, this young software designer founded the first coding and human-centered design school for children and young adults in West Africa.
Her “Tech Needs Girls” movement is making studying STEM subjects—science, technology, engineering and math—particularly exciting to young Ghanaian women who often are not encouraged to set their sights beyond the home. Regina—who credits her own participation in an AFS exchange program for opening us her world and worldview beyond her roots in Ghana—continues her work using technology to improve lives beyond these learning programs. So far, these programs have trained more than 3,500 girls in Ghana and Burkina Faso. Last year she partnered with Autism Ambassadors of Ghana to introduce an Autism Aid app that provides vital expert information on caring for autistic children.
Regina belongs to the African Leadership Network and the Africa Leadership Initiative West Africa. She is a Mandela Washington Fellow and has received numerous recognition for her work, including beling featured on CNN as one the 12 inspirational women who rock STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), being named as one of the six women making an impact in Tech in Africa and one of 10 female entrepreneurs to watch in emerging economies.
The 2018 AFS Global Citizen of the Year Award was presented to Regina Honu.
Connect and network with Regina as well as other Active Global Citizens and leading 21st century education stakeholders at the AFS Global Conference: Active Global Citizenship—and How to Educate for It, 9-11 October in Montreal.
Register for the AFS Global Conference
Today’s world requires that children explore their creativity and get more practical knowledge and skills. Education should give them local context relevance, such as why certain problems exist and what resources are available to tackle them.
—Regina Honu in interview to AFS Intercultural Programs