Regina Honu (née Agyare), is a Ghanaian social Entrepreneur, software developer and founder of Soronko Solutions, a software development company in

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

. She opened Soronko Academy, the first coding and Human-centered design school for children and young adults in West Africa. Honu has received multiple awards, including being named by

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...

as one of the 12 inspirational women who rock

STEM Stem or STEM may refer to: Plant structures * Plant stem, a plant's aboveground axis, made of vascular tissue, off which leaves and flowers hang * Stipe (botany), a stalk to support some other structure * Stipe (mycology), the stem of a mushro ...

. She was also named as one of the six women making an impact in Tech in Africa and one of the ten female entrepreneurs to watch in emerging economies. She has received attention with features on platforms such as CNN African Voices,

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

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as well as the Impatient Optimist blog by The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. In an interview with

's African Start-Up, she is described as a Ghanaian tech guru who wants to develop the next generation of women in technology. Honu's story was also published in Sheryl Sandberg's ''

Lean In ''Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead'' is a 2013 book encouraging women to assert themselves at work and at home, co-written by business executive Sheryl Sandberg and media writer Nell Scovell. Synopsis, by chapter The synopsis of the e ...

'' book. She was named as the 2016 Vlisco Brand Ambassador.

Early life and education

Regina Honu was born Regina Fremah Agyare. She attended Holy Child High School,

Cape Coast Cape Coast is a city, fishing port, and the capital of Cape Coast Metropolitan District and Central Region of Ghana. It is one of the country's most historic cities, a World Heritage Site, home to the Cape Coast Castle, with the Gulf of Guinea ...

for her secondary education. She is an alumna of Ashesi University and a member of the 2005 class.

Career

Soronko Academy

Honu founded Soronko foundation in 2012, which brought about Soronko Academy in 2017, to train children and young adults in coding, IT skills, Human-centered design in Ghana, West Africa. The academy was started to help young people especially women and equip them in technical and soft skills necessary to help them in the society and bridge the gender gap in technology. It is the first coding and Human-centered design school for children and young adults in West Africa. By 2021, the program is estimated to have trained over 20,000 women and girls.

Tech Needs Girls

Honu started the Tech Needs Girls Ghana movement which aims to train and educate more Ghanaian girls into studying technology- related courses. The movement is noted for teaching girls how to code. She runs Soronko Academy, the first coding and human-centered design school in West Africa, in association with the Tech Needs Girls program which has trained over 3,500 girls in Ghana and Burkina Faso.

Partnership

As part of World Autism Day 2018, Regina Honu partnered with Autism Ambassadors of Ghana for an Autism awareness session. The session helped to create awareness about autism and introduced an Autism Aid App which enable families of children living with Autism to access information from experts on how to take care of these kids.

Personal life

She got married in November 2015 and is now Regina Honu.

Awards and achievements

* Ashoka fellow * She is an

Aspen Institute The Aspen Institute is an international nonprofit organization founded in 1949 as the Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies. The institute's stated aim is the realization of "a free, just, and equitable society" through seminars, policy programs ...

New Voices Fellow * A Mandela Washington Fellow (Young African Leaders Initiative) * A member of the

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental and lobbying organisation based in Cologny, canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab. The foundation, ...

community of

Global Shapers The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental and lobbying organisation based in Cologny, canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab. The foundation, ...

Vital Voices Vital Voices Global Partnership is an American international, 501(c)(3), non-profit, non-governmental organization that works with women leaders in the areas of economic empowerment, women's political participation, and human rights. The organiz ...

VV lead fellow and part of the 100 exceptional women from the Vital Voices Global Leadership Network * A GOOD Global Fellow * She is a change leader with

Tigo Millicom International Cellular SA (NASDAQ U.S.: TIGO, NASDAQ Stockholm: TIGO_SDB) is a Luxembourgish fixed line and mobile telecommunications services provider dedicated to emerging markets in Latin America operating under the Tigo brand. As of D ...

Reach For Change Regina Honu at Rama Launch

* She recently won the 2017 Buffett Award for Emerging Global Leaders from

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

. *She was honoured as one of

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60 Young achievers with an outstanding performance in Technology * She was then awarded the Big Six award from

Ghana for her incredible contribution in Technology. * She won the 2016 Startup Entrepreneur of the year and her organization won the Social Enterprise Startup of the Year in the 2016 Ghana StartUp Awards. * She also won the JCI Ghana Outstanding Young Person award for scientific and technological advancement. * Her organization was nominated for the editor's choice award in the Women in IT award in the UK * She was a finalist for the ITU African Digital Woman of the Year. * She was awarded a Women of Courage Award for Technology * She is on the project advisory board to help advice the UN Committee for the Rights of a Child update the Convention for the Rights of the Child for a Digital Age * Tech Needs Girls was awarded in the 2014 Ghana CSR Diary Awards. * 100 Women of the year 2017 by the BBC

References

External links

Soronko Academy

KSM Show- Regina Honu CEO of Soronko Academy and her team hanging out with KSM

Girls and Women Talking Tech Interview 35 - Regina Honu and Lily Edinam Botsyoe

How Regina Honu is teaching thousands of girls how to create technology and code
{{DEFAULTSORT:Honu, Regina Living people People from Accra Social entrepreneurs Ghanaian computer scientists Ghanaian women computer scientists Ghanaian activists Ashesi University alumni 1980s births Alumni of Holy Child High School, Ghana Ashoka Fellows