With a background in computer science and a strong passion for empowering women, Regina Honu, one of Ghana’s first ‘Social Tech-preneurs’ has become a strong force in the Tech industry in Ghana. As an alumnus of Holy Child High School and Ashesi University, Regina is a software developer by profession, with eight years’ work experience and a social entrepreneur with an objective for using technology to drive social change.
Starting Soronko Academy
Soronko Academy was born once Regina left an initial prestigious job at an international bank where she was the first and only female in the IT department. During her time in this position, she received acclaim for the software developed. However, she was passed on for a promotion and not given the benefit of the interview because at the time she was a young female applying for a head position for a technical role. This led to immense frustration and the need to support women in similar situations.
It took Regina five years in that industry to step out on her own, combining her skills in computer science with her passion for empowering women and girls, and establish Soronko Solutions, a software development powerhouse and technology social enterprise.
About Soronko Academy
Soronko Academy is 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 program currently has 200 volunteers & mentors who are either computer scientists or engineers.
Over the years, Regina has been awarded both locally and globally for her impact in the tech industry. She has been featured by various media houses including CNN, as one of the inspirational women who rock STEM. She was also a winner of the Challenging Norms, Powering Economies initiative by Ashoka, UN Women, and Open Society Foundations for work to challenge gender norms in women’s economic empowerment.
Regina is a Mandela Washington Fellow, Ashoka Fellow, and an Aspen New Voices fellow. In 2016, she was selected as the Vlisco Ambassador, a role that continuously allows her to inspire women in Ghana through their Vlisco Women’s Mentoring Program, an initiative geared at providing guidance for young women on developing key skills in a variety of relevant areas.
