Lindiwe Matlali is driven by the belief that no child should be left behind by the tech revolution. Her mission to bring science into children’s classrooms—underprivileged children especially, and girls in particular—led to her founding Africa Teen Geeks. It’s an NGO that teaches children and unemployed youth how to code, exposes them to computer science, and inspires a future generation of technology entrepreneurs and innovators. Lindiwe has won many awards including the 2019 Commonwealth Point of Light awarded by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and the Motsepe Foundation Shining Light award. She was also the first African to win the Digital Female Leader award by the German Global Digital Women 2019 network and was the MTN Women in ICT Community Builder Recognition Award winner in 2018. This resulted in her being selected to join the South African Presidential Commission on the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). Lindiwe holds degrees and qualifications from the University of Cape Town, Stanford University, the University of Pretoria and Columbia University.

   

Sooinn is the co-founder and CEO of Enuma Inc., a children’s educational software company changing the paradigm of basic education through digital learning. By pioneering innovative approaches to her design, Sooinn has developed many highly acclaimed applications that engage the wide range of young learners around the world, including those with special needs, in independent and effective learning. Most notably, in 2019, Kitkit School, developed under Sooinn’s leadership, was announced a co-winner of the Global Learning XPRIZE competition, which challenged teams globally to develop a solution that could teach children in remote villages of Tanzania to read, write and do math independently. Sooinn also led the development of Enuma’s Todo series applications with over 8 million downloads, and also designed Project Injini for young learners with special needs. Sooinn aspires to bring the most innovative and effective digital solutions to children worldwide and continues to develop Enuma as a vehicle to showcase how digital tools can be used, and must be used, to achieve quality education for all. Born in Korea, Sooinn lives in Berkeley, California with her family. Prior to co-founding Enuma, Sooinn was a Corporate Strategist at NCSOFT and a game designer. In 2017, Sooinn was named an Ashoka Fellow.

   

Aref Husseini is challenging traditional teaching methods in the Palestinian education system to produce more students who are critical thinkers and approach problem solving through research, analysis, and open-minded scientific thinking. Aref founded Al-Nayzak for Supportive Learning and Scientific Innovation to incorporate critical-thinking exercises and science into the public-school curriculum. Al-Nayzak sponsors a scientific incubation program for young male and female inventors who possess an original idea, and pairs them with experts in their field to scale up their project into a prototype that can be patented for mass production. The Al-Nayzak center is based in East Jerusalem, with activity centers located in Nablus and Gaza to serve Palestinian youth throughout the territories. Al-Nayzak participates in the Made in the Arab World competition, which gives young inventors the opportunity to showcase their work on a national and regional level, garnering funding and recognition for their scientific and industrial innovations. Recently, three al-Nayzak participants won prestigious awards at the 2009 Made in the Arab World competition, making Palestine the winning country.

   

Born in India, thrown out of home and country in an honour killing, educated in England, Sharanjeet Shan has lived in South Africa for 23 years. An educator at heart, Sharanjeet worked in England for 30 years teaching maths and science, rising through the ranks to various management positions, including that of education inspector. She was invited to lead Maths Centre in 1995, transforming a small and struggling project into the widely respected institution it is today. Constantly seeking anti-poverty solutions, Sharanjeet is committed to serving children and young people into the fourth Industrial revolution, promoting critical and creative thinking through STEM subjects at all levels of schooling. Maths Centre conducts advocacy campaigns for parents, business, industry, children with disabilities and promotes language connections. Sharanjeet holds a Masters in Social Science, studies brain function, children's inherited disorders and quantum physics.