Jessica Hawkey, founder and Managing Director of redAcademy.

Jessica Hawkey is the founder and MD of redAcademy, a learning hub that takes an innovative approach to teaching coding and tech skills by combining education with hands-on experience in real-world businesses. It’s a need that Hawkey, who studied commerce and accounting, spotted while working in finance, where she began to see how offshoring for tech skills was burning a hole in local business budgets while simultaneously excluding our youth from work and learning opportunities. redAcademy’s approach turns students into “sprinters” who jumpstart careers with a single “supercharged” year by combining training and experience.

It’s all part of Cape Town-born Hawkey’s bold ambitions to have a direct effect on boosting youth employment and, in turn, South Africa’s economy.