Andrea Sesum’s experience growing up in the former Yugoslavia during the civil war taught her the fragility of society and made her realize that education is a life-changer in the face of adversity. Creating a determination in her to build a successful career in a profession that she loves, helped break the poverty cycle she and her family were experiencing as refugees and allowed her to help other women.
Andrea is passionate about innovating the way education is delivered, promoting access to digital skills that power the future of work, and is on a mission to create world-class learning experiences that help women thrive. To facilitate these goals, she founded the international non-profit organization Women In Entrepreneurship and the Ontario College of Business and Technology and co-founded HER Digital Academy.
HER Digital Academy
HER Digital Academy is a global social impact school providing girls and women with the skills, confidence, and community support to enter and excel in the world of technology. Andrea Sesum co-founded HER Digital Academy along with Ayumi Moore Aoki, whom she met online in 2020 during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic.
Andrea met Ayumi at Women in Tech, an official International Non-Profit Organization working to close the gender gap and help women embrace technology. Inspired by the warmth and support that emanated from the group under Ayumi’s leadership, she decided to launch a Canadian Chapter of Women in Tech along with Ayumi.
It is the first social impact fully online school that empowers women to unlock economic opportunities and drive global growth and sustainability. It believes education is one of the few interventions that can truly transform lives and, as a part of its social enterprise model, is committed to helping women worldwide.
Empowerment Initiatives By HER Digital Academy
HER Digital Academy is an active participant in the United Nations Global Compact and is committed to its human rights, labor, environment, and anti-corruption principles.
HER offers courses using a modular and distance learning method for teaching and learning. Along with educational programs that cover all the technical aspects, they also offer soft skills sessions with professional mentors to assist.
They came to understand that, in addition to being the fastest-growing and most lucrative industry, technology is also a field where women’s groups are underrepresented and run the risk of falling behind as it quickly develops into the top industry for employment.
To overcome this problem, HER Digital Academy offers women learning experiences tailored to their real needs, like flexibility, affordability, and training. Their courses teach women the skills and confidence needed to achieve a rewarding, prosperous career in technology.
Since its launch in May 2021, HER Digital Academy has educated over 200 women on six continents through its social impact mission. It offers free online coding courses to learn from anywhere in the world. For example, to ensure digital equity in Africa, they collaborated with the Women In Tech ambassadors, networks, and partners to set up internet hubs and power plants so that women could enroll in their online courses.
It partners with W4, Women in Tech, and Willow Thrive to support a program in India that aims to digitally equip Winners Public School in the village of Pochanpur on the outskirts of New Delhi. As part of the program for digital education from a young age, it works to provide a computer lab for the school and fund the computer science classes for a class of 35 children between the ages of 5 and 6.
They fight for digital fairness in India and Africa, offer scholarships to students in developing countries and disadvantaged situations, and support and advocate for LGBTQ+ and non-binary communities and partners to build a more inclusive tech industry.
The Educational Changemaker
Andrea has combined her passion for higher education, innovation, diversity, and inclusion throughout her career. In HER Digital Academy, she works with Ayumi on a mission to help women who, like them, want to create, sustain, and thrive in the opportunities presented by the future of work.
Andrea Sesum is recognized as a global leader in her field and is a regular international speaker. She is the recipient of the 2021 Canadian SME Magazine’s Most Inspiring Women Entrepreneurs & Business Leaders Award, CSPN’s Leader in Diversity & Inclusion Award in 2019 and the winner of the City of Toronto’s Access, Equity & Human Rights Award in 2015. In 2020, she was nominated for RBC’s Canadian Woman of Influence.
Andrea considers it her life purpose to drive positive and sustainable change by offering high-level digital education to women worldwide and providing the skills, confidence, and support they need to upskill and succeed in the rapidly changing workforce.
HER Digital Academy believes education is one of the few interventions that can truly transform lives. To learn more about their courses and initiatives, visit their website at https://herdigitalacademy.com/.
Educational organizations and academies can offer a lot of change to the present situations of the world. To know more about these socially responsible enterprises, subscribe to CanadianSME Small Business Magazine https://lnkd.in/dbqmSKN. For the latest updates, visit our Twitter page at @canadian_sme.
