ODESHI 016 - Transforming West Africa’s Disadvantaged & Unemployed Youth Through Vocational Education with Misan Rewane

Misan Rewane is the CEO and co-founder of West Africa Vocational Education (WAVE). WAVE is a vocational training platform that seeks to empower millions of West African youth with industry-relevant employability skills that transform their mindsets, and provides access to employment opportunities to enhance their social mobility. WAVE provides self-motivated youths with the skill-sets employers look for, and teaches them how to stand out professionally by reinforcing a mindset of continuous improvement.

 

Born and raised in Nigeria, Misan is no stranger to the difficulties of education and social mobility in West Africa. When her parents, unable to ignore the education system's breakdown, were compelled to send her to the US for college, Misan resolved to play a role in transforming the region's education and skills development systems. After earning her Economics degree from Stanford University, she worked in management consulting with The Monitor Group on a wide spectrum of projects in both the private and public sector. Post-Monitor, she supported aspiring Ivoirian entrepreneurs through TechnoServe's Business Plan Competition, and developed a scholarship administration model as a consultant with the Center for Public Policy Alternatives in Nigeria. While enrolled at the Harvard Business School in 2012, she sought out and connected with fellow socially-minded Africans to discuss ways to tackle youth unemployment in the region. Those initial discussions were the seeds that eventually grew to become West Africa Vocational Education (WAVE). The Company was launched in 2013 to focus on training and placing unemployed youth in the hospitality and retail industry.