Meet The Team
Jessica Hawkey
Managing Director
+27 21 680 0900 | info@redacademy.co.za
Jessica has a deep passion for providing talented South Africans with the opportunity to sprint into their software developer careers by working closely with professional lecturers, industry-leading senior developers and customers, designed to fast-track careers in the real world. She is committed to changing the way in which learning takes place, with the specific aim of addressing the skills and experience gap, as well as the talent pipeline shortage faced by CTOs and software development teams.
Jessica previously held the position of General Manager of Operations at the Carrick group of companies, a multi-award winning offshore Wealth Management organisation. Having joined Carrick from State Street Poland, in which she was responsible for the launch and training of the Asset Manager Services division in the country.
Nashid Cassiem
Client Relationship Manager
+27 21 680 0900 | info@redacademy.co.za
Nashid has a great desire to see young people in South Africa to develop and grow their careers. With experience in working with an international school exchange programme in Scotland, and 10 years in Corporate Retail, he brings great insight to understanding people and process management.
Having coordinated one of TFG’s leading outbound call centres for 2 years, he led a team of 17 team leaders with a total staff complement of 250 staff. Nashid later moved into an Area Manager role overseeing 14 stores across Cape Town for 4 years.
Nashid holds a BA degree in Psychology and Linguistics from the University of the Western Cape.
Emmanuel Madzunye
Senior Software Dev. Lecturer
+27 21 680 0900 | info@redacademy.co.za
Emmanuel holds a Masters degree in Information Technology and has more than 10 years of experience in both academics and the software industry; with extensive experience in software development. Prior to joining redAcademy, Emmanuel held the position of Software Development Team Lead and Lecturer, working closely with students on Software Development projects.
During his career, Emmanuel has worked with students from different backgrounds, in both private and public institutions. This broad experience has further strengthened Emmanuel’s ability to engage a diverse group of students through his adaptive lecturing style. Emmanuel has a strong background in implementing and improving the full systems development cycle (SDLC), with the use of a wide range of technologies and frameworks.
Mahomed Hoosen Goolam Nabee
Technical Mentor
+27 21 680 0900 | info@redacademy.co.za
Mahomed obtained a Higher Certificate in Information Systems Engineering from CTI, Durban followed by a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology from Pearson Institute of Higher Education. He is currently pursuing his Bachelor of Science Honors in Information Technology.
Before joining redAcademy, Mahomed worked as a lecturer in the fields of software, hardware, and cybersecurity. He is deeply passionate about imparting knowledge to students and cherishes the opportunity to learn from them. Witnessing students transition from the educational platform to the professional world brings him immense joy.
Angelique Ferguson
Operations Administrator
+27 21 680 0900 | info@redacademy.co.za
Angelique’s experience has worked at a South African software development organisation and business school, in administration and office management. Angelique holds a BCom law degree and has a passion for learning, client interactions and supporting the youth into careers in tech.
Gareth Hawkey
Non-Executive Director
+27 21 680 0900 | info@redacademy.co.za
Gareth is the founder and owner of redPanda Software. He serves on the board of all the subsidiaries within the group, comprising redPanda Software, redPanda Solutions, redPanda UK, and Red Academy. Gareth brings strategic business acumen to the redPanda Group of companies. He holds an MBA and has over 25 years of experience in IT and Retail. Gareth’s vision is to make software delivery easy and predictable for enterprise retail businesses.
Matthew Schenck
Project & Operations Lead
+27 21 680 0900 | info@redacademy.co.za
Matthew holds a BA Honours Degree in Sport, Recreation and Exercise Science from the University of the Western Cape, as well as a Postgraduate Certificate in Education from the University of South Africa.
With a deep passion for education, technology and youth development, Matthew brings a unique blend of experience to his work. Matthew spent seven years in the education sector before joining redAcademy, where he now focuses on creating impactful and meaningful learning experiences for our sprinters.
