Team

Noah De Villiers | COO

Noah has over 5 years of experience in management consulting, private equity and corporate finance, and was the youngest-ever manager at his previous firm. He has worked directly with C-levels of multi-national organisations to design and implement growth strategies, to identify investment opportunities, and to drive operational results. Noah holds a Bachelors of Business Science Degree in Economics and Law (UCT) and has further education through MIT Sloan, the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and the CFA Institute. As Chief Operations Officer, Noah gets things done.

Jatin Garach | CFO

Jatin, a qualified CA (SA), is an undergraduate and postgraduate financial reporting lecturer in the College of Accounting, at the University of Cape Town; his alma mater. He is also involved in professional programmes which prepare aspiring chartered accountants for their qualifying exams and provides technical consulting services to JSE-listed entities. He is currently completing his Master of Commerce in Financial Management and his research interests include capital structure, financial instruments and specialises in group structures. Jatin’s wealth of experience and research interests, come in handy as Chief Financial Officer for Head Start.

Tasimba Chirindo | CTO

Tasimba has a track record of solving challenges through the innovative use of data and technology. He is currently working with a variety of customers and helping them transform their businesses using the power of Google Cloud and other cloud technologies. He provides a pivotal inter-disciplinary role that requires a combination of software engineering, end-to-end solutions architecture and system engineering capabilities. Tasimba specialises in DevOps & Automation, Cloud Architecture, Cloud Migration, Cloud Optimisation, Software Engineering, Data ETL and Machine Learning. He holds masters and bachelors degrees in Engineering from the University of Cape Town and Google Cloud certifications.

Byron Miller | CIO

Byron is currently completing his CA(SA) articles at the top Asset Management company. He has broad experience across the company including product, risk management and financial reporting, including operational, strategic and regulatory requirements specific to the rest of Africa. As Chief Investment Officer, Byron advises on why and how Head Start should invest in education startups from around the world. Byron holds a Bachelor in Business Science in  Finance and Accounting (UCT), from which he graduated with subjects and degree with distinction. He holds a postgraduate diploma in accounting and has studied further with the CFA institute

Jonathan Clark | Head of Data Science

Jonathan Clark majored in Finance, Mathematics and Computer Science before going on to obtain his Computer Science honours degree with distinction. He has also completed his Data Science Masters degree with a specialisation in Financial Technology.  Jonathon gained experience working in a niche venture capital firm focused on blockchain investments where he played an active role in advising and conceptualising these projects. He has a strong passion for education which has seen him tackle diverse teaching roles: from teaching primary school mathematics in South African townships; lecturing final year Computer Science at the University of Cape Town, and developing and teaching blockchain content for the World Quant University.

Geoffrey Forbes | CRO

Luka Knezic | CMO

As Chief Marketing Officer, Luka Knezic is passionate about creating stories about brands, that would be amazing to look back to 5 years from now. He has worked on are blockchain advisory tech & regulation startup, big data, and SaaS niche projects in tourism and real estate. Luka focuses on the marketing and organization of various marketing campaigns. Luka is a Kairos Society executive for Croatia and Malta. Kairos Society is an organization that connects the best entrepreneurs under 26 years old around the world.

Shivad Singh | CEO

Shivad is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Head Start Education and Head Start Media. He is the author of 5 books aimed at empowering young people. Shivad has been recognised as a Queen’s Young leader, a Royal Commonwealth Society Member, a One Young World Ambassador and is a Red Bull Social Entrepreneur. He received the Leading South Africa Award by the prestigious One Young World organization. Shivad was also the youngest person who participated in the South African Tai-Chi demo team.  Before Head Start, Shivad co-founded Presto, a company that gets the top performing students to create study material to benefit their peers.