Since the age of 12, Joana has been using technology to try and shape the way society thinks, acts and progresses. Seeing the rising number of children showing signs of tooth decay, she created an attachment to your toothbrush which helps children both improve their brushing technique and incentivise them to brush more, and better, through online games and real-life rewards. She received funding for this idea through O2 Think Big, Natural Motion and the Catapult Labs at Warwick University WMG (funded by the European Union), and was invited to present this idea to HRH Princess Anne at the Salesforce Tower as a flagship member of the first ever STEM entrepreneur Incubator for young girls. Since then, she has thrived off creating other tech start-ups, including an app for college students during her time at MIT, and most recently a series of Children’s Picture books self-written and illustrated, and all digitally created. Each book takes a modern twist on a classic fairytale to eliminate prejudice against social minorities and encourage diversity at a young age. Here, technology is paramount to making this experience wholley accessible, with e-book and audiobook versions available, as well as the physical version. Stories also tell tales of incredible women pursuing careers in typically ‘masculine’ fields (especially STEM!) These books have been endorsed by Stonewall, Miriam Margolyes OBE and Peter Tatchell, to name just a few, and are sold in Blackwells, and internationally. Though still only 17, Joana is not only studying for her A-Levels at Oxford High School (Computer Science, Economics, Maths, Spanish), but also has established herself as an award-winning entrepreneur and founder of an economics magazine and tech podcast, where her content has reached close to 2000 people in 76 countries from every continent.
