The 2020's Most Influential Women to Watch

Stacey Brewer
An Endeavor Entrepreneur with a Humanitarian Approach
Education plays a vital role in building a nation’s
economy. It is of paramount importance that a
country makes quality education one of its top
priorities. Quality education is not the sole responsibility of
the nation. Every individual should proactively engage in
obtaining and facilitating at least basic education in order to
grow as a responsible citizen.
On an individual level, there are a lot of things that can be
done to figure out the lacking points in the education system
of a country and take essential steps to countermeasure the
limitations and come up with viable solutions. While
inculcating valid methods, factors like affordable and
voluntarily accessible education also need to be taken into
account as the requirement of both is crucial for an
economy’s growth. The socio-economic gap in the society
of a particular country also determines its strength and
stability in terms of literacy and a skill-based workforce.
Hence, again the individual efforts by every person on a
micro-level of every stratum of the society narrowed down
to a community also count as a successful approach towards
education.
One such person working with this approach in the most
humanitarian way is Stacey Brewer, Co-founder and
CEO of SPARK Schools. She has a Bachelor of Science
degree in Human Kinetics, Ergonomics and Organizational
Psychology from Rhodes University. She also obtained an
MBA in Entrepreneurship cum laude from the Gordon
Institute of Business Science (GIBS). At GIBS, she
channelled her passion for education into her thesis. The
thesis was focused on a sustainable financial model for
economical private schools in South Africa. This research
served as the foundation for the establishment of SPARK
Schools.
It is a network of low-cost schools operating in South
Africa. “We launched our first school in January 2013 with
160 children and 20 staff members,” says Stacey. Currently,
it operates 21 schools, educates over 13000 children, and
employs more than 1200 staff members altogether. “We aim
to continue to open schools across the country,” she further
adds.
She is one of the leading supporters of high-impact
entrepreneurs around the world. Stacey is recognized and
awarded a myriad of accolades. Here are a few of the
mentions:
1. ELLE Boss 2015
2. Mail and Guardian Top 200 South Africans in 2014
3. Glamour Business Women of the Year 2019
She is also a Mandela Washington Fellow 2015 (Barack
Obama’s Flagship Fellowship) and a Tutu Fellow too.
Tackling the Struggles
As an entrepreneur, Stacey’s journey has had many
challenges while building the business. To raise angel
investment or seed capital in South Africa was quite a
challenge for her, as the country is very risk-averse. “In our
early stages as a start-up, it took some very progressive
angel investors to invest in SPARK Schools,” shares Stacey.
People’s views and opinions on becoming an entrepreneur
were not very appreciative or kind. “I often received
feedback from people asking if I was starting a company
because I could not find a real job,” explains Stacey. Also,
looking for a team to join a start-up is a big challenge as per
her experience. Most people find it safe to work for the big
brands of the corporates rather than joining an organization
where it is riskier at the early stages.
As one builds and grows a company, there are a huge
amount of challenges and complexities along the way.
There is a large focus on personal development to become a
more effective and stronger professional. “This was the
hardest, but the best thing that I have ever done, it is
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