Biography
Innocent Chikwanda is an entrepreneur, innovator, and storyteller passionate about leveraging technology to build more connected and productive African communities. He is an alumnus of UC Berkeley’s SkyDeck Pad-13 Incubator and founder of two startups - Chariot Africa and 1village - advancing rural digital access and event intelligence in Africa.
Beyond technology, Innocent leads through service. He was recognized with the Ashesi University Presidential Award in 2025, served on the Melton Foundation Board (2022–2023), and as President of the Zimbabwe Child Parliament (2018–2019), where he contributed to landmark legislation, including the 2019 Marriage Bill outlawing child marriage.
His fascination with intelligent machines began in second grade after watching The Matrix, inspiring him to eventually study Computer Science and Intelligent Computing Systems at Ashesi University as a Mastercard Foundation Scholar and AFA Scholar. Through the Rhodes Scholarship, Innocent seeks to deepen his expertise in human-centered AI at the University of Oxford.
An adventurer at heart, he enjoys travel, obstacle racing, puzzles, debate, podcasting, and poetry - and, a little too often, is found deep in thought, exploring new intellectual frontiers.