FAQ

The TEAM

A photo of Pelonomi Moiloa, a Lelapa AI team member

Pelonomi
Moiloa

Pelonomi Moiloa

Pelonomi has spent 8 years in the data science domain, leading data science teams in developing and productionalising machine learning solutions in the finance industry.

She has Biomedical and Electrical Engineering degrees from the University of the Witwatersrand and an MSc from Tohoku University where she did research on a deep learning application for neurophysiology.

A community organiser she is Trustee of the Ruth First Jeppe Memorial Trust and runs the Code Kamoso coding academy for girl teens as co-director of The Ungovernable NPC. Pelonomi was named to the 200 Young South Africans list in 2019.

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A photo of Jade Abbott, a Lelapa AI team member

Jade
Abbott

JADE ABBOTT

Jade has 10 years experience building and professionalizing AI in industry working across banking to NGOs to startups. She is co-founder of Masakhane, the grassroots organisation driving NLP research in African languages, for Africans, by Africans. Abbott holds an MSc. from the University of Pretoria. Recent honours include being one of South Africa’s Inspiring Fifty 2020 and Mail&Guardian Top 200 Young South Africans 2021.

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A photo of Vukosi Marivate, a Lelapa AI team member

Vukosi
Marivate

VUKOSI MARIVATE

Vukosi is the ABSA Chair of Data Science at the University of Pretoria. Vukosi co-founded both the Deep Learning Indaba and Masakhane. He holds a PhD from Rutgers and attended Harvard Business School’s Program for Leadership Development. Vukosi was named to the 200 Young South Africans list for his work on the COVID19 ZA Dashboard in 2020.
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JENALEA RAJAB

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BONAVENTURE DOSSOU

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THANDI MAFA

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ATNAFU LAMBEBO TONJA

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JESSICA OJO

A photo of George Konidaris, a Lelapa AI team member

George
Konidaris

GEORGE KONIDARIS

Associate Professor at Brown, where he directs the Intelligent Robot Lab. Prior to Brown, he taught at Duke and was a postdoc at MIT. George obtained his BSc from Wits. He has received several awards, including an NSF CAREER award, IJCAI-JAIR Best Paper, and IROS Best RoboCup Paper. Konidaris is also the co-founder and Chief Roboticist of Realtime Robotics, a spinoff that has raised over $50m of VC and employs over 75 people.
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A photo of Pravesh Rachod, a Lelapa AI team member

Pravesh
Ranchod

PRAVESH RANCHOD

Pravesh is a Senior Lecturer at the University of the Witwatersrand, where he co-directs the Robotics, AI, and Learning (RAIL) lab, the largest and most productive AI lab on the continent. He holds a PhD in Computer Science from Wits. Before returning to academia, he founded two successful software companies.
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A photo of Benjamin Rosman, a Lelapa AI team member

Benjamin
Rosman

BENJAMIN ROSMAN

Benjamin is a Professor at the University of the Witwatersand, where he is the director of the RAIL lab. Benjamin co-founded the Deep Learning Indaba and is a Director of the National E-Science Postgraduate Teaching and Training Platform. Benjamin is a Senior Member of the IEEE, was awarded a 2017 Google Faculty Research Award, and is a 2022 CIFAR-Azrieli Global Scholar. He holds a PhD from the University of Edinburgh and delivered an invited keynote at ICRA 2022.
 
 
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CAREERS

We’re looking to team up with you to make our vision a reality. To join our team and get to know more about the available opportunities within the organization, follow the link below.

OPPORTUNITIES