• Sharndre Kushor.
  • Sharndre Kushor.

Innovation in forging futures

AIMES Winner Q & A: Sharndre Kushor

Entrepreneur Sharndre Kushor is founder of Crimson Education. Her company supports students to attend world class universities in the USA and UK, assists students to participate in model UNs at Yale and Harvard, and to visit the board rooms of major international companies such as Facebook. Sharndre was named winner of the AIMES Supreme Award and AIMES Innovation Award in 2018. Christine Young asked her about her award and her future aspirations.

Christine Young: An AIMES Award is an acknowledgement of extraordinary achievement in a chosen area of activity or interest. You received yours for innovation. Please tell us how you reached such a level of achievement, and what inspired your initial interest in founding Crimson.

Sharndre Kushor: After hearing the stories of students who went to high school in New Zealand and applied to the world’s best universities, I was inspired to share the knowledge with other young people. What inspired my initial interest was seeing and hearing about the huge impact that a global approach to exploring opportunities could have on an individual, a family and a community. I am now so proud to see our Crimson students go on to intern at the UN, become international advocates for world issues like climate change, take on roles at Facebook and Google, and enter some of the most competitive finance companies in the world like Goldman Sachs.

CY: What has the AIMES Award enabled you to achieve that you might not otherwise have done? Please tell us how it has helped you progress your career to date?

SK: The AIMES Award has given me access to a world class network of individuals. The winners and the members have a wealth of Knowledge and experience that has been helpful in helping me to level up over the past seven months since being named as a winner.

CY: Please tell us about any influential mentors or sources of inspiration who have helped you achieve what you have done and what difference they have made to the direction you have taken.

SK: I am inspired by people who think about problem solving in unique ways and I am also inspired by people who demonstrate exceptional leadership. Katie Bouman, the woman who was the first person in history to capture a photograph of a black hole, is an inspiration to me because at the age of 29 she fearlessly tackled a challenge that astronomers had been trying to solve for decades, using her skills as a computer scientist. I am also very inspired by Bill and Melinda Gates who together have started and led the world’s largest charitable foundation which has been the largest contributor to the eradication of malaria and AIDS.
 

CY: What is your ultimate career goal?

SK: My ultimate career goal is to lead Crimson to be able to make world class education and opportunities available to anyone, anywhere!!
 

CY: What further study or other steps do you believe you need to take, and how will you go about doing that?

SK: I am currently enrolled in a Masters degree in Computer Science at the University of Pennsylvania which is an Ivy League school based in the United States. I will be starting my course work in September, and I’ll be able to complete [the programme] part time while doing Crimson.

CY:  Having achieved an AIMES award last year, and already built a substantial business, what two key pieces of advice would you give to any talented young people who would like to progress in their chosen fields?

SK: You are only young once. Young people make great entrepreneurs because they are somewhat fearless – you have very little to lose and so much to gain! Set yourself big goals and don’t be afraid to ask for help when you’re trying to achieve them.

Learn from people who have done it before. You can do this by finding some mentors who have similar interests and values to you – a simple Linked In or FB message to someone you have heard about is a really easy way to have your first chat with someone who you think you can learn from. People are always willing to help!