Building Brain Waves: How Lesego Masethe is Transforming STEM Education in South Africa

Some people spend their lives waiting for opportunities. Others create them. Lesego Masethe has spent much of the last decade doing exactly that. As the founder of Brain Waves Development, a science communicator, youth leader, and community builder, she has dedicated herself to creating pathways for young people, particularly those from communities where access to science, technology and innovation stays limited. Her story is not merely one of personal achievement. It is the story of how curiosity, conviction and service can create opportunities for hundreds of young people.

“I always joke and say I don’t think outside the box, because in my mind, the box does not exist,” says Lesego Masethe. It is a statement that captures much of who she is. The organisation she founded, the partnerships she cultivated and the opportunities she created all seem rooted in the belief that limitations should not define what is possible. In many ways, her story is about potential and what can happen when imagination is given room to grow.

Speaking to Lesego, one quickly discovers that the accomplished leader she is today is still deeply connected to the young girl she once was. She describes herself as an “introverted extrovert”, equally comfortable in her own company and among people. At school, she was a bookworm who consistently performed among the top learners in her class. Encouraged by inspiring English teachers and supported by a father who introduced her to books on African, Eastern and Western philosophy, she developed a fascination with ideas, learning and the world around her.

Yet she is quick to challenge the notion that she excelled at everything. “Maths and I? We were not friends at all.” Ironically, the learner who once struggled to appreciate mathematics would later become a passionate advocate for STEM education.

Her educational foundation was laid at Edendale Independent School, where learning extended beyond textbooks. Surrounded by nature, learners explored science through observation, experimentation, and practical activities. At the same time, speech festivals, public speaking, and drama nurtured a love for communication and storytelling. Looking back, those experiences would eventually shape the unique blend of science communication and youth development that defines her work today.

After school, Lesego studied International Travel through Varsity College before pursuing Journalism at the Tshwane University of Technology. Her love for storytelling led her to the Pretoria News, where she worked as an intern and freelance journalist. A major turning point arrived when she joined a programme through the South African Agency for Science and Technology Advancement (SAASTA), which focused on developing science journalists and science communicators. Suddenly, science was no longer something confined to textbooks. It became a practical tool for solving everyday challenges.

That experience was later strengthened through science communication training with Stellenbosch University and inspired her pursuit of a master’s degree in Sustainable Development. She hopes to one day complete a doctorate. “The dream is still to pursue my doctorate, to one day wear that red gown.” Beyond the qualifications, however, lies a deeper mission: ensuring that knowledge reaches the communities and young people who need it most.

Her growth as a community leader was also shaped beyond formal education. In 2019, Lesego graduated from the ACTIVATE! Change Drivers programme, joining a network of young leaders committed to positive social change across South Africa. The experience reinforced her belief in collaborative leadership and strengthened a lesson that would later become central to Brain Waves Development: meaningful impact is built through partnerships, shared vision, and collective effort.

Brain Waves Development was officially registered in 2015. Interestingly, STEM was not the original focus. The organisation began as an effort to improve learning experiences for young people through creativity, literacy, and imagination. Lesego was concerned by the number of learners who could read words but struggled to read for meaning and understanding. She often found herself asking why opportunities that had shaped her own educational experience should remain inaccessible to others.

The shift towards STEM appeared during her SAASTA experience around 2017 and 2018. There, she saw a significant gap in exposure between learners from under-resourced communities and those from more privileged backgrounds. That realisation transformed the organisation’s direction. STEM became a vehicle for teaching young people that innovation does not begin with expensive technology. It begins with the ability to think differently about challenges and solutions.

The organisation’s first breakthrough came in 2017 when funding from the City of Tshwane enabled the inaugural Loxion Science Expo. It was a defining moment because it showed that scientific talent exists everywhere, even where opportunities are scarce. The momentum continued through support from the Capitec Foundation, which helped launch STEM Camps for girls and boys between 2018 and 2019. Around one hundred girls and one hundred boys taken part in immersive programmes that introduced them to science, innovation, leadership, and personal development.

As Brain Waves expanded, so did its network of collaborators. Partnerships with Eskom Expo for Young Scientists, NECSA, the CSIR, The Innovation Hub, AB4IR, iSET Robotics at UNISA, Ranyaka Community Transformation and the Nedbank-funded Proud of My Town initiative strengthened the organisation’s reach and impact. These collaborations provided mentorship, technical ability, exposure, and opportunities for learners to display their ideas. The focus was never solely academic. It was about confidence, wellbeing, leadership and helping young people recognise that they belong in spaces where the future is being shaped.

Like many social impact organisations, Brain Waves also faced challenges. Funding was often uncertain, and sustaining programmes required constant effort. Team members who had helped build the organisation eventually had to pursue other opportunities to support themselves and their families. At times, progress slowed to the point where Lesego wondered whether the chapter had ended.

Then something remarkable happened. Former learners began reaching out. Young people who had taken part in Brain Waves programmes years earlier were graduating from universities and entering professional careers. Many wanted her to know that the exposure they received through the organisation had influenced their educational and career choices. It was a powerful reminder that change often reveals itself long after the work has been done.

According to the organisation’s monitoring and evaluation processes, approximately 65% of participating learners went on to pursue STEM-related qualifications. For Lesego, that statistic stands for far more than a number. “You don’t always plant the seed today and see the tree tomorrow. Sometimes you’re planting something in a 14-year-old child and only see the fruit years later when they come back as a young adult.” Those words capture the heart of her work: investing in futures that cannot yet be seen.

Today, Brain Waves stands at the beginning of a new chapter. As artificial intelligence, robotics, and emerging technologies continue to redefine society, the organisation is exploring how to remain relevant while staying true to its purpose. The mission itself stays unchanged. It is still about opening doors, creating access and helping young people understand that where they come from should never determine how far they can dream.

As South Africa continues searching for ways to prepare young people for an increasingly complex future, stories like Lesego Masethe’s offer more than inspiration. They offer evidence that one idea can become a movement, that communities can become centres of innovation and that young people can exceed expectations when given exposure, support, and belief.

That is the true story of Brain Waves Development. It is not simply about science or education. It is about possibility. It is about a generation of young people discovering that the future is not something they must wait for, but something they can help create. In a country often preoccupied with what is not working, Lesego Masethe’s journey reminds us that meaningful change is still being built every day by people determined to create opportunities where others see limitations.

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About the Author: 

Mpho (MrSir) Matlhabegoane is a member of the ACTIVATE! Change Drivers Writers Hub. He became an Activator in 2019. He is a Mental Health Awareness Advocate, and to spread mental health awareness, he authored and published three books that are accepted by Gauteng Department of Education as of 2026, namely: The Story of MrSir (Word For The Record), Expanding The World Of Nerds, and Views and Emotions (Poetry Journal of MrSir).