Jonathan Masher

Step-Ed
Co-Founder

Jonathan Masher is a 17 year-old student who grew up in Johannesburg, South Africa. He is a passionate mathematician who one day aims to utilize his skills in the world of finance. He co-founded the community improvement project “Step-Ed” aimed at exposing young, underprivileged students to the opportunities in their society.

He was raised with the principle that he should experience everything. As a result he developed a love for traveling and found himself constantly engaged in a plethora of activities ranging from sports to arts and believes that his exposure to so many experiences has moulded him into the human being that he is today. 

One day when eating Gelato in Florence, Jonathan recalls his father asking him about his life trajectory. He was immediately overwhelmed, considering how a (then) 16 year-old could answer such a question. Upon describing an elaborate plan, he was interrupted by his father’s exclamation that if he followed his heart, everything else would fall into place. The simple yet profound words allowed Jonathan to develop the idea for Step-Ed and has allowed him to slowly develop a characteristic that has always eluded him: grit.

Jonathan partakes in the extended mathematics course that his school provides and was elected as an academic Prefect. He is enrolled in an online 3D printing course and economics course offered by the University of Illinois and Stanford University respectively. He plans to start an organization that would work in conjunction with Step-Ed to provide the underprivileged schools and students that they work with with schooling supplies.  Jonathan is an avid sportsman playing both soccer and field hockey at a high level.

Jonathan hopes to study in New York at the University of Columbia. New York being the cultural capital of the world, coupled with the fantastic actuarial science and engineering course at Columbia university make the Big Apple the perfect place for Jonathan. He wants to use his mathematical and problem solving skills to enter the finance sector.