Alexes grew up in the Lowveld of eastern Limpopo, South Africa. She would sleep out under the stars and wonder about our expanding universe and the mysteries of what was out there. From here her curiosity and passion for knowledge was born. Fresh from school, Alexes enrolled in B.Sc. in Applied Mathematics at Rhodes University. During this time Alexes was fortunate enough to win an Allan Gray Orbis Fellowship, which taught her about the power of entrepreneurial spirt. Following a successful B.Sc. Honours, in 2018, she undertook a research Masters degree in Theoretical Physics at the University of Cape Town. Completing this, with distinction, within 12 months. 2019 came with the honour of becoming a Mandela Rhodes Scholar; and during this time Alexes completed a second Masters degree in Applied Mathematics (with distinction). During her postgraduate studies she won multiple awards and published three papers in academic journals, with a fourth still under-review. Community engagement, through Shawco, was a constant for her while at UCT and she ran a project in based in Kensington, tutoring and mentoring Grade 10 and 11 learners in Mathematics, Physics, Biology, English and Life Skills. Since graduating, Alexes has co-founded Mevens a company created in the intersection between data, statistics, and mathematics. The flagship product is called DecisionHelper, an app which uses statistical methods to extract and compare preferences, with the aim of helping you make difficult decisions, individually or in a group, rationally. Intersectional work is where she thrives; and Alexes is very excited to be awarded the Shaun Johnson Memorial Scholarship to pursue a PhD based around the MAEASaM project – developing new statistical and mathematical methods at the intersection of African archaeology and quantitative techniques.