Jessica O. Matthews
| Jessica O. Matthews | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Nigerian-American (dual citizen) |
| Alma mater | Harvard College, Harvard Business School |
| Occupation | Inventor, CEO |
| Years active | 2008-present |
| Organization | Uncharted Play, KDDC |
| Known for | Soccket |
| Home town | Poughkeepsie, NY |
| Website | Jessica O. Matthews at Uncharted Play |
Jessica O. Matthews is a Nigerian-American inventor, CEO and venture capitalist. She is the co-founder of Uncharted Play, which makes Soccket, a soccer ball that can be used as a power generator. Matthews attended Harvard College and graduated from Harvard Business School. In 2011, Fortune Magazine named her Fortune’s "10 Most Powerful Women Entrepreneurs" and in 2015, named her as Fortune’s "Most Promising Women Entrepreneurs." In 2012, the Harvard Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations named her "Scientist of the Year." Matthews is a dual citizen of the U.S. and Nigeria. The President of Nigeria named Matthews an Ambassador for Entrepreneurship for the country.
Matthews grew up in Poughkeepsie, NY, as a dual citizen of the United States and Nigeria. Her parents run a software business, Decision Technologies International and her sister, Tiana Idoni-Matthews, would later become a marketing director of Uncharted Play. Matthews attended Our Lady of Lourdes High School, as a teenager pursuing science fairs and track and field. Matthews then attended Harvard College and later Harvard Business School.
As a junior in college in 2008, Matthews and classmate Julia Silverman invented Soccket as part of an assignment for an engineering class. She has described the inspiration for the invention as coming from an experience attending her aunt's wedding in Nigeria. When the electricity was lost and diesel generators were used to keep the lights on, Matthews recognized the health hazard posed from fumes and decided to try to do something about it. She and Silverman presented Soccket as their proposed solution, a soccer ball that stores kinetic energy as it's used. A half-hour of play with the soccer ball generates enough energy to power a small, attachable LED light for three hours, so that play with soccer ball also provides children a reading light with which to do their homework after dark. The two founded Uncharted Play to develop Soccket, with Matthews becoming CEO.
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