Khalil decided to take the unconventional path at the age of 17 when he dropped out of pharmacy school in Tunisia to start a nonprofit organization. After completing a bachelor’s degree in computer science and graduating as valedictorian, he was admitted to Carnegie Mellon University to pursue a master’s degree focused on ITentrepreneurship. Throughout his academic career, Khalil worked part-time for various startups and accelerators. To this day, he supports more than 50 Tunisian startups in different areas including business development, pitching, and sales. After discovering that the real pain is the mismatch between the needs of companies and the work force skills, Khalil started skills21 to support African graduates and young professionals in learning needed skills while providing them with jobs at top companies and fast-growing startups.