Reflecting on this talk I gave at the United Nations in 2019 for International Youth Day. This was before the pandemic, before 800Million children were left behind from any access to education for 2+ years, all because they live in low-internet, low-electricity, or even off-grid communities globally where the average smartphone, tablet, or laptop falls short from being able to work as an e-learning solution for these kids, due to connectivity issues, power issues, and so much more.
The need for the Jara Unit and program to be implemented globally is needed now more than ever. I cannot thank our team enough for fighting everyday to get Jara to where we need to go, to our advisors for guiding us, to our partners for building with us, and for you all for your support.
The words I spoke on this day in 2019 still ring true. We need the world coming together to end this education crisis, to solve our global challenges, to stop climate change and end global poverty.
We need donations and support to get this in the hands of children globally so please reach out if you or anyone you know would like to contribute!
Email: [email protected]
Thank you all for your impact <3 <3 <3 The situation a child is born into or falls into, should not determine their future. Let’s build a better world, together. <3
#UnitedNations #Education #Access #CEO #Jara #JaraUnit #SDG4 #Speech #Youth #Technology #TechForGood #Edtech #UN #Entrepreneur #ClimateChange #EndPoverty #Educational
How can we solve the global education crisis? ✏️
Despite facing obstacles such as poverty and homelessness, our Ambassador @electricceo has created a solution; @joinjara . A personal, crank-powered and solar-powered, off-grid-charging, e-learning and distance-learning device. ☀️
Soraya's story is a testament to never giving up and ensuring no one is left behind. 🎓
Watch her full speech through our link in bio now! 🔗
This talk was given on September 6, 2022, 10 days before the murder of Jina Mahsa Amini. Soraya Fouladi and One Young World stand with the women and people of Iran, and the Kurdish community. Jin, Jiyan, Azadi, Women, Life, Freedom.
#OYW2022 #OneYoungWorld #OYWAmbassador #GenderEquality #ELearning #YoungLeader #PowerfulSpeech #WomenLifeFreedom #Education
I am truly honored and excited to have been selected for the @forbesunder30 list, Class of 2023, on behalf of the incredible team that is @joinjara !
The best way you can help us celebrate this huge accomplishment, is by you, a friend, or family member donating to Jara to support our work: /p/jara
In 2016, when I was 22 and had just started Jara, Forbes gave me a ticket to attend their 30 Under 30 Summit, because they saw the potential of Jara and myself. While there, I dreamed of being on the list when Jara has impacted over 100,000 children, which means I pictured that level of impact to happen before I turned 30.
Today I am 28, we do have a ways to go until we are impacting 100,000 children, but I am so proud of what we have accomplished so far.
-The invention of the Jara Unit and co-creation with the communities we serve globally
-Aggregating and doing 6+ years of research
-Pioneering the emergency education / distance learning movement
-25+ countries asking for the Jara Unit and program
-Partnerships with LG Nova, @Intel & N50 Project, @sevaislove , and @Dogpound
-Winning the @Cisco Global Problem Solver Challenge 3 times
-Bringing the Jara Unit to Nepal, Nigeria, and Uganda in 2023
-And SO much more!
I am so grateful for every single person who has helped Jara get to where it is today.
I wish this wasn’t just my face on this list, but the faces of the 40 core teammates we at Jara have had over the past 6 years. Thank you to each of you for being part of the Jara Family, helping us get closer and closer each day to our goals of getting a Jara Unit and our program into the hands of every child and teacher that needs it.
Thank you so much to our phenomenal expert advisors, thank you to our incredible partners, funders, and donors, and thank you to our supporters. And thank you to my friends who so lovingly support me in this journey everyday.
I know how hard it is to build something from scratch or to pioneer something new. So huge congratulations to all of the other amazing people who I have the honor of being on this list with! Thank you @Forbes for this honor.
(Continued in comments)
#forbesunder30 #forbes30und
My best friend Sophia was at hot yoga, suddenly she had a severe stroke. We are about the same age. She almost didn’t survive. I was there in the ICU each day with her and for the weeks in the hospital following that. By a miracle she is alive today. This has been an incredibly hard 3 months for us all, specifically her, with a long road of recovery ahead.
If you are my friend, acquaintance, or someone just reading this, we really need your support. She is newly disabled, and your dollar will truly change her life for the better in this time. Link in Bio.
Donations go a long way for her, as we need to immediately help her with:
Getting an in-home caregiver, getting her into stroke rehabilitation programs, rent, food, medical.
For those who can’t donate, please enable this post to go far and wide. If anyone has had similar experiences, we would love your advice and connections.
Sophia is one of my favorite people on the planet, she is the bestest friend you could dream of. Supportive, caregiving, funny, loving, a changemaker. Always thinking of others before herself. We first met in early 2017 at a Girls in Tech event, the nonprofit she worked at. We bonded immediately and we became housemates. She’s a sister to me, which people often ask if we are. Her mission on this planet is to make sure everyone has a home, and before the stroke she was running a business helping people and those in need get visas into America. This passion comes from her own experience as a child, displaced between countries for the first 6 years of her life. She has grown into the most inspiring and impactful woman there is. She is a true friend, she’s given her heart to others and the world. Now it is time for us to give back to her.
I love you all, thank you.
Link in my bio or message me for the link:
/f/sophias-recovery-after-stroke
Photo on the left is from a few weeks before the stroke.
Thank you @Lenscrafters for this thoughtful and very fun feature! This past month, I was in 1,000+ stores and was the face of their website!
LensCrafters reached out to me wanting to share my personal story and my journey with Jara.
I originally felt hesitant, there is so much more work we need to do at Jara and my journey is just beginning - why me, why us? I shared with them the struggles and imperfections of building Jara and how we are still pushing forward to bring this innovation to the masses.
They said, “Yes, this is the story we want to feature, your big vision, your invention, your resilience and authentic journey.” So we did just that.
Thank you LensCrafters for the honor of being one of the faces of this campaign and for highlighting Jara.
LensCrafters is also featuring 3 other incredible people this year as part of the Everyday Excellence campaign: Charleen Badman @VeggieBadman , Alex Schulze @AlexJSchulze , and Nico Cueva. I am honored to have my story told alongside them.
I have needed glasses since I was 10 - having vision assistance has been a huge part of my life. LensCrafters feels like the unique values-aligned company that I am honored to represent.
You can check out the campaign by looking up LensCrafters Everyday Excellence, or via my bio.
Thank you LensCrafters and @photobombproduction for having me, and thank you to each individual on your teams who worked so hard to bring this campaign to life.
I am excited to share Jara’s progress soon, and where we are headed - it’s exciting! Thank you to my friends, thank you all for your support! Thank you to the Jara family!
Onwards and upwards! 🚀
This time last year, I had the honor of keynoting at the United Nations General Assembly Hall. The audience felt possibly more important to me than if it was the UN Ambassadors. Instead, the audience were teenagers from all around the world, a conference run by students from my own K-12 school, the United Nations International School.
Attending this conference myself as a teenager, back in 2011, was one of the largest inflection points of my life. I had the idea for Jara in my head, but had no clue where to start/when to start. I honestly thought I would have to be 50 years old to start it. Then, @alexisohanian came on stage and gave his talk. He spoke about turning an idea into reality, and how that was called entrepreneurship. This was the first time I heard of this word, I knew I needed to learn more.
After his talk, we exchanged emails where I shared about my idea, and he gave life-changing advice.
1. You can start at any age
2. Become a technical founder so that you do not need to be dependent on others to build your product
I did just that. I went to university for electrical engineering, then started Jara 3 days after graduation.
Being able to come full-circle and give a keynote last year to these students from all around the world meant everything. I shared about my journey, our vision with Jara, the education crisis, our team, what I have learned in the process, and my advice to their generation. The students asked incredible questions and left excited and invigorated to take their big ideas to reality. This generation gives me hope.
My education gave me everything. And if you are reading this, then yours probably did too. We need to do everything in our power to make sure the 816 Million children, left behind due to this education crisis/digital divide, can have the opportunities we had, so that they can get the quality education they need to break out of poverty and build the lives of their dreams.
Thank you to UNIS, the students and staff, for bringing me back for this moment of a lifetime. I am forever moved & inspired by you all.
Proudly wearing Iranian Designer @amirtaghicollection and custom jewelry from Iranian Designer @asoodehdelan
It’s solar eclipse day! ☀️🌕 Safety first, Thank you @nasa@nasaglenn for these eclipse glasses! 🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀 I ended up spreading the love and joy by enabling my passing neighbors to see the eclipse too! I love teaching people about science/physics/space! 🔭
Even in our turbulent world and in painful times, may we find moments of joy 💖
#solareclipse #ringoffire #nasa #eclipseglasses #phenomenon #physics #science #solarsystem
Did you know I am also a professional photographer? My grandmother taught me when I was a kid and it’s been a passion of mine ever since! Please checkout my new photography account @SorayaSees and give it some love! It’s easier to post beautiful moments I have captured, than posting about myself, so I am excited to share the world through my eyes with you all! 📸📸📸
You’ll be seeing: Event photography, portraits, product photography, landscape, and even some proposals!Oh and definitely fun moments shot by phone too! 📸🤳
Enjoy friends 🥰💖📸
Thank you @fatimamekkaoui for having me at the @llsusa gala, it was so inspiring to see the impact you have made for this very important organization bringing patient support, advocacy, and life-saving research to leukemia and lymphoma cancer patients everywhere 💖🙏💖 love you lots and thank you for your impact 💖💖💖
Catch @electricceo on the latest episode of “Selling Bay Area” hosted by the Chandani Twins. Soraya is a successful founder and was featured on Forbes 30 Under 30! We appreciate her attending our $25M Q1 celebration event 🍾
Today marks a very special milestone for Jara as we celebrate our 7th birthday! 🎉✨ Over the past seven years, Jara has been on an incredible journey, revolutionizing education and soon empowering millions students worldwide. We couldn't have reached this significant milestone without the unwavering support of our amazing community.🌍❤
There are still 816 Million students around the world who lack access to proper education, all because of situations out of their control. By donating to Jara today, you can help us reach even more students by providing our effective distance learning solution, the Jara Unit, and making an even greater impact. ❤
Every contribution, no matter how small, makes a significant difference in the lives of these children, especially in high-poverty, low-internet, and off-grid communities.
Together, we can transform education, empower students, and create a world where every child has the opportunity to make their dreams come true.
Click the link or visit joinjara.com/donate to make your donation and be a part of our journey towards a brighter future.
Thank you for seven incredible years of support, and here's to many more amazing milestones together! 🎉🌟
#JoinJara #JaraUnit #JaraTurns7 #EmpowerEducation #DonateToJara #EducationForAll #DistanceLearning
Learned this from the internet! 🦋 Cut a temporary tattoo butterfly in half, and put them next to your eyes, and voila! #EnjoyLife #SundayFunday #MakeUp #Butterfly
