Stories of Transformation

In one of Netflix’s most highly watched documentaries of all time, The Social Dilemma, Director Jeff Orlowski exposed the disturbing extent to which all of us are being manipulated and controlled thr…

Suleika Jaouad’s career aspirations as a war correspondent were cut short when, at age 22, she was diagnosed with leukemia.

Faced with slim survival odds, she knew she wanted to find a way to still pa…

Vijay Gupta believes that the work of the artist and citizen is one: to make a daily practice of the connected, creative, and courageous world we long to live in. Hailed by The New Yorker as “a visio…

Baktash and Najwa Zebian discuss what it means to build a home within yourself, rather than building your home in other people. As someone who spent most of her life aching to be loved and validated …

It was another late, sleepless night in his dorm room, and Mark Metry's phone buzzed. It was the campus police, warning students through text message of yet another violent altercation that had occur…

Jason De León is an anthropologist, author, and activist with a meaningful mission. His work focuses on the global community of migrants who flee their homelands in search of a better life. His lates…

Misha Glouberman is a communications expert, educator, author, and public speaker with a knack for helping people to get the most out of their conversations. He discovered his talent at a young age, …

Mariam Ghani is an artist, filmmaker, writer, and educator, and through this combination of work, she is on a mission to preserve the past, enlighten the present, and provide hope for the future. Bor…

Abdul El-Sayed has been a valedictorian, earned a PhD in public health, run for governorship, and worked as an epidemiologist during the tumultuous year of 2020. He has studied abroad, traveled far a…

Can you think of a Middle Eastern protagonist who has appeared front and center on American, cable television - past or present? If you cannot, then you are not alone, and the reason is at once obvio…

Maz Jorbani is an Iranian-American comedian, actor, and performer who has been entertaining audiences for over two decades. Though he is a comedian by profession, and his talent for the craft sometim…

Faran Tahir has acted on the stage, on TV, and on the big screen. Starring in major Hollywood blockbusters like Iron Man and Star Trek, as well as countless other acclaimed productions, Faran is as a…

Gabo Arora is on the frontier of a new and exciting artistic medium - one you may not even know exists. He is among the visionaries leveraging virtual and augmented reality, and artificial intelligen…

As a young boy growing up in the Arab village of Sha’ab in Northern Israel, Forsan Hussein had always found himself surrounded at all sides by a troubling narrative. For his entire life, everyone had…

Gelareh Kiazand is an Iranian filmmaker who is on a mission to revitalize the film and documentary genre. Integrity, education, and companionship are among the fundamental values she considers in her…

Iram Parveen Bilal was walking through Thomas Bradley Terminal at LAX, awaiting her mother’s arrival for treatment of a life-threatening condition. Amidst the thoughts already racing through her mind…

Jessica Donati never expected to write a book about her experiences in Afghanistan, but then again, she never could have predicted that her journalism career would place her in the middle of some of …

Shaharzad Akbar may not appear as someone you’d expect to be leading the charge in one of the world’s harshest environments. But don't let Akbar's quiet demeanor fool you without first hearing her in…

In art as in life, interpretation is unique to each and every individual. What we take from a piece of art is as important as the art itself, and ultimately defines the experience. Art historian and …

Lotlfullah Najafizada holds a unique perspective on Afghanistan. His lifelong experience of living all around the country himself, combined with his award-winning, journalistic career, has granted Na…