Meet Aya Yousef, Global Student Prize Finalist
October 28, 2021
Last month, when we saw the announcement from Varkey Foundation and Chegg.com of the 50 Global Student Prize finalists, we immediately recognized Howard Leong Yiq Zhenn, a JA Malaysia alumnus, former JA Worldwide Gather Reporter, and architect of the JAM Mall, a digital sales platform for JA Company Program students in Malaysia.
But another JA student was also among the finalists. Aya Yousef, a JA alumna from INJAZ Lebanon who is currently an architecture student at the American University of Beirut, spent time as a child in a refugee camp. Although we couldn’t sit down with her to chat due to COVID restrictions, we communicated online and found ourselves inspired by Aya’s journey.
JA Worldwide: Given your own experience, what are some of the biggest challenges facing children in refugee settlements, especially in terms of Global Goal 4, Quality Education?
Aya: The biggest challenge facing young refugees is a lack of access to proper education and what that does to their mindset. But another major issue is the architecture and infrastructure of camps, which lack open, green spaces, and this led to my current major.
In 2016, I started the first-ever coding club at my school, in which I shared my knowledge and experience in coding with around 20 students who were willing and eager to learn something new. I wanted to reach students with a similar background—who had lived in a refugee settlement—because I didn’t think they would have learned to code in a settlement, yet that knowledge can open up so many opportunities and revolutionize a student’s mindset.
I started noticing that these students also lacked access to resources about attending universities and earning scholarships in Lebanon. I had already been researching this information for myself and decided to start sharing these opportunities. I became part of an outreach team to spread the word about educational opportunities at the best universities in Lebanon. I partnered a year later with two other change makers with the same vision and mission, and we co-founded ToRead to increase the scale of our outreach.
JA Worldwide: Can you tell us more about ToRead?
Aya: ToRead works on bridging and filling the gap between high school students and universities/scholarship foundations. It is an online platform that allows high school students to search, filter, and compare university and scholarship options in Lebanon and abroad. They can compare all university options in Lebanon, check applying criteria, and available services and programs. They can also find scholarships and other opportunities they are eligible to apply to.
Today, I am no longer an active program manager; however, prior to leaving, my co-founders and I were able to register it officially as a company and even win several awards, including the Soraya Salti Best Company in the Arab World in Youth Entrepreneurship Forum 2020, the MasterCard Excellence in Technology Award in 2020, the INJAZ Lebanon Company of the Year Award in 2020, the Asfari Challenge for Social Innovation in the education sector in 2020, the incubation support by Nawaya Network 2019, and more.
JA Worldwide: What led you to choose architecture as your major?
Aya: Once I saw the architectural challenges of refugee settlements (and, now, planning a better camp is on my bucket list!), I wanted to make it my focus of study. Architecture opens the eye and widens the mindset, changing how you think about a building, the space around it, its users, the city it’s located in, and more. Architecture has changed my vision of the world and my personal mission to the humanity.
Architecture opens the door for many opportunities in various fields, because it’s about more than buildings. What I have found most interesting in my academic journey is how the design skills I’m learning are integrated with graphic and digital design, social media, animation, filmmaking, and more. The architectural journey doesn’t stop! For example, I never imagined I would find myself working on an agricultural architectural prototype, tackling food insecurity and roof gardening. Architecture is a starting point; a tool to be pushed beyond its usual limits.
JA Worldwide: What do you remember most about participating in the JA Company Program?
Aya: Right after we started, we were in mentorship sessions, developing our startup, preparing for the pitch and demo day. From there, we got to specialize and build our business. We competed on the national level, and then moved on to the INJAZ Al-Arab competition with 13 other countries. We had so many new experiences and success, and also networked and connected with mentors and other students.