Ismaili CIVIC Star: Kiana Rawji

““After engaging with girls my age in East African high schools and seeing the disparity between us, despite having the same dreams and aspirations, I knew something needed to be done about it.”

 - Kiana Rawji

20 year-old Ismaili CIVIC Star, Kiana Rawji, is the most recent recipient of the prestigious Diana Award - the highest accolade a young person can achieve for social action or humanitarian efforts. She is the founder of Gentr, an entrepreneurship development program for girls in East Africa. Her inspiration for starting this initiative came from visiting a school in Nairobi, Kenya, where she saw the limited opportunities given to girls. Since then, 100 girls have received Kiana’s mentorship and instruction on how to use technology, and she has raised over $50,000 in awards and contributions for Gentr. Kiana has leveraged her strong public speaking skills and film-making abilities - she has recently travelled to Kisumu, Kenya, to film a documentary to raise awareness of girls’ sexual abuse, with the aim of inspiring initiatives to combat it.

If you are interested in volunteering in your community, or being connected with someone who does volunteer work, please email ismailiCIVIC@iicanada.net