What is your initiative?

ⵉⵙⵡⵉ | ISWI is an initiative aiming to reignite purpose for at-risk youth. Our approach is three-fold: a play-based after-school dropout prevention program, a career-hub for out-of-school under 25 youth, and a podcast. The best part? ⵉⵙⵡⵉ | ISWI will be all led by former dropouts.

What is your connection to your chosen community?

I am Moroccan and have been spending the past three summers in Nador. In the summer of 2021, I met a young 10-year-old boy named Marwan, for the first time. He was determined to drop out of school and follow in his siblings’ footsteps. The encounter was the origin story of an improvised summer pilot program where I used play-based learning for youth at-risk of school abandonment. It grew organically, with community members and myself brainstorming ⵉⵙⵡⵉ | ISWI together last summer.

What are you looking forward to this year?

Words cannot express how excited I am to launch ⵉⵙⵡⵉ | ISWI together with the community that has seen its origin story develop. I can only imagine what the hub will look like one year from now, and who I will become, one year from now!