We Love Reading

Mother, Teacher, Professor molecular cell biology Hashemite University, Jordan, Harvard Radcliff fellow, a Fulbrighter, Eisenhower fellow, Yale and Cambridge visiting professor. Established Jordan stem cell ethics law. Studies epigenetics of trauma across generations in refugees. Higher education reform expert, UN women  advisory council, Partnerships for enhanced engagement in research award 2014 for women mentor network. Organized the first Arab gender summit. Most influential Islamic World woman scientists, 12 among100 influential Arab women, Fulbright Global Changemaker Award.

Founded “We love reading” received Synergos Arab world social innovators 2009,  Clinton Global Initiative 2010, Library of Congress best practices 2013, World Innovation Summit in Education Award, King Hussein Medal of Honor 2014, Star Award, IDEO.org best refugee education program 2015, UNESCO International Literacy Prize 2017, Jacobs social entrepreneurship award 2018, Science, Technology and Innovation Award UN, Ashoka Fellow 2019.

Speaker/author: TEDxDeadsea, TEDxPSUT, Five scarves, Doing the impossible. Nova Publisher 2018. Reviewed by Nature

Globally, there is systemic failure of formal education. The fast changing world requires an innovative transformative framework with an equity lens. Love of reading is fundamental to unleash a lifelong potential to drive self-learning and a pathway out of learning poverty.

The WLR Program fosters love of reading by training local volunteers to ensure equity (WLR ambassadors WLR-A) to readaloud for fun to children (0-12) in local neighbourhoods and exchange storybooks in the native language and culture motivating children to become drivers of learning. The WLR-As form a network connected through a virtual platform to enable peer-to-peer learning and support. The WLR-As become changemakers within their communities. The result is a community with a mindset of I can.

Developed locally and backed by rigorous academic research, WLR is an impactful, scalable, grassroots and sustainable model. WLR adopts a systemic approach to education by addressing the root cause: lack of motivation.

Globally, the systemic failure of formal education is captured in one outcome measure, 53% children in LIMIC are ‘learning poor,’ defined as unable to read and understand a simple text by age 10 (World Bank, 2019).  The fast changing world requires an innovative transformative framework with an equity lens. Now, a health-related pandemic (COVID19) of school closures impacting 1.4 billion children globally, has further exacerbated what was already a deep and slow-moving education pandemic. As every parent knows, while reading is just one outcome that needs dramatic improvement at scale, it is fundamental to unleash a lifelong potential to drive self-learning and a pathway out of learning poverty.

Reading aloud for fun as early as inutero fosters a love of reading and learning to motivate children to become drivers of learning at home.  However, parents don’t read aloud to their children because of lack of training and awareness.  Most programs focus on providing books, few on reading aloud that goes beyond the sphere of formal education and into the everyday psychology and experience of children changing mindsets to create changemakers focusing by addressing the root cause: lack of motivation to become lifelong learners and doers

WLR creates system change by cultivating a love for reading and altering mindsets to create changemakers. WLR is an innovative model that provides a practical, cost efficient, sustainable, and grassroots approach to empower communities through activism of local volunteers to increase reading levels among children 0-12. We focus on the read-aloud experience through human interaction using the native language to plant the love of reading in children in early childhood inspiring them to become lifelong learners. WLR impacts emotional regulation, executive function, literacy skills and psychosocial status especially in lower socioeconomic and vulnerable communities. WLR empowers adults and youth to become social entrepreneurs by leading read aloud sessions in their local community.  WLR motivates both children and adults to pursue learning because they “want to” not because they “have to”, fostering ownership and responsibility. WLR is a basic framework based on shared universal human values allowing it to scale all over the world, while at the same time adapting to any culture or context. WLR developed a digital solution for training, monitoring and evaluation through a global network on a virtual platform (a mobile app) to connect volunteers around the world (GAN). 

WLR serves vulnerable communities (refugees, minorities, women, elderly, disabled)  and lower social and economic sectors of society globally. Individuals who have been marginalized/oppressed systematically instigating victimhood, dependency and despair. My parents are Syrian and Palestinian refugees therefore I lived the life and am constant interaction with the community I serve. I developed the program from within and in constant interaction with the community.  WLR-As start the program in their neighborhood, are in total control to adapt/change/tailor the program fitting their needs and that of their community.  The program is very simple and doesn't require any previous education. They own the program. this gives them a sense of agency and ownership and control over their future.  It removes dependency and helps them think on their own. This builds their resilience and confidence and sense of self discovering their voice literally and figuratively through reading aloud to children. They are incentivized by the credit they receive from the community becoming leaders and changemakers tackling the challenges in their local neighborhood by designing their solutions.  WLR-As share experiences of what works and what doesn't as true partners which we incorporate into the program. WLRAs are integral to the program. They are the program.

WLR fosters love of reading in Children. This widens their imagination, learn about other people fostering empathy,  better at communication, listening, conflict resolution and finding solutions beyond their local community, drawing the courage to be heroes they read about. Loving to read leads to life long learners. We can change practices, attitudes and behavior of children towards issues by reading stories such as environment conservation, hygiene, gender and disability respect. Children grow up to be champions of these behaviors in their communities in an easy simple effective way. The human-to-human experience reduces stress, helps healthy social-emotionalbrain development.

In 2006 I realized after returning to Jordan that children don't read for fun and therefore don't reap the benefits of reading. As a scientist through observation and research I found that to foster love of reading parents should read aloud to their children as early as inutero. I thought it would be impossible to knock on every door and no one would listen even if a law was passed. So I took it upon myself to be the change and with my own family started gathering the children in the local mosque in my neighborhood reading in Arabic stories from the culture once a week. I gave the children books to read at home and bring back next week. Despite initial doubt by the community of the futility of my actions the children fell in love and were demanding their parents to read and to come to the readaloud sessions.  Later the community started donating books and money for more books. I spent three years through trial and error developing the model resulting in an empirical formula for success with least input and cost yet maximum impact. I was doing human-centered design without knowing. Natural evolution in practice.

My parents are Syrian and Palestinian refugees I have witnessed and lived first hand marginalization and discrimination. I realized the shortcoming of systems in place and futility of trying to change them because of bureaucracy and foreign interference.  I realized that any real sustainable change should be bottom up and will take a long time. I felt the only way to change things was to start at the grassroots so that people demand and create the change (Pedagogy of the oppressed). I grew up an avid reader and realised that reading made me think outside the box and challenge the status quo. I wanted to instill this spirit in the children of my society and the world. This is a global problem not only in my community.  Reading changes mindsets and as a result creates changemakers. If all children grow up loving to read they will read to their children and so on I will have created system change at the grassroots by addressing the root cause. I felt it was a crime for a child not grow up loving to read to discover their inner potential and the world around them.

I am a mother of four and know first hand challenges of raising children, I was a teacher for 10 years in Jordan (1 to 12 grade) realizing the challenges facing students, parents, teachers and administers and now as a university professor I employ innovative pedagogy to make learning fun and to foster  citizens who have a mind set of "I can", who can use their skills to serve their community. I am a professor of molecular biology employing the scientific method in designing, assessing and evaluating the impact of the program that I have developed.  This allowed a unique perspective into the world of social entrepreneurship and practionares in development and humanitarian aid challenging status quo and coming up with innovative approaches. Rigorous academic research of WLR impact is done in collaboration with professors from international and local universities. Most importantly I am from the community I serve. We know better our problems and the root causes. Therefore better at developing sustainable solutions that are effective. I have worked since I started the program with multiple stakeholders, government and ministries, private sector, scientists, education psychologists, publishers, writers, UN agencies and INGOs.  I have worked in multiple geographies: Ethiopia, US, MENA with refugees and local communities. I have been the local lead with Yale in studying impact of INGOS programs on refugees in Jordan.  

WLR doesn’t pay volunteers, INGOs thought this wouldn't work with refugees. I knew developing WLR that paying volunteers takes away agency and motivation. This is WLR's secret sauce for successful sustainability where other INGOs fail. It's a thin line that's easy to cross and loose the people.  Therefore in spite of opposition, I insisted on no change in the Programm or I wont guarantee results. I had proof: WLR had spread to many countries and WLR-A kept reading years beyond the end of any project. I listened but politely stood my ground with confidence asking to be trusted. I conducted training in Azraq camp. Refugee WLR-As are still reading aloud today four years later even under COVID19 strict conditions.  INGOs interviewed WLR-A: "why do you read ? We read for ourselves for our children”. A WLR-A's father   on the Turkish border heard about what she was doing, he wrote her in support a poem about reading. Today because of COVID19, INGOs are slowly realizing that the WLR way is the right way on the long run because it's simple, built on shared values in response to a real need of feeling agency to build a better future.

I was giving a WLR training in Aqaba South of Jordan when a woman came up to me and demanded that I build a library for her.  I asked her why do you want me to build you a library? If you really want one shouldn’t you build it?. I gave the WLR training talking about taking responsibility, ownership and exploring our own potential.  I shared my story of how I started WLR in my neighborhood and the challenges I faced in getting parents and community buy in.  The woman went home and six months later called me inviting me to inaugurate her real library.  She had started reading aloud in her local mosque. The children were so many there was no space, a local contractor built a room and all the neighbors came to paint and make a real library.  This library is still functional 7 years later run by this woman and her neighborhood. If I had built her a library it wouldn’t be sustained. 

I lead by example. I have an open framework for my teams to share and learn together collaboratively. This brings out the best of everybody and actions become the benchmark for success.

We Love Reading is a program that I developed in 2006. I registered the We Love Reading program as a trademark in the US and Europe. I established a non profit as a legal umbrella in 2010 in Jordan.  This organization is called Taghyeer which is an Arabic word that means Change in English. We Love Reading operates under Taghyeer.  I am the President of Taghyeer.

1. WLR has the secret sauce to motivating both children and adults to pursue learning because they want to not because they have to by giving them agency and ownership through intrinsic motivation.

2. WLR is a basic framework based on shared universal human values to allow scaling all over the world while at the same time being flexible to be adapted to any culture or context.  WLR requires volunteers to read in their native language from the local stories to build identity and confidence.  This makes it easier for the children and WLR-As to love reading.

3. WLR harnesses technology to serve rather than be controlled by technology so the adults use technology to be connected through a digital platform while the children are reading aloud books with a human because human interaction is essential for our survival as a species. We are social animals and our brains in order to develop need human interactive stimulation.

That is why WLR is a scalable, efficient, sustainable program that stared in Jordan and has spread to 55 countries and counting WLR is a social movement it is the butterfly effect.

As a scientist I collaborated with scientists to study the impact of WLR and to improve it. We conducted rigorous academic research which is unique to the world of development and humanitarian aid showing the impact of the program on executive functions with brown university, empathy with university of Chicago, visual perception with Queen mary university, parent child engagement with NYUAD.

Theory of change

Problem: Children, youth and adults don’t have a sense of 'I can solve my problems'

Input Service: training WLR-As/local volunteers (youth, women and men) majority women from the community how to read aloud and start reading aloud sessions in local neighborhoods, providing books in local language, connecting WLR-As to a virtual community for peer-to-peer support, maintaining quality and sustainability a digital management platform, Global Ambassador network (GAN)

Output result: WLR-As volunteer conducting reading aloud sessions in local neighborhoods in native language fun books from local culture to children 0-12. Children exchange books and read with parents at home.

Reading aloud by adults to children for fun changes adults to have a sense of ownership and agency discovering their inner potential. The community looks up to them crediting them for changes in their children. WLR-As are incentivized to believe in themselves, have confidence, reducing stress of trauma and building resilience.

Attending reading aloud sessions makes children fall in love with reading, learning and opens a whole world around them becoming heroes they read about. Pleasure is an intrinsic human motivator that through reading aloud is associated with reading becoming the motivator to reading and learning forever. Because reading is in the local language it boosts identity and confidence in local culture especially in minorities and indigenous groups. This helps children reduce stress and anxiety from trauma and builds resilience.

Children become champions of reading at home sharing with their parents and families the joy of reading. We reach parents through the children not the other way around. That is much more effective. improving parent communication and healthy social development while reducing stress. 

Short term outcome: WLR fosters love of reading among children and empowers adults to become leaders in their community building resilience and confidence. Parents are positively engaged with learning. All over reduced stress. Community respects and appreciates and supports WLR-As ensuring sustainability.

Long term outcome: through reading children and adults become local change-makers identifying challenges, developing solutions taking ownership and agency of their futures.

A community of Change-makers who have a mindset of I can.

Number of people WLR is serving

7,529 Adults

497,792 Children read to 

Number of new people WLR will serve in one year

1,000 Adults

20,000 Children

Number of new people WLR will serve in five years

5,000 Adults

100,000 Children

My impact goal within the next year is reaching 1000 new neighborhoods/region across the Arab world, Latin America, South/east Asia and Africa.  I am offering an online training portal in multiple local languages as well as a version for areas that do not have internet in the form of documents and a module for how to write a story for communities from indigenous tribes where no written stories/books exist. In order to ensure sustainability and quality and feedback I am developing an updated version of digital management system including a mobile app (Global Ambassador Network GAN) for a virtual community to connect all WLRAs around the world to be a peer-to-peer support system and a network at the level of the neighborhood of change-makers around the world. 

In five years my goal is to have a fully developed online training portal in 30 languages and a fully developed mobile app reaching more than 5,000 new neighborhoods across the globe.

I aim to reach this many people through word of mouth as a social movement and through partnerships with INGOs, UN agencies, governments and private sector. The partnership is in the form of a licensing mechanism to ensure quality, financial sustainability with broader impact by scaling disproportionally through other organizations.

WLR is a program that is shovel ready to scale especially under the COVID19 crisis because it is online open platform for one time usage then WLR-As and parents work offline.   WLR is a social movement. It is the butterfly effect. 

1. upgrading the online training portal to reach people (volunteers and parents) all over the world because of COVID19.

2. translation of the online portal to reach all communities and populations

3. development of the mobile app to ensure sustainability, quality and data collection for feedback and development of the program.

4. update the digital management platform (GAN) for data analysis

4. access to hard copy children books in multiple languages.

5. finding partners from INGOs, governments, private sector to adopt the WLR license package to reach other regions and for financial revenue.

6. funding for running cost and upgrading and development and marketing.

1. upgrading the online training portal, mobile app and digital management platform (GAN). I am actively applying to grants and approaching tech volunteers and companies as part of their CSR. I am exploring other platforms to host the training portal. 

2. translation of online portal. currently translating into Spanish and Farsi, recruiting volunteer native speakers to translate into other languages.

3. access to hard copy children books in multiple languages. 

a. WLR has developed its own set of 32 children's books. 

b. developed online training on creating your own children book especially in indigenous languages.

c. partnerships with publishers to provide more books in more languages.

d. digital books is our last resort because we believe in physical books with children for the experience and because internet connectivity is not available for all. We have partnered with WorldReader digital libraries. 

4. finding partners to adopt WLR license package.  Piloted licensing model with Plan international and Mercy corps.

5. funding.  

a. the licensing model is a financial sustainability model away from grants. 

b. selling children's books. WLR has 32 children books that were developed with experts in the fields of education psychology on themes including gender, disability, refugees, non violence, environment conservation.  

c. working with private companies to implement WLR as part of their CSR in the locations of their choice and develop a children book on the theme of their choice to give away in stead of swags.

1. UNICEF, UNHCR, Mercy corps, NRC, USAID, PI, IRD, who implement WLR and use WLR children books in refugee camps and host communities.

2. local publishers and authors to enrich the books we use.

3. ARAMEX for shipment locally and regionally of books.

4. IDEO.org in designing of the mobile app, online training and GAN

5. Research institutions: Queen Mary University, University of Chicago, NYUAD, Yale University, Harvard University, Brown University to conduct research on the impact of WLR. We have conducted rigorous academic research on the impact of WLR on children, adults and parents.  We have shown how a low cost program can impact education, mental health and build resilience and social entrepreneurship

6. Ministry of social development, culture and education in Jordan to explore implementing WLR in nurseries, KGs and among youth.

7. local community organizations who help gain access to local volunteers

8. schools teachers, administrators and parents

9. Lawyers to support legal issues and copyrights

10. I am a founding member of catalyst2030, a network of social entrepreneurs around the world to bring about system change.  This network is working at the level of UN, governments and private sector to push client-driven scalable solutions. It's a source for collaboration and visibility to spread WLR as a supplementary program to existing programming in other sectors e.g health, nutrition to create global citizens. WLR targets different audiences e.g. youth; women; elderly; rehabilitation. WLR has evidence showing each finds purpose to do something for their community and themselves.

WLR Value Propositions

-Train community members to read aloud to children aged 0–12 fostering a love for reading

-Children benefit from cognitive development, executive function, literacy  and mental health leading to success in school, work, and life

-Ambassadors gain mindset of “I can”; build skills for social entrepreneurship. 

-The program can be added as a lego piece to complement any other program.

Key Activities

−Deliver program

−Raise funds

−Create children’s books

−Research

-Data acquisition through GAN

Key Resources

−Trainers, program delivery, research, fundraising staff

−Training materials

−Children’s books

-GAN management system

Key Partners

−For-profit companies

−International NGOs and local CBOs

− volunteer WLR-Ambassadors

−Government and inter-governmental bodies

-publishers and writers

Customer Segments

−WLRAmbassadors training

−INGOs, UN organizations, governments, private sector

−Children/families purchasing WLR children’s books

Channels

−Trainings in WLR facility/site provided by partner (through online training)

−Phone; WhatsApp; WLR app: Global Ambassador Network (GAN); email; social media platforms

Cost Structure

−Office/warehouse costs

−Staff salaries

−Program delivery

−Research

-maintaining GAN network

Revenue Streams

−Grants (companies, organizations, and inter-governmental bodies)

−licensing Fees (organizations adopting the program)

−Book sales

-Research consultation

-monetizing mobile application part of the GAN

WLR designed an award-winning digital platform called the Global Ambassadors Network. Through this app, WLR Ambassadors can connect with one another from any place in the world sharing stories, experiences, questions and tips. They  can post photos and provide information after each reading session. The data is collected by WLR to monitor progress each Ambassador makes.  WLR won the Science, Technology, and Innovation UN Award.

We plan to implement a Service Subsidization Model where we:

•License our program to INGOs, community-based organizations, private schools. governments. Through this annual license, we will provide trainings, resources, storybooks, and our data management platform to monitor impact from read-aloud sessions.

•Obtain funding from other groups (e.g., embassies and companies’ CSR funds) to conduct trainings and create new storybooks.

•Sell our children’s books in stores.

•Monetize our digital platform as a source of income

This income will allow WLR to implement the program in vulnerable communities for free. We will concurrently apply for open-ended grants to allow flexibility to grow and meet programmatic needs

We Love Reading is registered as a non profit in Jordan. I am also exploring establishing a social enterprise in the US since Jordan does not have that legal framework in place.  This would be a financially sustainable model for the future.

Funding sources

RTI/USAID 1,949,953.4 Grant 2015-2019

UNICEF $1,075,208.6 Grant 2015-2018

IDEO.org $189,230 Grant 2016-2018

Brown University $7,726 Grant 2018

Shams Maan $ 26,836 CSR  2017 

FHI360/USAID $96,630  Grant 2015

Yale University $135,621.8 Grant 2014-2017

Fetzer  $108,700 Grant 2014

US Embassy Jordan $10,000 Grant 2014

Litworld $ 41,629  Grant 2014-2015

ECOdit/USAID $149,913 Grant 2013

MEPI  $70,147 Grant 2013

Revenue sources (past 12 months)

Books $40,310 

WLR program $20,836 

I seek funding for:

1. upgrading our digital management solution, mobile app and online training especially because of COVID19

2. translation of the online training

3. running and maintenance cost of the organization annually.

4. marketing the WLR package to partners  INGOs, governments, private sector9

5. establishing a US based social enterprise

I seek this funding in the form of a grant for the short term and equity for the long term for sustainability. I expect to raise this money by the end of 2020/early 2021.

Estimated expenses for 2020 are as follows:

The cost of overhead and direct costs of running the program for 2020 is 150,000 $

The cost of upgrading our digital management solution, mobile app and online training is estimated to be 200,000$

The elevate prize will give me access to a network of experts/mentors (individuals and organizations) who can help me resolve the challenges I am facing.  These resources are unique in the sense that they appreciate and understand innovation doing things in a different new way and willing to explore with me to test these new ideas to change how the world thinks. Most others do not support going outside the ordinary. What I am proposing is a system change by focusing on the root cause using a holistic grassroots approach.  This will lead to systemic change that takes time to bear fruit but when it does eventually the change will be real. This will result in not needing the WLR program because the next generation will have changed and become changemakers and therefore becomes the role models and examplars for their children for generations to come.

The other reason is that there are power dynamics in the world that favor global north to global south.  This tension prevents organizations to see us as equals they will allow some leverage but there is always a limit.  I see in this prize an opportunity to change the power dynamics to a more equal playing field and that we all can learn from each other this is very obvious today with COVID19.

Lastly, the expertise in digital technology and partnering with data giants for sustainability to develop further and potentially host our GAN that includes online training, mobile app, and digital management solution.

Support in marketing the WLR program package to INGOs, governments and private companies. Licensing model is strange to these entities so I need to explore new ways of changing how these entities think and deal

Advice on how to monetizing the GAN mobile app to generate revenue

Legal advice on maintaining copyright and quality of the Programm as it spreads while keeping it free for individuals. 

How to analyse the data produced by the GAN network to generate reports that are useful for further developing the Programm and to be used as a research/reference source of information for other organizations.

We Love Reading is registered as a non profit in Jordan. I am also exploring establishing a social enterprise in the US since Jordan does not have that legal framework in place.  This would be a financially sustainable model for the future.

WLR wants to partner with partners with the best quality and services. Because I am not sure which partners will be able to support me best. I would like to attract partners by sharing how WLR has been showcased in the media.

New York Times

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/17/opinion/syria-refugee-children.html

Forbes

https://www.forbes.com/sites/thestoryexchange/2018/11/30/this-entrepreneur-got-a-funder-to-say-heres-1-million-do-whatever-you-want/#5ba4a0be4f82

Fletcher Forum

http://www.fletcherforum.org/home/2018/1/6/we-love-reading-creating-brighter-lives-for-syrian-refugee-children

Stanford Social Innovation Review

https://ssir.org/articles/entry/1001_story_times

PBS

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/agents-for-change/how-a-jordanian-scientist-spreads-the-love-of-reading-around-the-world

Harvard Education

https://www.gse.harvard.edu/ppe/discussion-%E2%80%9Cwe-love-reading%E2%80%9D-founder-dr-rana-dajani