NaTakallam

The topic of refugees exploded in 2015, after the viral death of Aylan Kurdi. Since, global displacement, (now affecting over 114 million people) continues to rise. Covid19 has exacerbated the situation, and with climate change, another 150 million people will become refugees by 2050 (World Bank). Moreover, conflicts are on the rise and an estimated 2 billion people live in conflict affected communities. 

Those who have been forcibly displaced from their homes often find themselves trapped in a state of uncertainty, in camps, border detention centers or living in host countries without legal residency and barred from the local economy. Even when formally resettled, refugees encounter language and cultural barriers, social isolation, and discrimination in the labor market. Influential global actors offer minimal support, while growing hostility toward refugees hampers the implementation of supportive policies. The humanitarian sector struggles to respond, leaving millions without income access.

Yet, refugees and conflict-affected individuals are brimming with talent. They are also highly connected - as they often possess a phone.

At the same time, there is a growing global language market and a shift in both individual and corporate consciousness towards ethical and impactful consumption. The internet and digital economy can provide endless opportunities for global virtual communication and community, and it is our goal to leverage them to create meaningful language and cultural exchange opportunities, as well as jobs and livelihood opportunities.

At NaTakallam, we aim at breaking the cycle of isolation from society and the economy faced by marginalized groups by providing them with an autonomous and sustainable income stream, regardless of their location, work status, or any other legal or societal barriers to employment.

At NaTakallam, we aim to supports forcibly displaced and conflict-affected individuals  (which we often refer to by “refugees” for more simple writing) and those in conflict zones, by hiring them as online tutors, teachers and translators, integrating them into the digital economy

This not only provides them with a stable income access, but it also combats social isolation, restoring their dignity and sense of purpose. Leveraging the essential connectivity of smartphones, we bridge economic and societal gaps these individuals must overcome with a global audience through our platform. After a rigorous selection process involving interviews and quality assessments, successful candidates are matched with learners for language and cultural exchange or translation tasks, earning between $11 to $70 per session (per word / hourly for translation and interpretation)with earnings paid out through various online, FinTech methods as well as though NGO partners on the ground. 

This setup supports their financial independence, aligning with our goal to offer them an income that matches the monthly minimum wage in their host countries. As such, we are not a marketplace, but focus on strategically pairing language learners and tutors with these objectives in mind. 

On the client side, NaTakallam caters to individual learners, educational institutions, corporations, and NGOs seeking language, cultural and translation services, thereby contributing to their CSR, DEI and UN SDG objectives, among other corporate or organizational goals. Our direct outreach and bespoke service curation cater to the specific needs of schools, universities, and businesses, facilitated by our dedicated community of over 500 tutors and translators. Our offerings include 1-on-1 language learning in 9+ languages and regional dialects, translation services, cultural exchange sessions for corporate and academic settings and complete language curricula in Arabic, with a specialization in professional Arabic for doctors, journalists and humanitarian workers.

We ensure quality, culturally sensitive language learning and translation services at competitive rates, accommodating the limited budgets and challenging schedules of our users.

Our funding model is built on client payments for services, with a significant portion directed towards supporting our network of tutors and translators.

All our exchanges are powered by our independent platform, which we are working on turning into an app and continuously improving in terms of UX, UI and AI integrations.

 In the long run, we aim to create a ripple effect, by changing the narrative around displaced and conflict-affected individuals, building vibrant virtual communities and building partnerships to encourage the inclusion of displaced and conflict affected individuals in our global economies and societies.

We have two main groups of beneficiaries: our tutors and translators, who are displaced and conflict-affected individuals, and our global clients and customers.

Through our work with NaTakallam, our tutors and translators receive income opportunities, experience and soft skills, training, community, a sense of dignity and purpose, and a rekindled social network through their students. For many, this leads to resettlement and other job opportunities. Our goal is to provide sustainable income opportunities to as many refugees as possible. Sustainability is a keyword for us: as global marketplaces are subject to shocks such as Covid-19 or the Russian invasion of Ukraine, NaTakallam leverages the digital economy to ensure that work opportunities are independent from supply chain disruptions or local economic fluctuations. Because of its flexibility, NaTakallam offers job opportunities that can serve as an economic buffer for individuals in vulnerable settings who are working other jobs, supporting their families (especially young parents or single parents), continuing their education or seeking resettlement. 

On the client side, we offer affordable, flexible, high-quality, curated language services to individual customers who seek to learn a new language while directly supporting refugee communities. We also serve academic customers who bring us into their classrooms for a unique empathy-building learning experience that fosters global citizenship. We partner with organizations such as Teens of Color Abroad in the United States to bring cultural exchange opportunities to underserved communities who may not have access to study abroad or native language exchange programs. Additionally, we offer impactful quality and affordable translation and interpretation services to organizational customers in the private sector. 

Since our establishment, we have had the privilege of working with over 16,000 unique learners from 100 countries, empowering them with language skills and fostering cultural understanding. Notably, our programs have also played a vital role in supporting refugee communities, enabling them to generate more than $3.2 million in income.

We offer specialized language sessions where learners can directly connect with their tutors through our online platform. We have established partnerships with various organizations, resulting in 3000+ students benefiting from our B2B language learning program. We also collaborate with 75+ universities. Additionally, we have made a significant impact through cultural exchange and language learning programs in nearly 200 institutions between K12 schools, community organizations, and conferences.

Over the years, we have formed valuable partnerships with several esteemed organizations and corporations, such as Meta, eBay UK, Twitter, Columbia and Yale University, UNHCR, Save the Children or the OECD, providing them with our expertise in translation and interpretation, cultural exchange, and language learning services.

Our team’s history, background and values place us to uniquely understand and serve the communities we work with.

When our founder Aline Sara’s parents immigrated to New York from war-stricken Beirut in the 80s’, they were welcomed and had a chance to start a new life. Even though racism and xenophobia existed then and will to some extent remain ingrained in systemic dynamics (making our work on changing hearts and minds that much more critical), attitudes towards refugees have rarely been as negative as they are now. Economic and social inequalities were blatant to her. She was safely growing up and going to college in New York, while watching her cousins grow up in conflict and insecurity in Lebanon, as well as seeing millions of Syrians arrive in her home country after the beginning of the war in 2011. 

Experiencing post-graduation idleness, and looking for ways to improve her Arabic, she realized that displaced Syrians and their Lebanese host communities were experiencing an even worse idleness, due to a lack of economic opportunities and political and social tensions. NaTakallam was born to bridge this gap, and has over the years recruited a team that possesses very different backgrounds. Our Co-Founder, Reza Rahnema, was born in Paris due to the situation following Iran’s 1979 Revolution. The violent crackdown on anyone speaking up against the then reigning regime, led his family and so many other Iranians to leave the country. 

Both of our founders understand what it means to leave war, persecution and precarious, deadly situations in their homeland.

We have linguistics, human rights, business and technology experts, who are however united by the awareness that technology - albeit often misused - can be the key to unmaking social inequalities and rebuilding a more connected and empathetic world. Our team comes from a humanitarian / social impact background, enabling us to understand this market. Our global presence strengthens our capacity to work with clients - as well as language partners - from all around the world, including conflict-affected countries. The team also includes former refugees and migrants, women and PoC, individuals from dual citizenship backgrounds and conflict backgrounds; some of our refugee tutors have now joined our core team. For instance, our head of product, Moulham, initially worked as a NaTakallam tutor in Syria. Adeodat, originally stateless from Rwanda and residing in Kenya, now serves as a project manager in our translation team. We are all united by a dedication to a human-centered approach and community building. In other words, our language partners are not treated as mere clients or beneficiaries; they are integral partners and owners of their own time and work. This approach fosters a sense of empowerment and their active participation in decision-making processes. Our horizontal communication structure enables 360 degree feedback and constant evaluation of our impact on their lives. 

NaTakallam started with individual language exchange in one language (Arabic) in 2015, and since then has grown to a social enterprise offering a full suite of cultural, language and translation services in  Persian, various Arabic dialects, French, Armenian, English and Ukrainian (among others). We have also developed our own platform, which integrates booking, payment and language sessions for simplicity and transparency. Beyond growing in terms of languages offered, we’ve also diversified our core services as well as the audiences they serve. Over the years, we’ve added B2B services, by partnering with various academic, institutional and corporate organizations such as Ben&Jerrys, Meta, Twitter (X), the World Bank, UNHCR, Women Deliver, Care, Columbia University, the University of Cambridge, Yale University, among others, that include not only language teaching but also translation and interpretation services.

We have also started a cultural exchange program called “Refugee Voices”, where refugees can share their stories and reclaim the narrative on their experience of displacement. 

Since our establishment, we have achieved 5,300,000$ in cumulative revenue and over 3,500,000$ in autonomous revenue generated by 500 + Language Partners. We have reached 16,000 users, and 300+ organizations and academic institutions. 

That being said, as we have multiple service lines, we’ve been able to grow slowly rather than exponentially. This has enabled us to significantly expand our offering in terms of languages and services, as well as to cater to a broader range of audiences.

Our work has been recognized by various awards and recognitions, such as the Halcyon fellowship, the Top 100 Global Educational Innovation by HundrED recognition, the Lebanon Impact Award, the 2019 Cartier Women's Initiative Award, the HiiL Justice Accelerator awards in 2023, the 2023 Wise awards and the SXSW Edu 2024 prize.

NaTakallam's journey requires multifaceted support, particularly in product and technology. MIT's expertise in product development and technology innovation can provide crucial guidance in refining our offerings and optimizing our technological infrastructure. Solve's network offers access to legal, market, and cultural expertise, helping us navigate complexities and ensure our solutions are effective and relevant. Specifically, we seek advice on impact measurement and presentation, as well as opportunities for media exposure and conference participation to amplify our reach. MIT Solve’s alignment with our goals of DEI makes it an excellent mentor for better understanding and addressing the richness of cultural nuances.

What makes NaTakallam's solution innovative is its unique approach to addressing economic prosperity for displaced and conflict-affected individuals. Rather than viewing refugees solely as recipients of aid, NaTakallam recognizes their valuable skills, particularly in language, and leverages technology to create opportunities for them in the global marketplace. This perspective and innovative approach challenges traditional narratives about refugees and enables them to contribute actively to their own economic well-being.

By providing a platform where refugees can offer language tutoring and translation services, NaTakallam disrupts conventional notions of employment and livelihoods. Through freelance digital opportunities, refugees can earn income and build connections, demonstrating that full-time employment is not the only path to economic stability. This approach not only benefits refugees but also fosters greater cross-cultural understanding among users, catalyzing positive impacts in the broader community.

Moreover, NaTakallam's emphasis on the personal and cultural component of language learning sets it apart from other services. By facilitating meaningful interactions between refugees and language learners, NaTakallam creates opportunities for empathy and connection, enhancing the language learning experience and fostering deeper cultural understanding. This personalized approach not only improves language fluency but also promotes tolerance and open-mindedness, contributing to broader societal change.

NaTakallam’s Theory of Change revolves around establishing a sustainable business model that provides gig economy opportunities for refugees worldwide as language tutors and translators. The core objective is twofold: to mitigate the loss of human capital resulting from global displacement and to foster cross-cultural understanding. With a demonstrated track record of revenue growth, reaching a cumulative $5.3 million, and an expanding client base, NaTakallam has validated the sustainability of its solution.

To realize these objectives, NaTakallam has identified key inputs, outputs, outcomes, and impacts. Inputs encompass the creation of the NaTakallam interface and the provision of gig economy employment, alongside fostering community through training and mentorship, and forging partnerships with academic institutions, NGOs, and corporations. Outputs include the delivery of translation and tutoring services to external clients, facilitating connections, income generation, the accrual of social capital for refugees, and language learning experiences for clients. Outcomes encompass refugees' ability to not only survive but thrive, integrate, and rebuild their lives through income, and social capital (and even deep friendships established with their newfound community), while clients benefit from high-quality language services and foster cross-cultural connections. Impacts extend to reshaping the narrative around refugees and integration positively and empowering users with insights into the refugee crisis and direct contributions to improving refugee livelihoods. NaTakallam's ability to secure grants and achieve substantial revenue growth, nearing cost recovery, underscores the effectiveness of its approach.

NaTakallam’s impact extends beyond financial empowerment. Individuals working with us gain:

• Income:financial independence and stability.

• Work Experience and Skills: professional development opportunities.

• Training: Designed to enhance their service delivery capabilities.

• Community Support and Friendships: global connections, and reduced social isolation.

• Sense of Purpose and Intercultural Skills: Regained dignity by teaching their language, sharing their story, shaping the narrative around displacement and the opportunity to engage in meaningful cultural exchanges with their students and audience.

In terms of impact, so far we have worked with:

• 500+ language partners and translators, who have self-generated over $3,200,000 in income through language sessions or translation services;

Moreover, we have served:

• 16,000+ unique users (individual language learners, translation clients, academic clients, etc.)

• 110+ countries

• 300+ schools and universities

• 100+ organizational clients

Our impact targets for the year 2025 include 5M of cumulative self-generated revenue by our Language Partners through NaTakallam and reaching 1500 Language partners and translators from displaced and conflict-affected backgrounds.

Beyond its numerical targets, NaTakallam uses a combination of quantitative and qualitative data to assess its impact.

For our academic programs in schools and universities, we monitor:

• The number of schools and universities we partner with

• The number of schools and universities that renew their partnership with us (retention rate)

• The number of students participating in NaTakallam sessions each semester 

• The number of students successfully completing all assigned NaTakallam sessions each semester 

• The percentage of students reporting satisfaction with their language partner and overall Natakallam experience

• The number of students reporting a change in their understanding of refugee issues 

• The number of students reporting developing friendly relationships with their language partners

• The percentage of teachers and professors reporting being satisfied with NaTakallam sessions' coursework integration

For our B2C offering, we also measure the number of language learners (both cumulative and monthly), as well as their satisfaction and retention rates.

As a large part of raison d’etre is to also provide income to refugees and conflict-affected individuals, we also measure our positive and sustainable impact on their lives by looking at the following:

• The number of tutors and translators working at NaTakallam

• The number of tutors and translators who fully depend on NaTakallam for any income

• NaTakallam tutors’ and translators’ average monthly revenue

• The number of clients using NaTakallam services, besides academic partners

They are also surveyed on other aspects more related to their well-being and feeling part of a community, which is at the core of what we are creating. They are surveyed twice yearly on questions about their well-being and the soft skills they learn through NaTakallam (for example, English, technology use, etc.)

For example, we’re interested in knowing:

• The level of income reliance on NaTakallam:  60% report it’s their only source of income

• How many are using their income from NaTakallam to finance their studies: 40%

• Their professional development: 30% of them reported however that NaTakallam facilitated their work search and 45% reported that working with NaTakallam has given them new professional goals.

NaTakallam leverages the connectivity of modern-day displaced and conflict-affected individuals to connect them to our web-based platform - which is the core of our technological infrastructure. Individuals sign up on the platform and pay via the platform, and we take care of carefully matching them to a tutor based on level and interests. Once we receive feedback from our clients and partners, data analytics drive both our marketing department and our impact assessment. 

Unfortunately, access to technology is still a huge barrier to entry both for the labor market  and for education opportunities. Some companies in the telecom sector are working to provide mobile access to those who are less connected - especially those in conflict affected contexts which may be cut off from the internet supply. Therefore, we are working on a proof of concept for an app that will allow to not only streamline and integrate the process of purchasing and accessing language and cultural exchange sessions, but also to allow for lighter and even off-line access to resources.

Full-time: 14

Part-time: 6

Interns/volunteers: 6

Women: 15/20

9 years

As a female-founded organization conceived to support mostly Arab refugees who were excluded from the local economy, NaTakallam’s raison d’etre is grounded in principles of diversity and inclusion. 

The NaTakallam team includes former refugees and migrants, POC, individuals from dual citizenship backgrounds and individuals from conflict backgrounds, including some who started at NaTakallam as refugee tutors. 

Our team is mostly female, our board is majority female, and most of our tutors and translators are women. In addition, our staff, tutors and translators include individuals from the LGBT community from across the world, including Latin America, Africa, the MENA region, China, and beyond (besides Europe and the Americas).

Our diverse backgrounds make us qualified to understand both sides of our market – the language learners and the conflict-affected communities – and to exercise empathy and understand our mission deeply, which adds an incomparable human and personal dimension to the work we do.

Our platform empowers marginalized communities — particularly women, who comprise over 75% of our staff, 52% of our language partners and 53% of our translators. Through flexible work opportunities, we enable women, including single mothers, to earn a stable income from home. Remote work can benefit people with disabilities, too, who may face additional discrimination and barriers on top of their displacement background. The experience of displacement is generally challenging, but particularly so for refugees who belong to marginalized groups, who often face heightened isolation and social discrimination. NaTakallam offers a lifeline by providing a supportive environment and enables these individuals to overcome traditional employment challenges and gain access to a source of income. Moreover, our training and education opportunities for language partners are key stepping stones to career advancement. NaTakallam serves as more than a financial support system. Through a range of interactive activities, including online coffee chats and virtual movie nights, we establish online spaces that recreate a sense of community and belonging.

Our approach and solution are deeply rooted in inclusivity, ensuring that the communities most impacted by our work have a significant role in shaping our initiatives and providing invaluable input. At NaTakallam, our language tutors and translators are neither clients nor beneficiaries; they are integral partners and owners of their own time and work. This approach fosters a sense of ownership and empowerment, ensuring their active participation in decision-making processes.

Finally, NaTakallam creates vibrant online communities that unite refugees and language learners worldwide, thereby disrupting the sometimes patronizing dynamics of aid and creating the foundation for mutual support, respect and understanding between all members of our family regardless of background or nationality.

NaTakallam was established in 2015 as a US-registered social enterprise. It operates on a double-sided, social-impact business model, strategically designed for both financial viability and positive social impact. NaTakallam is grounded in market needs, those of language learners, translation clients & qualified refugees, which enables refugees to earn an income from high-level, in-demand skills. 

The platform offers a range of products and services, including individual language and cultural exchange sessions, professional translation and interpretation services in ten languages. We also partner with organizations (B2B), such as corporations, intergovernmental organizations, NGOs, universities, and schools to enhance cross-cultural communication and understanding.

We follow a commission-based model where

• Language learning and cultural exchange services are charged per hour and sold in bundles with a  30%-40% margin.

• Translation services are charged per word range with a 30% margin, and interpretation services are charged per hour. The translation department also offers a subscription model.

Natakallam operates at the center of a Triangular/3-part relationship, involving the paying client, the refugee delivering the service, and the refugee seeking services.

Refugees, the key service providers, receive income for delivering these services, including translation, online language teaching, tutoring, and cultural exchange. The platform provides refugees with essential training and mentorship to enhance their skills, offering a sustainable pathway to income during displacement and resettlement phases.

Natakallam's financial structure involves retaining a percentage of client payments, with the remainder going directly to the refugee service providers. This ensures that the economic benefits directly impact those who contribute their skills. The platform's commitment to social impact is evident in its goal of providing refugees with an income equivalent to the monthly minimum wage in their host country.

After receiving some grants within the first few years of its establishment, NaTakallam was able to grow its team fivefold and increase its self-generated revenue by four folds, hitting the 1 million USD revenue mark in 2021 and breaking even in 2023, setting itself on the way to financial sustainability. 

A key component of our revenue strategy has been and will increasingly be to pursue partnerships with other organizations that share our values and goals. We seek to collaborate with like-minded entities on joint initiatives, which allows us to expand our impact while also generating revenue through shared funding and sponsorship opportunities.

We have also invested revenue in our platform and technical product. Marketing and technical advancement (such as building a platform) have improved UX and amplified our reach, which allows us to ensure our sustainability, by lowering our overhead cost and creating the technical capacity to grow our user base dramatically. 

The next step in our sustainability plan is to widen the scope of users to sustain any unexpected changes in the business cycles. This strategy was already proven successful during the pandemic when NaTakallam was able to maintain its growth by shifting its main source of revenue to B2C language learning sessions as opposed to B2B clients who were struggling at the time. A way to do this is to expand into markets that hold a lot of potential (such as French and Spanish B2C language learning), and to which we could easily transfer the infrastructure we already have in place (such as curriculum design, professional courses, etc.) For example, our Arabic curriculum, which offers a comprehensive study program comparable to that of Ivy League programs, allows us to secure more long-term revenue from our language program directly - independently of external funding.

We aim to hit USD$2.5 million in annual revenue by 2025 (in 2 years), and 3.5 USD million by 2028. The driving factor behind our growth will be to target more organizational clients, including government, corporate, and NGO clients for our language learning and translation services. For our B2C language learning services, our growth will rely on three axes. Firstly, we are working on an improved learning experience with synchronous video sessions, and asynchronous learning content. This content will be generated by the hundreds of current refugee tutors that NaTakallam has, who have generated and tested their content for the past years. Secondly, we hope to develop a targeted and strategic marketing campaign to identify and focus on individuals who want to learn a language while having a positive long-term impact. Finally, we’ll grow through the diversification of languages and potentially new online teaching services and curriculum development, which will make us even more competitive. Once we hit an economy of scale, we will be financially sustainable, if not profitable.