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Join us in welcoming Andrew Leon Hanna (Bracken Bower Prize winner, Forbes 30-Under-30 social entrepreneur, Stanford Knight-Hennessy Scholar) for an engaging book talk. 

Financial Times Best Book of the Year, 25 Million Sparks: The Untold Story of Refugee Entrepreneurs (Cambridge University Press) tells the story of three Syrian women entrepreneurs in the Za'atari refugee camp in Jordan and of the broader global refugee entrepreneurship phenomenon they represent. 

It has been called “a powerful story of hope” by Nobel Peace Prize winner Leymah Gbowee; a chance to “discover humanity at its best” by PBS NewsHour anchor Judy Woodruff; “inspir[ing],” “sharply topical, “original,” and “novelistic” by the Financial Times; and “uplifting” by Publishers Weekly. It also won the prestigious Financial Times Bracken Bower Prize in its proposal form.

Hanna is the cofounder of DreamxAmerica, a social enterprise launched at the Harvard Innovation Lab that joins storytelling and impact to highlight and support immigrant, refugee, and first-generation entrepreneurs, including through a partnership with Kiva that has connected small businesses to zero-interest loans during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hanna will be in conversation with Lindsay Gifford, Assistant Research Professor at the Pozen Center.

Co-sponsored by Global Studies, the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, the Rustandy Center for Social Sector Innovation, and the Pozen Center. 

For questions and to request a reasonable accommodation that will facilitate your full participation in this event, please contact cliffchan@uchicago.edu