March 23, 2020
A letter from our Co-Founders Roshan Paul and Ilaina Rabbat.
Dear Friends,
First of all, we send our best wishes and hopes that you and your loved ones are healthy and upbeat in this challenging time. We write from our homes in two different continents, separated by time zones but united by the need to move forward in the face of a challenge that affects us all. We founded Amani Institute to help people build the skills to contribute towards solving global challenges. Now, with the coronavirus pandemic, we are facing the most global and urgent challenge our generation has witnessed.
We start by remaining fiercely committed to our global community of changemakers. If there’s one thing we have irrevocably learnt from COVID-19, it is that our vision of building a world beyond boundaries is more relevant than ever. We must collaborate and support each other across all boundaries, so we can emerge from the crisis stronger and more connected.
How our operations are impacted
As of this week, heeding the advice of both local authorities and global experts, our offices are currently closed in Kenya, India and Brazil and all in-person training and gatherings are postponed until further notice. Still, at Amani, we’ve long been used to functioning remotely given our flexible work policy and far-flung offices, so our team is fully in action all over the world. We are already in touch with participants and clients to run programs remotely or reschedule them as needed.
The way forward
And yet, we must also act. To do what we can despite the constraints. We believe that you, the wonderful Amani Institute community, can play a role in bringing light and hope in this time.
To begin, we invite you to a free online session on Wednesday, March 25th at 1.30 pm UTC to explore ways in which we can come together and thrive in times of uncertainty and isolation. Our CEO and Co-Founder Roshan Paul will moderate a conversation with 2 Amani Fellows who are living through the pandemic in two of the most affected countries in the world. They are Jerry Zhu from Shanghai, China, Founder and CEO of SimpliCity and our very own Global Director of Communications, Francesca Folda, a journalist, from Milan, Italy. They will share first-hand experiences, including how we can innovate despite social containment, how to combat fake or misleading news, and more.
You can join the conversation Making a Difference during COVID-19 by connecting to this link for the session on Zoom (up to 100 people can join) or you can watch it live on our Facebook page.
We hope you can join us, and regardless, we look forward to being in touch (even if virtually),
Thank you for your continued trust and support!
Warmly,
Ilaina and Roshan
