Sankar Raman

Blending Business and Culture

Discipline, fearlessness, and creativity are essential attributes of a successful business owner — and Anne Johnson has all three.

Sankar Raman

What Gives Us Power

“Sometimes it’s what we are most afraid of — or wish were different — in ourselves that gives us our power,” says young adult (YA) author Abdi Nazemian, describing the […]

Sankar Raman

From Bullets to Building

Marbles, three books of short Kurdish stories written in Arabic, and two AK-47 rounds. “With war always going on, those were my trophies (to take with me),”

Sankar Raman

Taking the Opportunity to Shine

Jeanette Amisi Mmunga was born Tosha Kitungano, but has decided to answer to a new name — one she chose for herself. Mmunga was born Feb. 19, 2001,

Sankar Raman

Once Home, Now a Jungle

For the first 18 years of his life, Reza Uddin was a citizen of Burma, now officially known as Myanmar. And then, suddenly, he was not. That’s because Uddin is […]

Sankar Raman

Dignity in Helping Others

One might not expect someone who has been bullied and shot at to pour all her energy into helping others. But Divine has been defying odds and expectations

Sankar Raman

Hope for a New Generation

Jenny Munezero was two months old the night the soldiers attacked, and the only one left alive in her family’s house. “To this day nobody knows why I wasn’t killed. […]

Kim Oanh Nguyen

The Ingredients of Leadership

Although today she is recognized as one of Portland’s best-known chefs, Nong Poonsukwattana confesses that as a child, “I didn’t think (cooking) was

Sankar Raman

Creating New Narratives

When Naskah Zada immigrated from Iraq to the U.S. in the fall of 1997, she was expecting to eat pizza in front of a big-screen television in either a mansion […]

Sankar Raman

Becoming His Own Role Model

After his older sister was badly burned by scalding water, Miguel Rodriguez’s mother, a nurse in Orizaba, Mexico, knew the young girl needed to be seen by medical

Sankar Raman

Giving Others a Voice

Most second-graders don’t worry about what the other kids are thinking when they plan play dates. Elijah Russell, however, figured his friends were only interested

Kim Oanh Nguyen

Around the World Through Music

Every morning, Monday through Saturday, 14-year-old Kim Mai Nguyen woke up at 5:45 a.m. She dashed out the door at 6:20 a.m. to catch the subway. By the end of […]

Sankar Raman

Embrace All Your Cultures

It was her teachers, violinist Inés Voglar says, who gave her the courage to do what she loved the most and to trust that success would follow.

Kim Oanh Nguyen

Designing a Better Future

“After the travel ban and after Trump, I had the hard feeling — I felt ignored and voiceless,” says Shiva Farrohki.  “I was thinking, how can we change

Sankar Raman

Sketching a Life in Secret

Nothing about the financial world interested Sarah Rikaz. The only tie she could find between her passion and the career her parents wanted for her was