Zahraa Al-Maliki

Jordanian educator building schools for Syrian refugee children through crowdfunding

Zahraa Al-Maliki founded Educate Every Child in 2020 to provide education for Syrian refugees displaced by the civil war. Starting with a makeshift classroom under a tent in Za'atari camp, she developed an innovative crowdfunding model that attracted global donors. Her platform connects sponsors directly with students' educational needs, ensuring 100% of funds go to supplies and salaries. By 2023, her network had established 15 schools across Jordan and Lebanon, educating over 5,000 children. Zahraa's methodology was adopted by UNICEF's Learning in Crisis program (UNICEF partnership), and her TEDxAmman talk "Building Classrooms, Not Walls" (2022) inspired similar initiatives in Lebanon and Turkey. In 2024, she launched an online learning platform (LearnWithZahraa) offering Arabic-language STEM courses. Her advocacy led to Jordan's 2025 policy allowing refugee children access to public schools. A documentary series School of Hope (2023) chronicles her journey, while her memoir Building Futures Brick by Brick (2024) details her challenges. Zahraa was named Ashoka Fellow in 2023 and featured in Forbes Middle East's Impact Makers issue. Her current goal is to expand to Palestinian refugee camps in Gaza by 2026.