Dr. Amr Ramadan is an “influencer” in numerous ways including being a young entrepreneur, spreading awareness and tips on learning the English language, helping youth apply for global scholarships and achieve their educational dreams, and Amr is an inspiring climate activist who spoke at COP27, met with many world leaders to discuss the climate crisis, and he spoke 5 times a different TEDx conferences, and recently he gave talk about climate change in the first TED in Arabic conference in Qatar.
More about Amr Ramadan:
Amr Mohamed Ramadan Hassan – Global Peace Chain
Link to TED Talk:
https://tedinarabic.ted.com/ar/talk/can-carbon-taxes-achieve-climate-justice-ar
Influencers Today: You majored in pharmacy and have interviewed people in COP27 about why they decided to dedicate their time to battling the effects of global warming. Please share your story about why you chose to become a climate activist.
Dr. Amr Ramadan : My study in pharmacy was one of the main reasons for developing my love of climate because when I used to study chemistry a lot. I learned about CO2 and environmental chemistry and how it affects people. For instance, I studied the greenhouse gases, CO2, and methane in depth. I also studied diseases and how they affect the human body. I deeply understand how this climate crisis is going to affect our human health and I deeply understand that people are profiting from our bodies; over my body, over the bodies of this generation, and over the bodies of the future generation. So studying pharmacy helped me understand the health consequences of this climate crisis. This is why I became a climate activist. Another important note I must share is that being a climate activist is not an interest or hobby. It is anxiety and being sick and tired of the broken system. People are dying because of the climate crisis and the help of marginalized communities are highly affected by the crisis because if we are going to simplify it, we are going to talk about clean air, clean water, and food. People in marginalized areas don’t have access to clean air, water, or food. The polluted air is caused by the rich who are polluting this planet. Although this crisis is manmade, it was not made by us, but by people in power.
Influencers Today: Your story is truly inspiring regarding learning English. What difficulties did you face when creating “Empower Hub”, “California Activity Club” and the “Women Leaders Campaign”?
Dr. Amr Ramadan : I studied in public schools my entire life. When I was in the 5th grade, I scored a zero on my English test. My English teacher told me “You will never learn English!” My journey all started from this point. Then I felt like I was less than those around me and that I won’t be able to achieve anything in my life, although I was smart in other subjects, my English was a big problem. My librarian helped me a lot to improve my English and I ended up being in the top ten percent in the 6th-grade exam. I then got the English Access Microscholership from Amideast. Through Access, I spent two and a half years until 9th grade studying American conversation and American history and politics as well as leadership and computer skills. It was a turning point in my life and that’s what inspired me to create California Activity Club, which was established in 2014. I then established Empower Hub where its main aim was to make woman leaders, climate leaders, tech leaders and so much more. It all boils down to me feeling the pain of people coming from marginalized communities that don’t have opportunities and do not know about the opportunities. I started this hub to empower everyone to study in their dream institutions.
Influencers Today: What climate initiative did you do that you aspire future generations to continue?
Dr. Amr Ramadan : I created two initiatives regarding climate. The first one is ‘Empower 2030 Leaders Hub’ it has more than 25,000 members on Facebook and it focuses on the 2030 agenda and sustainable development goals. I founded it in 2016. The second initiative, ‘Climate Leaders Hub’ was created this year in 2022. I teach the youth how to create content regarding sustainability on social media. The hub has more than 50 people. They are separated into 12 groups where every group develops a campaign. The campaigns were mainly videos about climate and sustainability.
Influencers Today: In your journey to learn English, you said that when you were younger you did not have the appropriate resources to learn the language until you heard about the scholarship. How do you plan on helping people in marginalized areas to teach them about the dangerous causes and effects of climate change and how it will mainly affect them?
Dr. Amr Ramadan: As I stated previously, the climate crisis intersects with everything in our lives. It intersects with our finances, health, politics, manufacturing, supply chain, and everything in our lives. I believe that when I teach people English and computer skills, they can then proceed to learn from the internet, specializing in their interests and solving this environmental issue. Coming from a marginalized group will result in them not only solving the issue down to a technicality but solving the power dynamics in it. They are representing the majority of the people and they are highly affected by the problem so they are going to find very innovative solutions.
Influencers Today: As a former delegate at Alexandria Model European Union, how do you utilize the skills that you learned during your time there in your TED Talks, lectures, and YouTube videos?
MEU was one of the things that highly impacted my life. I spent 3 months in it. The three-day English-only conferences that were from nine am to nine pm where we moderated caucus improved my public speaking skills a lot. It boosted my confidence in speaking in front of audiences and giving lectures to people. When the time came for me to stand on the Ted stage to give a lecture, the experience was easier, in my opinion, compared to other people who did not gain the experiences I did. Even when I do my YouTube videos, the process is easier because I already know how to publicly speak.
Influencers Today: You have traveled to a dozen countries. What do you wish to incorporate here in Egypt from what you witnessed in those nations and how do you plan on incorporating them?
Dr. Amr Ramadan: I traveled to more than twelve nations. My travels were mainly to European nations that were sponsored by shows. I also traveled to Arab nations and America. The thing that impressed me the most in America was that there, three to four people can gather and create an organization or entity. Here in Egypt, people do not really work together. There is no teamwork, organization, association, or anything that unites them. In America, if people want to accomplish something, the network. For instance, there are many topics that unite them like gun control, free medical care, or free college tuition. Here, although everyone may agree on something, we are not able to develop an organization to get our rights. There is no unity.
InfluencersToday: You have previously met with the United Kingdom’s former Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the British Ambassador in Egypt at COP27. What interesting stories can you share about your interactions with these figures?
Dr. Amr Ramadan: They are really nice people. They were more focused on listening to our concerns and what we do. I received much personal advice from the UK’s Minister of Foreign Affairs. He talked to me about his public life before being in the parliament. It was an amazing experience for me to sit down with him and for him to tell me advice relating to my life.
InfluencersToday: You manage national and international grants for sustainable development. What is the most influential and significant notion that someone who received the grant achieved?
Dr. Amr Ramadan: I received a grant from the U.S. Embassy to found the California Activity Club. I received a grant from Women Deliver, the British Council, and many more organizations. We created many initiatives that helped thousands of people. With the help of the U.S. Embassy, and California Activity Club we were able to help more than 2,500 people in 20 governorates in Egypt. With Women Deliver we helped more than 1,000 women. With the help of the British Council, we employed 80 trainers. Our organizations were diverse. We had people who were disabled from people who came from low-income backgrounds. A story that still sticks with me is about a boy from Abis. He was in California and took the IELTS and TOEFL with me. He is currently with us in the initiative ‘Youth Voices’, thankfully he was able to receive a scholarship and travel. Another boy was able to get an 8.5 in the IELTS and currently has a scholarship. Another girl who was with us in several initiatives is now an initiative manager. So yeah, there are many success stories.
InfluencersToday: What are your future plans regarding sustainable development in Egypt and the world?
Dr. Amr Ramadan: I hope that ‘Empower 2030 Leaders Hub’ to have more than one million participants who all immobilize the 2030 agenda by the year 2030.
InfluencersToday: What advice would you give someone who is passionate about the environment and wants to truly make an impact in the world as you did?
Dr. Amr Ramadan: I would advise them to find people who share the same interests. I would advise them to network, collaborate, cooperate, and work with a group of people and immerse themselves in this group. They should be meaningfully engaged in this group and work together to accomplish what they want.
