Uplifting Lives
and Communities
Through Education.
From humble beginnings, Mona Foundation has grown into a global education movement transforming millions of lives and uplifting communities across 23 countries.
Here is our story.
Meet Mona Mahmudnizhad, the inspiration behind Mona Foundation.
Mona was a young Iranian woman who loved children and began volunteering in an orphanage at the age of 12. She was also an outspoken defender of human rights and wrote a high school essay on “Freedom.”
Because of her beliefs as a Baha’i, her service to children, and her outspoken nature, she was arrested in 1983, at the age of 17, and executed after nine months of imprisonment.
Mona's commitment to education, service, and social justice inspired the name of our foundation.
One Voice silenced.
Millions raised in its stead.
Mona Foundation was founded in 1999 by Mahnaz Aflatooni Javid and a small group of friends whose life experiences compelled them to answer the call of service.
Born into a very charitable family and exposed to extreme poverty growing up, Mahnaz was raised to remember the privilege of birth and geography that shielded her from the misery around her, and to do something about it.
Shaped by her childhood experiences and inspired by Mona Mahmudnizhad, Mahnaz founded Mona Foundation in 1999 to honor Mona's commitment to principle and to continue in her name her unfinished work of promoting education and social justice.
Mona Foundation's initial grants totaled $5,000 and supported the education of four students in two schools: Anis Zunuzi School in Haiti and Badi School in Panama.
Twenty-five years later, Mona Foundation has grown into a global education movement. Through decades of relentless effort in practicing our trailblazing approach to philanthropy, our community of changemakers has to date provided over 5.6 million students with access to quality education through 41 partner organizations in 23 countries -- transforming lives, families, and communities.
OUR NEXT GOAL IS TO EDUCATE 10 MILLION STUDENTS BY 2030.
Students at Badi School in Panama, one of our first grassroots partners (2000) and our oldest continuing partnership -- though the school is now largely self-sufficient. Recognized as one of the finest K-12 schools in Central America, Badi School has transformed its community and influenced Panama's national curriculum.
Education is one of the most powerful solutions to humanity's greatest challenges.
From the outset, our aim has been to ensure access to education for every child, empower women and girls, and foster ethics and service to develop change agents who uplift their own lives, their families, and communities.
We do this by partnering with grassroots educational organizations founded and led by local leaders who deeply understand their communities. Our long-term support enables our partners to build capacity to scale their life-changing programs over time and in collaboration with their government and civil society.
The result? Sustainable change flourishes from within, transforming lives and communities.
To learn more, read our paper: Evolving the Approach to Philanthropy: Shifting Values to Catalyze Systems Change - Together
