As a result of my work in partnership with the United Nations, I was honored to receive a letter from the United Nations General Assembly President and be personally invited to speak at the annual UN Economic and Social Council Youth Forum among Ministers of Youth, UN delegations, and high-profile organizations.
I was also selected to be a 2020 Noble Citizen Award Honoree among the Deputy Chief Minister of India Mr. Manish Sisodia, Olympic medalist Pusarla V. Sindhu, Director-General of SAIEVEC Dr. Rinchen Chophel, country ambassadors, and cabinet ministers.
Upon meeting world humanitarian Mata Amritanandamayi (or "Amma") by invitation, I had the opportunity to interview Amma and feature her in my book releasing in 2020, Youth Igniting Social Change. At this event, I also was able to recruit Bhavani Rao, Amma's UNESCO Chair, to my NGO CollatEd's Global Steering Committee.
I was honored to be one of the 17 honorees for the United Nations 2019 Sustainable Development Goal Honors Award worldwide representing 26 countries. To have been selected among members of the US House of Representatives, a King and Queen of Nigeria, Mayors, authors, entrepreneurs, and industry professionals well into their careers as the youngest awardee in their history is surreal to me. I was selected for SDG 9: Industry, Innovation, Infrastructure.
For the past two years, I've spoken at Gil Cisneros' Town Hall events, and partnered with him to host my NGO InnovaYouth's workshops throughout the 39th district. I've also worked with my school district HLPUSD Board Member, Martin Medrano, to foster partnerships for InnovaYouth at the Hacienda Heights Community Center.
I was selected to be a 2019 international Stanford She++ Include Fellow, a 3 day fellowship program designed to receive mentorship from Stanford students, attend lectures, tour technology companies, and experience entrepreneurial culture of Silicon Valley.
Met with members of the US Chamber of Commerce, US Dept. of State, ONE Campaign, First Focus, and the Association of Professional Schools of International Affairs (APSIA). Met with the Embassy of Columbia, Embassy of Mexico, and the Center for New American Security. Advocated on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. and met with senators to discuss access to education. Participated in workshops led by the Global Campaign for Education, industry professionals, and other organizations to discuss global citizenship, systemic education equity, climate and security, the SDGS, global poverty/US foreign assistance, and ending child hunger.
As the youngest member of the Global Advisory Board, I work with former congressional representatives, executive officers, lawyers, clinical psychologists, lawyers and policymakers, finance managers, and technology specialists to provide consulting on the most pressing needs of the start-up. Noteable board members include:
• Michael Espy, former US Congressman, Secretary of Agriculture and member of Board of Directors of Hope Credit Union
• Larry Jones, Founder and CEO of multi-billion dollar nonprofit foundation for children
• George William Hunter, former Executive Director of NBA Players’ Association, US Attorney
I was honored to participate in USC's first "She Leads Entrepreneurship Makeathon". I networked with professors, industry professionals, high-profile entrepreneurs, and worked with other students to launch my biotech NGO, Hale, as well as began prototyping my health app, which I later presented my research on at the Harvard Global Health Leadership Conference to undergraduate/high school students.
As a UNESCO Inclusive Policy Lab Expert and Fellow, I work with international university faculty, and other professionals to publish research relating to the innovation model of CollatEd Lab, accelerating the SDGs, and strategic development in unifying developing nations to achieve sustainable governance.
I was featured by the African Development Magazine for my contributions and UN SDG Honors Award. Website: https://www.africandevmag.com
I am the youngest side event moderator at the United Nations General Assembly upon moderating the high-level event in 2019 through working alongside the United Nations SDG Health Partnership Director-General and Former CEO of the World Health Forum, Dr. Parveen Singh.
As a result of speaking at the 2019 Women Economic Forum, I have been honored to speak at this year's Annual WEF in Egypt under the H.E President Abdelfattah El Sisi, President of Egypt. I will be speaking on SDG Policymaking and Long-Term, Intergovernmental Partnership Strategies for Sustainable Economic Planning. I will also be awarded the 2020 Exceptional Women of Excellence Award by the Annual Women Economic Forum, as the youngest in my category.
Leadership Accolades
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Received an endorsement letter from the United Nations Development Programme in Cameroon for CollatEd Lab's impact in the respective nation with regards to its SDG policy and capacity-building consulting services.
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Official Everipedia page to feature my work: https://everipedia.org/wiki/lang_en/sara-ketabi
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2020 Noble Citizen Award Winner among Deputy Chief Minister of India, Olympic medalist Pusarla Sindhu, prominent actresses, country ambassadors, cabinet ministers, etc
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2020 Exceptional Women of Excellence Award by the Women Economic Forum; to be honored at the Annual WEF in Egypt under the President of Egypt
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Youngest awardee for UN SDGs Award for SDG 9; one of 17 nominees selected from 26+ countries among US House of Representatives, the President of Ghana, King/Queen of Nigeria, city mayors, etc
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Youngest Event Moderator at UN General Assembly; co-hosted with Director--General of the UNSDG Health Partnership/former CEO of the World Health Forum; honorable attendees include President of Zimbabwe, Minister of Health and Child Care, etc
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UN Global Compact Young SDG Innovator Programme 2019
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CollatEd Lab: Only youth-led venture in UNESCO Global Action Programme
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Youngest selected Expert/Fellow of UNESCO Inclusive Policy Lab among international university faculty and industry professionals
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Youngest 2019 Global Shaper by the World Economic Forum
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Endorsed by Canadian Prime Minister’s Innovation, Science, and Economic Development Council and the Prime Minister’s Office of Ethiopia for my work with CollatEd Lab
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Invited to co-deliver a leadership workshop at the Commission of the Status of Women hosted by UN Women in March 2020
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Youngest delegate at WHO’s 73rd World Health Assembly; invited by Dr. Parveen Singh
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Stanford She++ Computer Science Fellow
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Harvard Global Health and Leadership Fellow 2019
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2020 Emerging Leaders Fellow by the UN Foundation
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UN 2030 SDG Partnerships Accelerator Cohort and UNDP Accelerator Labs Tanzania
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Global Scholar by AMP Global Youth
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Member of Stanford Scholars Initiative