Language Lover Builds Rumaan Academy
Zuviriya Anarwala may be preparing to teach English, but that’s just one of six languages she speaks. A self-described “lover of languages,” she also speaks Gujarati (her native language), Hindi, Urdu, Turkish and Arabic.
Last year, Anarwala — a student in Northwestern University’s Master of Science in Education program who plans to teach high school — found a way to turn her passion for languages into a meaningful way to give back.
With help from The Garage’s Luminate program, which supports first-generation and low-income Northwestern students exploring entrepreneurship, she founded Rumaan Academy, an organization that teaches women how to read and understand Arabic.
The program goes beyond reading. It also helps women who want to reconnect with their heritage and learn Arabic on their own pace while having a consistent teacher. “This is important for the diaspora of millions of Arabic learners who use language to preserve their identity, culture and heritage,” she said.
Through Luminate, she transitioned Rumaan Academy’s online presence from a simple Google Form to a fully functioning website — and gained essential knowledge about how to run a business. Currently an online program, Rumaan Academy plans to begin offering in-person sessions in response to growing interest and demand.
Anarwala continues to hone her entrepreneurial skills and expand Rumaan Academy through The Garage’s Jumpstart Pre-Accelerator program, which supports early-stage student teams by giving them additional resources and coaching over a period of 10 weeks.
Once accepted, Jumpstart teams are awarded $10,000 to work on their startup full time. The program culminates in Demo Day on Aug. 27, where Anarwala will showcase and pitch her startup to an audience of Northwestern students. A prize pool of $10,000 is up for grabs.
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