Jani (whose name is pronounced Heh-thul Jah-nee) experienced first-hand how often times people wouldn’t even try to say her name properly from an early age. In order to correct this behavior in all aspects of life, from graduations to work meetings, the Flushing native created the #SpeakingMyName campaign to help raise awareness about the importance of name inclusion.

Jani (whose name is pronounced Heh-thul Jah-nee) experienced first-hand how often times people wouldn’t even try to say her name properly from an early age. In order to correct this behavior in all aspects of life, from graduations to work meetings, the Flushing native created the #SpeakingMyName campaign to help raise awareness about the importance of name inclusion.

Jani (whose name is pronounced Heh-thul Jah-nee) experienced first-hand how often times people wouldn’t even try to say her name properly from an early age. In order to correct this behavior in all aspects of life, from graduations to work meetings, the Flushing native created the #SpeakingMyName campaign to help raise awareness about the importance of name inclusion.

Jani (whose name is pronounced Heh-thul Jah-nee) experienced first-hand how often times people wouldn’t even try to say her name properly from an early age. In order to correct this behavior in all aspects of life, from graduations to work meetings, the Flushing native created the #SpeakingMyName campaign to help raise awareness about the importance of name inclusion.

Meet Daily Point of Light Award honoree Hetal Jani, who was a 2019 L’Oréal Paris Women of Worth Award. Each year L’Oréal Paris and Points of Light recognize and celebrate Women of Worth who make a beautiful difference in their communities. Ten honorees each receive a $10,000 grant to support their most cherished cause, and an online vote determines one honoree who will receive an additional $25,000 grant. Nominations for 2020 will open on April 20! If you know a woman who works to create lasting and significant change in her community, nominate her to be one of the 2020 Women of Worth.

Empower a Girl. Empower the World. This is the motto of SPEAK Mentorship, a non-profit founded by Hetal Jani, that develops the social and cultural capital of immigrant girls and empowers them to become future workforce leaders. SPEAK, which stands for Support Prepare Empower Aspiring Kids, does this by helping immigrant girls successfully integrate within different social contexts and navigate career choices.

SPEAK provides young women with access to information, role models and opportunities that lead to successful and healthy post-secondary pathways. Since 2015, SPEAK Mentorship has impacted over 100 girls and their families in the U.S., and has grown a volunteer network of over 200 career professionals who serve as mentors to the young women of SPEAK. In 2017-2018 alone, SPEAK made 57 mentoring matches and conducted over 400 mentoring sessions with 75 girls, 94% of whom identify as immigrants.

SPEAK Mentorship helps immigrant girls understand their dual cultures and gain the self-confidence they need to become leaders in their communities.

L’Oréal Paris has announced that two Indian American philanthropists, Hetal Jani and Shreyaa Venkat, are among ten ‘2019 Women of Worth’ honorees, who will be awarded $10,000 towards their worthy causes.

These women represent a range of causes, including empowering at-risk teenage girls, supporting survivors of conversion therapy and helping parents of children with learning disabilities to navigate the special education system, said L’Oréal.

“Inspired by the L’Oréal Paris tagline, “Because You’re Worth It,” the philanthropic Women of Worth program honors the “intrinsic worth of everyday women igniting positive change in their communities and championing self-worth in others,” said the company.

Jani of Queens, New York, is the founding executive director of SPEAK Mentorship, which stands for Support Prepare Empower Aspiring Kids. The organization works towards advancing diversity in leadership through college and career preparedness, mentoring immigrant girls on cultural identity, career trajectory and gender association.”

“New York City resident Hetal Jani and Ashburn, Virginia’s Shreyaa Venkat have been selected as two of the 2019 Women of Worth Honorees by L’Oréal Paris for their outstanding work in founding and running non-profits that help communities. Jani is the founder of SPEAK Mentorship. The non-profit advances diversity in leadership through college and career preparedness, mentoring immigrant girls on cultural identity, career trajectory and gender association.”

“Because you're worth it!” the iconic tag line associated with L’Oréal's advertising campaign is the inspiration behind the 14th year of the company’s Women of Worth awards.

The nominees for 2019 present a collection of dynamic women who are change-makers pushing boundaries to create change in their communities through volunteerism. The breadth of women celebrated by the Women of Worth awards demonstrates the impact of female founders who are working on causes to address some of the most pressing issues in society.”

“Why aren't more immigrant girls going to college? This woman knows—and she has a solution.

There are 19.6 million immigrant children in the United States, yet only about 2 million of current college enrollees are first- or second-generation immigrants. There are many reasons for the discrepancy but one that doesn’t get enough attention is the role that culture plays in getting an education past high school. This is something that Hetal Jani has personal experience with—in fact, it’s the reason she started SPEAK, a non-profit organization that helps girls who are immigrants or children of immigrants navigate the gap between high school and college and career.

Do you know the top skill that college students say these wish their parents had taught them?

Add college to the list of things that are different in America”

Hetal Jani, founder of SPEAK Mentorship and 2019 L’Oreal Paris Women of Worth honoree, discusses her mentorship program and being honored as a L’Oreal Paris Women of Worth! Watch the interview here.

“When you hear a big idea from a presidential candidate, do you ever want to ask: How would that work?

Two undecided voters John Zeitler, a 48-year-old attorney for an insurance company, and Hetal Jani, 36, who runs a nonprofit focused on education and mentorship, wanted to know more about the "freedom dividend" proposal from first-time presidential candidate Andrew Yang.

The voters, along with Morning Edition host Noel King, sat down with Yang at a Midtown Manhattan dumpling shop called Baodega as part of Off Script, a series of interviews with 2020 presidential candidates. Listen to the group's conversation about the freedom dividend by clicking the audio button above. Watch the full conversation here.”

SCN Change Agent Interview Series - Meet Hetal Jani

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