The King Center on Global Development and the Immigration Policy Lab invite the Stanford community to hear from Andrew Leon Hanna, entrepreneur, author, and professor, about his book 25 Million Sparks: The Untold Story of Refugee Entrepreneurs (Cambridge University Press). A Financial Times Best Book of the Year, it tells the stories of Asma, Malak, and Yasmina, three Syrian women entrepreneurs living in the Za'atari refugee camp in Jordan. Building from these personal stories, the book discusses the broader refugee crisis and the research behind why refugees are 1.5 to 2 times more entrepreneurial than native-born citizens, traveling to more than 20 camps and cities around the world to show the magnitude of refugees’ contributions to their adoptive homes.

After reading a passage from the book, Andrew Leon Hanna will be joined in conversation by Adam Lichtenheld, Executive Director of the Immigration Policy Lab at Stanford University. They will discuss the refugee entrepreneurship phenomenon highlighted in the book before opening up the discussion to questions from the audience. 

Lunch will be served and the Stanford Bookstore will be present with books for sale. 

About the Speaker

Andrew Leon Hanna is a first-generation Egyptian-American entrepreneur, Harvard-trained lawyer, Financial Times award-winning author, and adjunct professor of entrepreneurship at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. His debut book, 25 Million Sparks: The Untold Story of Refugee Entrepreneurs (Cambridge University Press), was named a Financial Times Best Book of the Year and won the Bracken Bower Prize in its proposal form. It has been called “a powerful story of hope” by Nobel Peace Prize winner Leymah Gbowee; a chance to “discover humanity at its best” by PBS NewsHour anchor Judy Woodruff, “inspir[ing]”; “sharply topical, “original,” and “novelistic” by the Financial Times; and “uplifting” by Publishers Weekly.

About the Moderator

Dr. Adam Lichtenheld is the Executive Director of the Immigration Policy Lab (IPL) at Stanford University. In collaboration with the faculty co-directors, Lichtenheld leads IPL’s global research and innovation agenda. He also designs and guides the experiential training that IPL provides for postdocs, graduate students, and undergraduates at Stanford. He brings to IPL wide-ranging experience working at the nexus between policy and research on migration and some of its underlying causes, including conflict and violence. His approach to research, leadership, and management is informed by his deep policy engagement and close collaboration with local researchers, non-profits, and displaced populations in more than a dozen countries.