Uploaded March 2022 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
Andrew Leon Hanna (Duke University '14) returned to Duke to discuss his award-winning book, "25 Million Sparks: The Untold Story of Refugee Entrepreneurs," which will be released by Cambridge University Press on May 26th (available for pre-order at amazon.com/dp/1009181491 ).
25 Million Sparks takes readers inside the Za'atari refugee camp to follow the stories of three inspiring women entrepreneurs: a wedding dress shop and salon owner named Yasmina, an artist named Malak, and a storyteller and teacher named Asma. Anchored by these stories, the narrative expands beyond Za'atari to explore the broader refugee entrepreneurship phenomenon in more than twenty camps and cities across the globe. In its proposal form, 25 Million Sparks won the 2018 Financial Times and McKinsey Bracken Bower Prize in London.
In this discussion, Andrew shared about the book itself and the process of writing; refugee entrepreneurship, economic opportunity, and human rights; and how to get started in writing as a student.
Andrew was joined in conversation with Giovanni Zanalda, director of the Duke University Center for International and Global Studies.
Bio: Andrew Leon Hanna is a first-generation Egyptian American lawyer, entrepreneur, and author born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida. He is co-founder and CEO of DreamxAmerica, a Knight-Hennessy Scholar and Siebel Scholar at Stanford Graduate School of Business, and winner of the Financial Times and McKinsey Bracken Bower Prize. Hanna has been named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list and graduated with honors from Harvard Law School, where he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review. At Duke, where he graduated with highest distinction in public policy, he was Senior Class President, a Robertson Scholar, and winner of the Terry Sanford Leadership Award.
This event was organized by the Duke University Center for International and Global Studies and co-sponsored by the Sanford School of Public Policy and by Cambridge University Press.
Andrew Leon Hanna (Duke University '14) returned to Duke to discuss his award-winning book, "25 Million Sparks: The Untold Story of Refugee Entrepreneurs," which will be released by Cambridge University Press on May 26th (available for pre-order at amazon.com/dp/1009181491 ).
25 Million Sparks takes readers inside the Za'atari refugee camp to follow the stories of three inspiring women entrepreneurs: a wedding dress shop and salon owner named Yasmina, an artist named Malak, and a storyteller and teacher named Asma. Anchored by these stories, the narrative expands beyond Za'atari to explore the broader refugee entrepreneurship phenomenon in more than twenty camps and cities across the globe. In its proposal form, 25 Million Sparks won the 2018 Financial Times and McKinsey Bracken Bower Prize in London.
In this discussion, Andrew shared about the book itself and the process of writing; refugee entrepreneurship, economic opportunity, and human rights; and how to get started in writing as a student.
Andrew was joined in conversation with Giovanni Zanalda, director of the Duke University Center for International and Global Studies.
Bio: Andrew Leon Hanna is a first-generation Egyptian American lawyer, entrepreneur, and author born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida. He is co-founder and CEO of DreamxAmerica, a Knight-Hennessy Scholar and Siebel Scholar at Stanford Graduate School of Business, and winner of the Financial Times and McKinsey Bracken Bower Prize. Hanna has been named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list and graduated with honors from Harvard Law School, where he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review. At Duke, where he graduated with highest distinction in public policy, he was Senior Class President, a Robertson Scholar, and winner of the Terry Sanford Leadership Award.
This event was organized by the Duke University Center for International and Global Studies and co-sponsored by the Sanford School of Public Policy and by Cambridge University Press.
