MATINE KHALIGHI
UNITED STATES, 18
Project: EEqual
Cofounder: Alyssa Gorkin
Basic Human Needs: Education
In eighth grade Matine cofounded an organization that distributed basic necessities to those in need, which revealed the prevalence of students experiencing homelessness in his community and nationwide. He didn’t think it was fair for young people to balance their homework with worrying about where they would sleep at night. Millions of students in the United States are experiencing homelessness, which most young people don’t even know. In June 2016 Matine founded EEqual – a nonprofit organization working to overcome student homelessness by raising awareness and increasing access to higher education. EEqual takes a two-pronged approach to meet the needs of students. Their first pillar, Perform, focuses on providing direct resources to students experiencing poverty and homelessness through a scholarship program, which has received applications from 30+ U.S. States. EEqual’s second pillar, Inform, focuses on changing the conversation surrounding poverty with social awareness campaigns and advocacy. In doing so, EEqual hopes to push today’s young people to understand the problem of student homelessness and use their skills to create an equitable future in education. Their campaigns have reached 180,000+ people nationwide and their network has grown to 15 youth-led chapters across the United States. In 2020 EEqual was the only youth-led organization invited to Denver Startup Week, the city’s largest pitch contest. Matine’s ultimate vision is to create a future world where every student receives an EEqual opportunity to achieve their full potential in education, regardless of their economic background.