By Desaray Hickombottom, Communication Studies major, Class of 2020
“The numerous networking opportunities that come along with being a student in the Bob Schieffer College of Communication are tremendously helpful in spreading the word about our charity and recruiting other like-minded individuals that have a passion to serve,” says Ryan Almusawi, a sophomore strategic communication major from Fort Worth, Texas, who started his own nonprofit organization when he was 11 years old.
Dream: Success is a spin-off from Charitable Crusaders, a nonprofit Almusawi founded when he was in the sixth grade. He said Charitable Crusaders’ goal was “to alleviate poverty in local communities by creating unique service projects for our student volunteers.”
Under Charitable Crusaders, Almusawi and his leadership team received numerous awards and recognitions from notable individuals such as former President Barack Obama, President Donald Trump and Olympic medalist Michael Phelps.
Since then, Almusawi’s organization underwent a branding change, in addition to a revamp of their mission and vision and created Dream: Success, a nonprofit organization building schools and providing education to children around the world.
“Over 262 million youth around the world lack access to a quality education,” he said. “This achievement gap prevents millions of youth from ever reaching their fullest potential, which is why we’re dedicated to bringing opportunity to the developing world and unleashing human potential through the power of education. We accomplish this by building schools in developing nations and increasing access to programs that seek to increase literacy among youth.”
Almusawi said his strategic communication classes have helped enhance his nonprofit by providing him with the skills necessary to communicate the cause to donors and prospective sponsors.
“Additionally, the combined advertising and public relations components to TCU’s Strategic Communication program really helps with real-world application regarding earning trust among the public and securing efficient advertising space,” he said.
In addition to founding his own organization, Almusawi is in TCU’s John V. Roach Honors College and a member of the Chancellor’s Leadership Program.
After graduation, Almusawi hopes to work for Dream: Success full time.
“I’d love to be traveling around the United States speaking at events, churches, and schools about the education crisis and raising awareness of this growing issue,” he said. “By 2024, the ultimate hope is that our charity has built multiple schools that are educating hundreds of thousands of children, in which case I would love the opportunity to travel and visit our schools donors have helped us build.”
