Rania El Turk has had extensive experience in the field of education, having started her career, many years ago, as an English teacher. She holds an Ed.M. in International Education Policy from Harvard University and a B.A. and M.A. in English Literature from the American University of Beirut. Her most recent position was Program Manager at the Sheikh Saud Bin Saqr Al Qasimi Foundation in the UAE. Passionate about early childhood literacy, she decided to branch out on her own and founded ReadingStart and Hikayati ReadingStart’s philosophy is “get them while they’re young!” The program promotes reading with children from birth and focuses on the years between 0 and three. Hikayati is a hybrid commercial/ social enterprise specializing in culturally relevant wordless books where books are sold, and books are given.