This Q&A is a part of Observer’s Professional Insights collection, the place trade leaders, innovators and strategists distill years of expertise into direct, sensible takeaways and ship readability on the problems shaping their industries. Twin sisters Shay and Shabnam Safarzadeh have constructed a profession that defies straightforward categorization. Technologists, educators and philanthropists, they’ve made it their mission to show that innovation and affect aren’t competing priorities however mutually reinforcing ones.
Via ventures that span healthcare expertise, world training, and the work of their Safar International Basis, the sisters have persistently positioned goal on the middle of their pursuits. Their path displays a bigger shift in how entrepreneurship is evolving. More and more, the leaders shaping tomorrow’s enterprise panorama are those that embed social good into the structure of their fashions from the beginning.
For Shay and Shabnam, that has meant designing scalable expertise platforms versatile sufficient to adapt to various programs whereas additionally channeling sources towards underserved communities, particularly ladies whose instructional alternatives stay restricted by geography or circumstance. On the core of their philosophy is a perception in collaboration and cultural humility: that sustainable options have to be constructed with native companions, not imposed from afar. They see expertise as a drive multiplier that, when guided by duty and fairness, can speed up entry to healthcare, broaden training throughout borders and bridge divides that too typically appear intractable.
What classes have you ever realized about constructing belief and partnerships with various stakeholders, from healthcare suppliers to worldwide NGOs?
Belief comes from consistency and respect. We interact with healthcare suppliers, governments and NGOs by listening first, then co-creating options. Transparency and cultural humility are non-negotiable. Over time, we’ve discovered that taking the time to actually perceive every associate’s priorities and challenges creates a basis for collaboration that goes past transactions—it fosters shared goal. By centering the voices of these we work with, we develop methods that ship significant affect.
Constructing belief additionally requires displaying up reliably and following by means of on commitments. We strategy each partnership as a two-way trade, recognizing and valuing the experience and views of our collaborators. Whether or not we’re implementing applications in healthcare, training or world growth, constant communication, openness to suggestions and a willingness to adapt are vital. These ideas enable us to create partnerships which are sturdy, impactful and able to driving significant, sustainable change.
How do you navigate potential tensions between revenue targets and philanthropic commitments in your ventures?
We see no stress when the enterprise mannequin itself creates social good. Our ventures are constructed to align profitability with affect, so progress expands—not compromises—our means to provide again. From the outset, we design our corporations with twin aims: to ship robust monetary efficiency whereas addressing systemic challenges in healthcare, training and workforce growth. This strategy ensures that each enterprise choice contributes to each sustainable progress and significant social affect.
By embedding social duty into the core of our operations, we rework revenue right into a device for change reasonably than a separate objective. Income streams, operational efficiencies and technological innovation all grow to be levers to amplify our philanthropic efforts, whether or not that’s funding scholarships, advancing training or supporting world initiatives. For us, profitability and goal aren’t competing priorities—they’re mutually reinforcing, permitting our ventures to scale affect as they scale success.
Scaling philanthropic initiatives globally requires navigating various cultural and logistical landscapes. What classes have you ever realized about constructing sustainable education schemes throughout borders?
Sustainability requires native possession. We associate with in-country educators and NGOs to adapt applications to cultural, linguistic and logistical realities whereas sustaining a shared imaginative and prescient of entry. By involving native stakeholders from the very starting, we be sure that applications aren’t solely related but in addition resilient—able to thriving independently over time. This collaboration permits us to respect native data and experience, whereas nonetheless offering strategic steerage, sources and help that align with our overarching targets.
One other vital lesson is the significance of flexibility and responsiveness. Every group presents distinctive challenges and alternatives, from infrastructure limitations to differing instructional frameworks. By remaining open to suggestions and repeatedly iterating on our strategy, we will refine applications to higher meet native wants with out compromising our mission. This steadiness of native empowerment and strategic oversight has been key to constructing training initiatives which are each impactful and sustainable throughout borders.
In what methods does your philanthropic work with the Safar International Basis combine expertise to create scalable education schemes for ladies worldwide?
Expertise is our drive multiplier. By leveraging e-learning platforms and A.I.-driven instruments, we scale high quality training for ladies in underserved communities the place lecturers and sources are scarce. These platforms enable us to ship personalised, adaptive studying experiences that meet every lady’s distinctive wants.
We associate with educators and NGOs to adapt applications to cultural, linguistic and logistical realities whereas sustaining a shared imaginative and prescient of entry. Past educational instruction, our digital instruments help vocational coaching applications, comparable to on-line medical assistant programs by means of Superior E-Scientific, giving ladies accredited certifications and marketable abilities that result in financial independence. By integrating expertise throughout scholarships, mentorship and vocational coaching, SGF creates scalable, sustainable applications that empower ladies to attain instructional success, monetary freedom and lasting affect of their communities.
How do you guarantee your expertise options stay versatile sufficient to adapt to totally different healthcare programs and academic requirements throughout areas?
We design modular, cloud-based programs that combine simply with various healthcare and academic requirements. Flexibility ensures our platforms can evolve with every area’s distinctive wants. By constructing in adaptability from the beginning, our options can accommodate variations in curricula, regulatory necessities, and native infrastructure with out compromising high quality or accessibility.
We additionally associate carefully with native educators, healthcare suppliers, and NGOs to assemble suggestions and refine the platforms in actual time. This collaboration permits us to reply to rising challenges, alter content material and workflows, and be sure that each implementation is culturally related and virtually efficient. Finally, this mix of modular design, cloud-based expertise, and stakeholder engagement permits scalable, sustainable options that may be custom-made for various world contexts.
What function do information and analytics play in measuring and maximizing the social affect of your ventures?
Impression have to be measurable. We use information to trace studying outcomes, healthcare compliance and program attain, permitting us to refine fashions and maximize social return on funding. By analyzing this data, we will establish what’s working, handle gaps and repeatedly enhance the effectiveness of our initiatives.
Information additionally permits us to scale affect throughout areas by highlighting finest practices and informing methods that adapt to totally different cultural, logistical and regulatory contexts. Past inner use, these insights present transparency to companions, donors and communities, demonstrating how sources translate into tangible, lasting change. On this means, analytics not solely measure success—they actively drive it.
How do you steadiness the calls for of speedy technological innovation with the necessity for moral, sustainable options in your philanthropic initiatives?
We innovate with a “duty first” lens. Each resolution is evaluated for long-term sustainability, fairness and moral safeguards earlier than scaling globally. This strategy ensures that speedy technological advances improve affect with out compromising the well-being, privateness or rights of the communities we serve.
We additionally work carefully with native companions and stakeholders to grasp context-specific wants and potential challenges. By combining forward-thinking innovation with transparency, accountability and steady suggestions, we create philanthropic initiatives which are each cutting-edge and socially accountable, empowering communities whereas fostering lasting, constructive change.
What are a few of the most important regulatory hurdles you’ve encountered in creating technology-powered platforms for healthcare training and compliance?
Probably the most important challenges have been navigating various compliance frameworks throughout healthcare programs. Proactive collaboration with regulators and steady platform updates are important. Every area has distinctive necessities for licensing, information privateness and coaching requirements, so our platforms should stay versatile and adaptable whereas sustaining full compliance.
We additionally construct modular, cloud-based options that may be adjusted shortly as rules evolve. By combining considerate design, ongoing monitoring and shut communication with regulatory our bodies, we be sure that our technology-powered platforms ship high-quality training and compliance help safely and successfully throughout various healthcare environments.
In your view, what distinguishes purpose-driven entrepreneurship from conventional enterprise fashions, particularly in extremely regulated sectors?
Objective-driven entrepreneurship embeds affect into the enterprise DNA. Not like conventional fashions, success isn’t solely measured by revenue, however by how successfully lives are improved. Each choice—from product growth to partnerships—is guided by the twin targets of economic sustainability and significant social change.
In extremely regulated sectors, this strategy requires aligning innovation with compliance and moral requirements, making certain that progress amplifies constructive outcomes reasonably than compromising values. By integrating goal at each stage, these ventures create long-term worth for each stakeholders and the communities they serve, demonstrating that doing good and doing nicely can go hand in hand.
What traits in healthcare expertise and workforce growth are most fun or promising to you proper now?
We’re impressed by the rise of A.I.-powered adaptive studying, workforce upskilling for healthcare, and digital credentialing, which collectively can rework entry and fairness worldwide. A.I.-driven platforms enable learners to obtain personalised instruction tailor-made to their strengths and gaps, making training simpler and interesting. Workforce upskilling initiatives equip healthcare professionals with in-demand abilities, serving to to deal with vital shortages whereas bettering affected person outcomes. In the meantime, digital credentialing offers verifiable {qualifications} that open doorways to new alternatives, significantly for underserved communities. Collectively, these improvements create scalable options that not solely broaden entry to training and coaching but in addition promote fairness, empowerment and long-term social affect throughout areas.
Wanting forward, what huge concepts or tasks are you most obsessed with pursuing subsequent—whether or not in tech, philanthropy or cultural advocacy?
We’re most obsessed with scaling Safar International Basis’s initiatives for ladies’ training, increasing Externi’s attain in healthcare workforce growth and utilizing tradition as a bridge for world understanding. In 2024, we launched SGF to ship scalable, data-driven applications that broaden entry to scholarships, mentorship and vocational coaching for ladies worldwide. A signature a part of our philanthropic efforts is the Great thing about Giving dinners—seated occasions that carry collectively supporters and group leaders to lift funds and consciousness. Proceeds from these dinners instantly fund applications like scholarships and
On the identical time, Externi continues to innovate in healthcare workforce growth, utilizing expertise to streamline externship placements, compliance workflows and abilities coaching to arrange the following technology of healthcare professionals. Via cultural advocacy—together with storytelling, style diplomacy and world engagement—we goal to spark dialogue, foster empathy and encourage collaboration throughout borders. Collectively, these initiatives replicate our dedication to creating significant change on the intersection of innovation, social affect and cultural affect.
