About Amal Academy
Starting back in 2013 as an education startup funded out of Stanford University, Amal Academy has transformed the lives of more than 12,000 Pakistani graduates (as of December 2023) and is always aspiring to do more. Our aim is to bridge the income gap in our society by developing soft skills (communication, leadership, confidence, teamwork, public speaking) in our fellows which are highly sought after by industry experts.
Amal was founded by Benje Williams, and Kunal Chawla after completing their MBA at Stanford University and has been under consistent refinement since its inception.
Where We Are?
The name Amal is inspired by Allama Iqbal as he has said in his famous verse:
“The world is something to be made and re-made by continuous action/amal”
Amal's Backstory
Benje Williams, MBA ’13, has teamed with Kunal Chawla, MA ’13, to form Amal Academy in an effort to bridge the gap between the educational system and the needs of the job market in Pakistan.The drive to serve and give back has been embedded in Benje Williams since childhood. The second child of a European American mother and an African American physician father, he soon had eight more siblings all brought into the family from California’s adoption system.
Williams searched throughout his adolescence for ways to make his own contribution. When his father took him to Kenya while he was an undergraduate business administration major at University of California, Berkeley, he began to find his path.Williams’ journey eventually led him back to Kenya, where he worked with one of his best friends to help locals in Nairobi’s Mathare slums build and take ownership of an educational information technology resource center designed to economically empower the local community.He also lived in Pakistan for a year, working with Acumen Fund as a Global Fellow.
Responsible for hiring and training marketing officers at a social enterprise in Lahore (Pharmagen), he saw firsthand the gap between workforce preparation and business needs. Williams also worked with Acumen as a consultant and intern in India, Kenya, and New York; consulted for nonprofits and banks at Pricewaterhouse Coopers; and worked on development projects for Dalberg Global Development Advisors in South Africa and for TechnoServe in Kenya.
A Word from Stanford University
As Amal Academy has been funded by the Center for Social Innovation at Stanford University, you can read more about the project on their official website.
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Our Investors
The Center for Social Innovation at Stanford University has provided us with seed capital through the Social Innovation Fellowship.
Acumen has supported us through seed capital, in-kind investment through their Global Fellowship, through their regional fellowship, and more.
London based Montpelier Foundation helps fund organisations with a core focus on social income uplift.
The Peery Foundation is a private foundation based in Palo Alto, California, US, that focuses on high impact philanthropy.
The Center for Social Innovation at Stanford University has provided us with seed capital through the Social Innovation Fellowship.
Acumen has supported us through seed capital, in-kind investment through their Global Fellowship, through their regional fellowship, and more.
London based Montpelier Foundation helps fund organisations with a core focus on social income uplift.
The Peery Foundation is a private foundation based in Palo Alto, California, US, that focuses on high impact philanthropy.
