She is a model, actress, and documentary filmmaker but above all, she is a committed and charitable woman. Elisa Sednaoui gives us an exclusive look at the aspects of her life that position her as one of today’s most influential women.
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I am paving my own road with what is meaningful to me. Of course some times I’m tired so I may not be drawn to do something, but i try to take the time to decide if it’s important for me to make that extra effort.
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What is your earliest memory in terms of fashion?
My mother designing and producing a clothing and shoe line when we were living in Cairo. Her costumers still wear the items today, and i have inherited some very special items
How do you celebrate your uniqueness?
I try to stay true to my instincts, to hear my own voice first without trying to conform. And that reflects in everything from the choices i make in my life to my fashion choices.
“Think timeless, over trends” could be one of your motto?
Of course! I never really followed trends. It was more what i was personally into, as my style has evolved over the years. But I always choose quality first and things that seem like they can stay with me for a long time.
Model, actress and social entrepeneur… How do you balance a successful career?
Every time I need to make professional decisions I try to tap into my intuition, and put heart and mind in the equation. Lately i only do what “feels right”. I am paving my own road with what is meaningful to me. Of course some times I’m tired so I may not be drawn to do something, but i try to take the time to decide if it’s important for me to make that extra effort.
Other than that, managing it all for me goes through a mix of proper organisation and letting the stars align themselves like they are meant it. Plan but let things also happen. I’m extremely grateful to my team for making it all possible and my husband above all for seeing me and supporting me in my work.
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The goal of our educational programmes is to develop life skills such as conflict management , active listening , taking initiative, and the result is that you effectively contrast bullying, school drop out rates and use of violence.
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From where does your desire to create a charitable foundation?
The goal of our educational programmes is to develop life skills such as conflict management , active listening , taking initiative, and the result is that you effectively contrast bullying, school drop out rates and use of violence.
We benefit those who can’t afford through our non profit but more and more schools (we are in talks with someone in Spain) are hiring us to train their teachers and educators and support them to implement Funtasia educational programmes both in morning , traditional classrooms, and in after school centres. This year we were called to go to Mexico and Morocco and we are very excited about this!
How do you evaluate the success of Funtasia’s project?
This year we are conducting our first in dept monitoring and evaluation studies to be able to extrapolate some more precise data on the results. But so far to me success is when parents tell us how much evolution they are seeing in their kids who come home and want to share what they learned , when the kids in Egypt and in Italy so excitedly tell me that they want more Funtasia in their life , that this project made them feel for empathic, and more confident, that they see the results themselves ! and also the fact that we are already after only a few years entered the public school in Italy !
Do you have any other philanthropic projects?
Funtasia is my full time job, but I work with Tania Fares in the USA for the USA Fashion Trust. She developed this membership programme to support USA fashion designers.
Is there any message that you wish to instill in new generations?
What I want more than anything is to create opportunities for human connection and self expression, I want to contribute in strengthening the level of self awareness and awareness of the world in youth.
What are your hopes and dreams for the future?
I want to see Funtasia becoming an approach used around the world much like , and alongside Montessori. The long term financial sustainability for Funtasia is also something very important to me, and I work on how this project that fuel itself further to the more old fashioned ways of raising money for development.
Professionally I would say that’s the primary thing for me. As my personal life my hope is to continue this work of healing I’m doing , to get rid of all the behavioural patterns I have developed as a survival mode, so that I can live in as much harmony and peace as I can, with the effect that this has also on the people I share a bit of my path with.
I want to see my children thrive. And I wish to see the world continue to take action and make the difference we want.
