fikr 6: the philanthropic entrepreneur

One of the people I interviewed during Fikr 6 was Kamran Elahian (Yagoob's Dome has covered the talk he gave on behalf of his wife here):

Mr. Kamran Elahian is a veteran entrepreneur with over twenty-eight years of experience in the high-tech industry. Kamran has co-founded ten high-tech companies, one venture capital firm and two non-profit organizations. ... Kamran founded Schools Online, a non-profit public charity organization (with the goal to bring the Internet to disadvantaged schools in the world); which merged with Relief International. He also co-founded Global Catalyst Foundation, a private philanthropic foundation.

I asked Kamran Elahian about his hopes for what Fikr 6 could achieve, and he described his vision of technology bringing change to the world: removing poverty, creating democracy, enabling cultural exchange. He also mentioned that the role bloggers play in this process is phenomenal, and cited the huge popularity of blogging in Iran (where he was born, and which he left thirty-five years ago). He said that it was fascinating to see how blogs are used to state opinions, either openly or anonymously, with every possible viewpoint represented, and that blogging was a democratising medium, a 'frictionless' way to reach large numbers of people – something that would have been impossible in the past unless you were well-connected, or stood on a box in the park!

Kamran has been involved with the internet since its emergence, seeing it as an important tool for commerce between countries. He said that many wars had been started through ignorance, whether of culture or religion, and that he had noticed a sense of cultural superiority in every place he had visited. Iranian by birth, and American by citizenship, he describes himself as a citizen of the world, and believes that the internet allows us to become global citizens, conceptually speaking. He explained that originally people identified with their village, which eventually developed into identifying with a state, and now people are able to identify themselves with even larger entities, such as Europe. By identifying yourself with the largest community possible you are not losing your identity, it's simply a matter of where you place your priorities. He said, 'If you associate yourself with a small entity, your thinking stays small.'

Listening to Kamran talk about empowerment, and equality, and the need to identify primarily as a human reminded me of conversations I have had with Baha'i friends, so I asked him whether he was Baha'i – and he confirmed that he had been raised as one. But he said that such identities are arbitrary, and that he no longer identified with a particular religion; he wanted to avoid the possibility that he would not be completely open to others. He aims to have entirely open and free interaction with other people, without inherited prejudices.

Before I knew who Kamran Elahian was, I had noticed him walking round Fikr 6 with a huge smile on his face. He looked so friendly and relaxed, and he just radiated calm and happiness. As a final point I mentioned this; he said he was happy because he had given all his money away – and no longer had to worry about the stock markets!