Fatimah Amer
Title: CEO
Company: SPARKHope
Age: 17
An advocate for underserved communities, health equity and civic engagement, Fatimah Amer in 2020 founded SPARKHope, a nonprofit organization that addresses food insecurity and health equity among Arizona families.
The nonprofit leads a “Food for Families” initiative in collaboration with Phoenix-based St. Mary’s Food Bank to help Gen Z households gain more access to nutritious meals. As part of the initiative, SPARKHope donates food in bulk on a bimonthly basis, in addition to hosting an annual food drive during the holiday season with proceeds going to food banks and shelters in the Valley.
SPARKHope raised more than 10,000 pounds of food during its 2023 holiday food drive. To date, the organization has donated more than 20,000 pounds of food via group volunteering, school partnerships and food drives.
Amer has grown SPARKHope to 4,500 members and the organization has hosted 50 summer camps and workshops, while also participating in fundraising events for the Southwest Autism Research & Resource Center.
In 2023, Amer was the youngest recipient of the Stella Kiarie Innovation For Health Equity Award at the annual Arizona Health Equity Conference for her work with SPARKHope.
Most recently, the Basis Scottsdale student was recognized as one of Junior Achievement of Arizona’s 18 Under 18 award winners.
Read about the rest of this year's honorees here.
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