Azad Ali

Azad Ali’s path to entrepreneurship took a number of harrowing turns. As a 12-year-old, he escaped from Kurdistan, and after several years of dangerous travels, he finally ended up in Sweden, where he began training as a skilled carpenter.

Occasionally, he tested his skills by creating furniture and accessories for his own use. One such creation was a modern wooden lamp, which he developed not as a prototype to launch a business, but simply as a beautiful way to increase lighting in his home.

Then one day, a friend stopped by and marveled at the workmanship. “Where I can buy one of these?” the friend asked, admiring the lamp. Azad volunteered to make another one.

A second friend had the same reaction a few weeks later. Then a friend of a friend. Requests started rolling in.

Around the same time, Azad enrolled in the JA Company Program through Ung Företagsamhet (JA Sweden), through which high-school students form real companies, develop a product or service, market and sell the product, and assess their profits.

When it was time for Azad and his team to choose a product for his company, he knew just the thing!

Azad, with his prototype lamp, in 2018

The team called themselves Trälampor-UF, organized as a JA company. “I dreamed of becoming an entrepreneur,” Azad said. “Through Ung Företagsamhet, my entrepreneurial journey took off, and we started making these environmentally friendly lamps.”

The team ended up presenting, setting up a trade booth, and competing at the national JA Sweden Company of the Year competition in Stockholm, where he sold two lamps to Mikael Damberg, Sweden’s Minister for Industry and Innovation. The Minister later posted a short video on social media showing his new lamp and demonstrating how easy it was to assemble. 

“I brought one of Azad’s lamps home,” Mikael says in the video, “and today, I assembled it. It went faster than IKEA.” As you can imagine, the video received plenty of attention online.

Azad was later selected to represent his region at a dinner at the Royal Palace with the royal family, all of Sweden’s governors, and another 180 invited guests, ranging from celebrities and sports stars to community leaders. The Swedish dinner is an annual event to celebrate Swedes—including Azad—who have made a significant contribution to society.

It was an overwhelming experience for Azad to visit the palace. “I never had a country. Where I come from, you are never exposed to the people who are in charge. When I left the palace, I cried. It’s an experience I will never forget,” Azad said. While at the dinner, Azad also had a chance to talk to Prince Daniel, who sits on the board of JA Sweden. They spoke for 30 minutes, and the Prince ordered one of Azad’s lamps.

Trälampor-UF was reorganized in 2018 into an individual company and changed its name to AXD, which stands for Azad eXciting Design. Azad, now 25, continues to grow AXDSweden, which has branched into new lines. “I have broadened the range at AXDSweden,” Azad told us. “We currently have six employees and a premises of approximately 3,000 sq meters, where our employees manufacture furniture, interiors, displays, and shop fittings, and also offer contract manufacturing.”

Azad in 2022, at the AXD Sweden headquarters.

AXD Sweden and Azad recently won the 2022 ICA Entrepreneur Award “Local Hero of the Year—Junior” from among 200 nominees and five finalists. The award brings a prize of SEK 100,000. ICA, a major food retailer, created the annual award to pay tribute to committed residents who moved to Sweden and inspire others to take similar initiatives. "Azad Ali has proven to be an entrepreneur through and through,” the award committee said. “With solid craftsmanship and a sense of business, his AXDSweden has grown and become a significant player in Nybro, Sweden, where he is also a local role model for many young people." Azad added, “The prize sum will be used to develop our web presence and eventually open up an online store that will also target private individuals. The AXDSweden brand will be bigger!”

Azad also tries to give back by mentoring and supporting Swedish youth: “A lot of entrepreneurs helped and supported me on my journey,” he says. “And now I see, in so many other young people who have emigrated to Sweden, the same will and interest I had in running a business.”

Like so many of JA’s 100+ million alumni, Azad Ali is making the world a little bit brighter.

Elena Tosheva

Elena Tosheva joined the JA Worldwide Board of Governors in 2020, but she was associated with JA long before that. Born in Bulgaria, Elena participated in the JA Company Program as a teenager, which was her first introduction to the world of entrepreneurship. Passionate about building high-impact communities and empowering people to create and innovate as entrepreneurs, she has worked in tech, NGOs, and academia, striving to create scalable solutions for today’s most pressing challenges.

Today, Elena is Brand Marketing Manager at Google, where she builds greater trust and stronger relationships with key opinion formers and partners across the EU. She leads the Brand and Reputation strategy in Brussels on key topics and helps to shape Google’s company-wide programs across Europe.

Before joining Google, Elena was part of the startup team behind City.AI, a platform for applied artificial intelligence. As the Global Head of Community, she built the global network, spanning across 70+ cities on six continents with thousands of active members from academia, business, and governments. Previously, she oversaw the Techstars Startup Programs across Europe and has supported the growth of startup communities in 140+ European cities.

““I was very lucky to be part of a JA program as a teenager. I wish for all young people to have a similar opportunity. My JA experience helped me cultivate constant curiosity, while building up my self-confidence and resilience early on. I believe that JA empowers the new generations to build a better world. And I am thrilled to continue supporting its ever-more relevant mission by joining the Board of Governors.””

— Elena Tosheva

Elena has been an active JA alumnus and volunteer since 2006. She served as president of JA Alumni Europe from 2012–2014 and is an active JA Alumni Honoris member. A group of JA alumni from Europe who have achieved something extraordinary in the fields of entrepreneurship or business or within the JA alumni network, Honoris aim to improve the recognition of the JA alumni brand and to continue giving back to JA as mentors, advisors, volunteers and donors. In 2019, the Honoris gifted €55,000 to JA Worldwide in recognition of JA’s Centennial.

As a member of the JA Worldwide Board of Governors, and the first to fill the JA alumni member seat, Elena represents JA alumni around the world and brings both student and alumni perspectives to the decision-making table. She also serves on the JA Board Marketing Committee.

Team Bubbles: Connectivity for Struggling Students

JA Europe | JA Denmark (Fonden for Entreprenørskab)

Nicklas Stokholm, Christian Ørum, Kevin Albin

When Team Bubbles—made up of Nicklas Stokholm, 19, Christian Ørum, 18, and Kevin Albin, 20—came together in a high-school innovation class at Herningsholm Erhvervsskole & Gymnasier, they saw an opportunity to start an innovative JA Company Program, a collaboration between the school and JA Denmark (Fonden for Entreprenørskab). 

The idea for Bubbles originated with Christian, as he watched his sister struggle with ADHD. “She was the inspiration, but we soon realized it was not only my sister who was affected by this,” Christian says. “A lot of other students were influenced by it, including many other diagnoses that inhibited their ability to focus in class.”

Bubbles improves communication between educators and students who suffer from attention deficit and hyperactivity disorders (ADHD). Students wear noise-cancelling headsets that eliminate audio distractions while, at the same time, creating a direct line of communication between teacher and student, with a goal of improving academic performance. 

Although all three were set to attend college, Christian, Nicklas, and Kevin decided to tap a gap year—or Sabbath year, as it is known in Denmark—to continue working on Bubbles. “All our time has been dedicated to Bubbles, so we’re able to help a lot of children. In fact, we’ve just hired our first employee!

Arya Yurdacan & Öykü Ulusay with Entella Co.

“Wouldn’t it be great to see a startup from the JA Company Program become one of the world’s leading companies?” asks 20-year-old JA Turkey alumnus Arya Yurdacan. She speaks with a confidence that belies her age, especially when the subject is her JA student company, Entella Co, winner of the JA Europe Company of the Year competition and the FedEx Access Award.

When team members first came together in the JA Company Program, they sought a solution to a significant problem in Istanbul: marine pollution. But the answer didn’t come easily. “Being a team is difficult, because everyone has different ideas but we need that one solution,” Arya says. “We are 10 people, and that means 10 different ideas.”

““Everyone, everything is linked to each other. One movement affects the others.””

— Arya Yurdacan

“And we have 10 different backgrounds,” added Öykü Ulusay, Head of Sales and Marketing. “We failed so many times. But we failed as a team, not as individuals.” Öykü, a high school senior, who encountered one of the highest highs possible in JA in 2019, perfectly articulated one of the hallmarks of this organization: resilience. In a year of global tumult, Entella Co endures.

As if juggling school schedules and work weren’t enough, Arya, Öykü, and the Entella team are pursuing patents for their marine filtration system, Mareen, and looking to scale up. Meeting with angel investors to grow the business, securing patents for their design, and finding new battles to fight in the oceans, especially due to the presence of disposable face masks in waters. They’re also giving back to current JA Turkey students, volunteering as mentors for the up-and-coming entrepreneurs following in their footsteps. One of Arya’s biggest aims is to improve lives through innovative solutions and to empower and inspire people to dream big. “Balancing one’s innovation, knowledge, and hard work with values, passion, and dedication creates leaders best equipped to change the world.”

“But entrepreneurship is not easy,” she continues. “One day everything goes perfectly and the next day everything may be ruined, but the important thing is to be able to motivate yourself and keep going.” With this mindset and this leadership, our bet is on Entella Co turning into a world-class business.

In August, Arya was elected as one of the 20 Most Talented Entrepreneurs Under the Age of 20 in Europe’s “20 under 20.” She is also honored to work with the Oceans Youth Council and contribute to promoting World Oceans Day. 

““We failed so many times. But we failed as a team, not as individuals.””

— Öykü Ulusay

Maria Rahamägi

by Senni Aalto, Gather Reporter for Europe

Founder and a CEO of Edumus, Maria Rahamägi, a JA Estonia alumna, got the idea for her company from the impact her JA mentors made on her. 

Edumus brings professionals to schools to teach one grade, in one subject over one school year. For example, electrical engineers come to schools to teach physics, giving the students the opportunity for real-world knowledge and experience and giving the professionals the opportunity to experience the joy of interacting with students. In February 2020, Maria and Edumus were awarded the top prize (US $12,000) in the JA Alumni Accelerator Award competition, sponsored by FedEx. 

When COVID-19 broke out in Estonia, all students were moved to online school. Realizing that not all families have computers at home, Maria led an initiative called “Every Student Online,” organizing data about students who still needed devices and people who had some to donate. Within one month they managed to deliver around 1,000 devices to those in need and, to date, another 1,000 more! Maria has turned the initiative over to an existing NGO to carry it forward, although she continues to advise them and spread the word. 

““With Edumus, I aim to inspire and enable professionals across fields and countries to share their passion with students by teaching. Through my JA experience I learned that investing in education has by far the greatest returns one could wish for.””

— Maria Rahamägi

Adil Bey

by Senni Aalto, Gather Reporter for Europe

Originally from Cyprus, Adil Bey studies politics, philosophy, and economics at the University of Liverpool in the UK. He also serves as president of the Federation of Turkish Cypriot Students (FTCS) studying in the UK and is an active JA alumnus.

In spring of 2020, Adil found himself trapped in the UK due to a Cyprus travel ban as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Schools had closed in both countries, with lessons moving online, and Adil and other students became increasingly concerned that they wouldn’t have a place to stay in the UK if lockdowns intensified. So Adil put a plan into motion.

He and a friend reached out to government officials and organized two planes for students to fly back to North Cyprus, where they spent 18 days in quarantine hotels and 14 more days of quarantine at their homes.

During the quarantine, the group organized online events and activities, including yoga, arts and crafts, and even an online celebration with a virtual DJ. Sharing their days online made the quarantine bearable. And the Turkish Cypriots comforted and helped everyone they could. When one student lost a close relative while in quarantine, Adil and his friends acquired special permission from the Minister of Health for her to attend the funeral in an ambulance, which drove her to the location, and she watched the ceremony through the window.

Adil and the FTCS continue to support one another today, meeting regularly, organizing virtual activities, and strengthening their bond.