Short Autobiography - Achievements in the past years

I have pursued excellence since my earliest childhood. I try to excel in everything I do - and I do a lot. Much of it is volunteering. I have been a reporter for Junior Mag while growing up in Casablanca, a Shad Valley participant at Université Laval, and a mentor and youth engagement coordinator for TakingITGlobal. I enjoy playing badminton and soccer and got a blue belt in karate at 15 years old, I’m also passionate about writing and poetry.

That is why I co-founded a multi-lingual magazine called MOMENTUM: Mission, Passion, Expression in 2008. The co-founders of this project are my twin brother Yassir and I. We both participated in the 4th and 5th World Youth Congress of Quebec and Istanbul and in many TEDx events and we wish, through this project, to give the opportunity to hundreds, even thousands of young people from Canada and abroad, to live such life-changing experiences.

In 2010, I was among the lucky Canadians who visited Italy as delegates to the NMC World Youth Meeting for a Sustainable Future in Bari. And during the summer, I spent three weeks in China visiting Beijing, Chongqing and Shanghai and exploring the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square and the Shanghai World Expo.

I also had the chance to travel to Dubai and Abu Dhabi to attend the Education Without Borders international student conference where I met inspiring like-minded young leaders and guest speakers like Robert Swan, the first person to walk to both Poles, and Adora Svitak, an American child prodigy and internationally published author who gave the most inspiring TEDx-style talks at Dubai Men’s College.
On a less serious note, I went sandboarding along with friends from Tunisia, Mauritius and England, and got the opportunity to meet the French Spiderman Alain Robert after watching him climbing the World’s tallest tower Burj Khalifa as part of the opening ceremony.

But I have not forgotten my roots and the problems in Morocco. I am still in contact with Moroccan associations that combat poverty and lack of knowledge, helping them as much as I can.

MOMENTUM: Mission, Passion, Expression is a youth-led magazine and a website dedicated to helping youth become more informed and engaged in society. The co-founders of this project are Yassir and Ilyes EL Ouarzadi, two young laureates of the Millenium Excellence Scholarships. These young leaders both participated in the leadership program Shad Valley as well as in the 4th and 5th World Youth Congress of Quebec and Istanbul and in the Dictée des Amériques and they wish, through this project, to give the opportunity to hundreds, even thousands of young people from Canada and abroad, to live such life-changing experiences. Therefore, MOMENTUM is a by-youth, for-youth network dedicated to social change.

MOMENTUM has different partners including TakingITGlobal, AIESEC Canada, Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation, Biosfera, ABC4ALL, and StayNomad.
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MOMENTUM : Mission, Passion, Expression est un magazine jeunesse accompagné d'un site web qui a pour but d'aider les jeunes à être mieux informés et bien impliqués dans la société. Les Co-Fondateurs et Directeurs de ce projet sont Yassir et Ilyes EL Ouarzadi, deux jeunes lauréats de la Bourse d'excellence du millénaire. Ces jeunes leaders ont tous les deux participé au programme de leadership Shad Valley, à la Dictée des Amériques ainsi qu'aux 4e et 5e Congrès Mondial des jeunes à Québec en 2008 puis à Istanbul en 2010 et ils désirent, grâce à ce projet, donner l'opportunité à des centaines, voire des milliers de jeunes du Canada et d'ailleurs, de vivre de telles expériences qui pourront changer leurs vies. MOMENTUM est donc un réseau de changement social, par les jeunes et pour les jeunes ayant comme partenaires TakingITGlobal, AIESEC Canada, la Fondation Canadienne des bourses d'études du millénaire, Biosfera, ABC4ALL, et StayNomad.