Our Partners and Team
ELISA SEDNAOUI DELLAL
FOUNDER, CEO
Elisa Sednaoui Dellal is an Italian, French, Egyptian social entrepreneur. Raised between Europe and Egypt, and now living in the USA, Elisa’s passion for education, cultural exchange and integration inspired her to start Funtasia Enterprise. Through its Nonprofit arm Funtasia Impact, underserved communities around the world are granted access to the Funtasia Educational Approach. Most recently, Elisa has become a bestselling author. “Nessuno Può Farti Star Male Senza Il Tuo Permesso” (“Nobody Can Hurt You Without Your Permission”), the first book she co-wrote with italian Linguistic Intelligence Expert Paolo Borzacchiello, through cognitive behavioral tools supports the building of self-esteem, self-awareness and confidence in the interactions with others.
A muse for Karl Lagerfeld and Christian Louboutin, Elisa has fronted numerous campaigns for Chanel, Giorgio Armani, Lancôme, Ralph Lauren, Roberto Cavalli as well as the covers of renowned publications Vogue, Elle, Glamour and Marie Claire. Elisa made her debut acting in the French cult movie Bus Palladium and has appeared in various international films. She became the Godmother of the Venice Film Festival in 2015.
DORENTINA CAKAJ
CREATIVE CHIEF OFFICER
Dorentina Cakaj is a Creative Director and Visual Artist. Before working in the entertainment and advertising industry she started her career curating. In 2015, she led one of the largest street art galleries in the United States working with artists like Erykah Badu, Carrie Fisher, Tyler Shields, and other global artists focusing primarily on modern and graffiti art.
Currently, her study revolves around psychology, sociology, and future trends that push conversations toward action by initiating new waves and solving problems on how we can all live, move, and work. As a Creative Director, she works closely with entrepreneurs, agencies, and brands on a wide range of projects from music, fashion, lifestyle, tech, interiors, and education. Dorentina has worked for companies such as Google, Nike, Bergdorf Goodman, New Balance, FILA, Ralph Lauren, and more.
SARA CRAVERO
EDUCATION DIRECTOR
Sara Cravero is a group facilitator, trainer and education professional with a mixed background in both education and technical field. Ph.D. in environmental engineering, with post-degree training in social-emotional learning, she has managed multidisciplinary education, sanitation, gender equality, multi-cultural relations and inclusion programs in Italy, the U.S., Egypt, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, and Kenya for the past twenty years. The range of her experience includes management of in-person and online programs, youth and adult training, creative and community facilitation, project and content designing, technical and strategic planning, and monitoring and evaluation. Passionate about the power of words and thoughts, curious about the world, and madly in love with her three children, she enjoys seeing herself as a long-life learner and a constant life force in motion.
JARED CRAFT
VIDEO STRATEGY ADVISOR
Jared Craft understands the power of content and has spent his career helping organizations tell their stories across media platforms: social, video, web, and TV. As founder of Craft Alan, Jared handles content and business strategy for an array of clients across CPG, beauty, hospitality, and entertainment. His career began managing social content for public figures and evolved to strategy roles at Target, Viacom, Google, and most recently YouTube, where he handled North American content strategy for their Entertainment, News & Sports verticals. Through employers and private consulting, he has developed and executed community, content, and media strategies for organizations such as P&G, Amazon, and World Economic Forum.
GEORGINA MERHOM
ADVISOR
Georgina Merhom is an entrepreneur, investor, and startup advisor. Prior to founding financial technology startup SOLO, she was working in global governance on innovation policy and non-traditional security threats. Georgina is ushering in the transition of Funtasia’s financial sustainability model through the introduction of for-profit products that fund non-profit activities and remove dependency on fundraising.
CECILIA ABURTO SANCHEZ
FACILITATOR, SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER
Cecilia Aburto is a Mexican pedagogue and visual communication designer working at Funtasia as a creative facilitator and graphic content creator. She has experience in the pedagogy of death, life skills, and socio-emotional teaching in childhood through art, play, and design. Cecilia is passionate about educating through the creation of illustrated books, as well as giving workshops transforming issues of social conflicts, using the different creative tools as a form to put it into practice teamwork, protest, self-awareness as well as giving importance to the voice of children, who through these projects are seen and heard as individuals part of our society, but most important, caring and changing the world for good.
SHERRY WILLIAM
LEGAL ADVISOR
Sherry William obtained her law degree from Harvard Law School in 2010 and her Bachelor's degree in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of California Los Angeles in 2006. Ms. William provides legal, business, and strategic advice to companies of all sizes, individuals, governments, and financial institutions, domestically and internationally. She is fluent in Arabic and conversant in Spanish, is licensed to practice law in California and New York, and holds a real estate broker license in both California and New York. Ms. William, her spouse, and two daughters reside in Los Angeles.
