MARY
FANARO
SPEAKER / ACTIVIST / SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR
"Can you think of a better return in life than saving one?"
- Mary Fanaro
BUILT SEVEN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
AND TWO MUSIC SCHOOLS IN AFRICA
WHO IS MARY?
Mary Fanaro is the CEO & Founder of OmniPeace Foundation, the world’s leading international advocacy organization providing access to music education to children in developing countries.
OmniPeace Foundation's focus has shifted from providing primary education to global music education at the founding of the Rwanda Rocks Music School, in Rwanda.
The Rwanda Rocks Music School is a musical oasis giving children a voice to transform their identity, a path to escape the poverty line, and a vision to change their future.
"CAN FASHION SAVE LIVES?"
Mary Fanaro began her career producing high-end tastemakers and celebrity driven events. During Mary's final event at the Hard Rock Hotel in 2005, she had an epiphany which sparked the creation of OmniPeace Foundation - which initially started as a humanitarian fashion brand that broke cycles of poverty in Africa by building schools to empower youth.
OmniPeace donated a portion of its profits to Millennium Promise, an organization founded by Dr. Jeffrey Sachs (former Head of The Earth Institute / Columbia University) to address the root causes of extreme poverty
The slogan for OmniPeace was "Can Fashion Save Lives?" Just two weeks before the launch, Mary was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She believes OmniPeace was the catalyst that ended up saving her own life.
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OmniPeace Foundation went on to build seven primary schools and two music schools in Rwanda, Senegal, Mali and Malawi, launch an awareness campaign for the City of Joy; a safe-haven and rehabilitation center for women and children rape victims during the war over minerals in the Congo, and partner with the New York Giants to send convoys into Somalia to feed over 10,000 families.
"WHEN HUMANITY AND MUSIC COLLIDE, THE UNIVERSE ROARS WITH LOVE AND LAUGHTER."
Mary founded the first Rwanda Rocks Music School in 2016.
It was then that she shifted her focus from providing primary education, to providing global music education. By fostering creativity and out of the box thinking, music education drives the innovation necessary for the entrepreneurship that has shaped our world and that will shape a brighter future for Rwandan youth. In August 2023, OmniPeace Foundation partnered with the Rwandan Ministry of Education and the Rwandan Education Board to launch the historic initiative of training the first generation of Rwandan music teachers.
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This groundbreaking initiative will provide a global music education platform by placing a music teacher in every primary school in the country (~3,000 schools) ensuring that every child in Rwanda has access to a music education. This has never been done in the history of any country before, much less a developing country that suffered a genocide 27 years ago.
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“When humanity and music collide, the world roars with love and laughter. Music gives children a voice to transform their identity, a path to escape the poverty line, and a vision to lead a sustainable future.”
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Not only will OmniPeace be making music, OmniPeace will be making history!
SPEAKING EVENTS
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