Rania Zuri | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Nationality | United States States of America |
| Education | Stanford University |
| Alma mater | Morgantown High School |
| Organization(s) | The LiTEArary Society, Inc. |
| Awards | Forbes 30 Under 30 |
| Website | www.LiTEArarySociety.org |
Rania Zuri is an American advocate for early childhood literacy and works to end book deserts for disadvantaged children. [1] She is the founder and CEO of The LiTEArary Society and is the youngest author of a United States Senate Resolution in U.S. history. [2]
At age 13, Rania Zuri founded The LiTEArary Society, Inc., a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with the mission of ending book deserts for disadvantaged preschool children. [3] She learned about book deserts from a combination of her grandfather growing up in a book desert and after setting up a small library for young girls which inspired her to turn her middle school book club into The LiTEArary Society. [4]
In 2022, The LiTEArary Society expanded and completed a project called the West Virginia Head Start Road tour [5] where a brand-new, Scholastic book was donated to every enrolled child in Head Start in West Virginia, 6,778 books in total. Rania personally travelled across West Virginia to each Head Start center to drop off the books for the children. [6] [7]
For her work with The LiTEArary Society, Rania Zuri has been featured on many national media sources, including Good Morning America, NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt, The Today Show, The Kelly Clarkson Show, Forbes, Teen Vogue, Fox News, NPR, The Washington Post and more. [8] [9] The LiTEArary Society has sponsorships and partnerships with National Head Start, Scholastic, Pilot Pens, Hershey's, Starbucks, and others. [10]
As of October 2023, The LiTEArary Society has donated over $326,000 worth of brand-new books to over 28,000 disadvantaged preschool children in Head Start programs in all 50 states. [2] [11]
In October 2023, Rania became the youngest author of a U.S. Senate Resolution in history. [2] She authored a bipartisan U.S. Senate Resolution for the first National Early Childhood Literacy Awareness Day on October 20 to bring awareness to early childhood literacy issues. [12] The U.S. Senate resolution for this commemorative day is sponsored by U.S. Senator Joe Manchin, Senator Susan Collins, Senator Shelley Moore Capito, and Senator Angus King. [12] The resolution "unanimously" passed in the U.S. Senate in October 2023. [13]
Prior to becoming a U.S. Senate Resolution, Rania established National Early Childhood Literacy Awareness Day as a West Virginia State proclamation by Governor Jim Justice in July 2023. [14]
Rania wrote a 2022 article for Teen Vogue about book deserts and literacy. [15] In August 2022, she also wrote an opinion piece about education and standardized testing for NBC News Online. [16]
Following the passing of the U.S. Senate Resolution she authored, she wrote another op-ed for Teen Vogue about literacy rates and ending book deserts through policy. [17]
Rania has given a TEDx Talk about book deserts with over 40,000 views on Youtube and TED.com combined. [18] [19] [20] She also was a guest on NPR's Inside Appalachia and NPR's 1A radio show. [21] [22]
On International Day of the Girl in 2023, Rania was honored at the White House by First Lady Jill Biden as a "Girl Leading Change". [10] Rania Zuri is also a Coca-Cola Scholar (2023), a recipient of the George H. W. Point of Light Award, and a winner of the Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes. [23] [24] [25] [26] In 2022, Forbes named her as one of "Six Teens Making the World a Better Place." [7]
In 2023, Rania received The Diana Award, one of the most prestigious international accolades a young person (ages 8 to 25) can receive for social or humanitarian work. [27] During the online Diana Award Ceremony, Rania was one of only 3 recipients out of the 189 global recipients to be introduced by Prince Harry. [28]
In June 2022, Governor Jim Justice of West Virginia honored Rania with the Distinguished Mountaineer Award, [29] the highest honor that is given to one or two WV citizens per year. [30] [29]
In November 2023, Rania was named on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in the Education category and on the Youngest list. [31] [32] [33]
Joseph Anthony Manchin III is an American politician and businessman serving as the senior United States senator from West Virginia, a seat he has held since 2010. Manchin was the 34th governor of West Virginia from 2005 to 2010 and the 27th secretary of state of West Virginia from 2001 to 2005. He became the state's senior U.S. senator when Jay Rockefeller left office in 2015 and was West Virginia's only congressional Democrat until 2024, when he registered as an independent. Before entering politics, Manchin helped found and was the president of Enersystems, a coal brokerage company his family owns and operates.
Donald Leon Blankenship is an American businessman. He was chairman and CEO of the Massey Energy Company—the sixth-largest coal company in the United States—from 2000 until 2010 when an explosion at Massey's Upper Big Branch Mine resulted in the death of 29 workers. He served one year in prison for conspiring to violate federal mine safety standards.
From the time of the Great Depression through the 1990s, the politics of West Virginia were largely dominated by the Democratic Party. In the 2000 presidential election, George W. Bush claimed a surprise victory over Al Gore, with 52% of the vote; he won West Virginia again in 2004, with 56% of the vote. West Virginia is now a heavily Republican state, with John McCain winning the state in 2008, Mitt Romney in 2012 and Donald Trump in 2016, 2020, and 2024.
Alexander Xavier Mooney is an American politician serving since 2015 as the U.S. representative from West Virginia's 2nd congressional district. A member of the Republican Party, he represented the 3rd district in the Maryland State Senate from 1999 to 2011 and is a former chair of the Maryland Republican Party. He is the first Hispanic person elected to Congress from West Virginia.
In U.S. politics, Democrat in name only (DINO) is a pejorative term used to describe politicians of the Democratic Party to indicate that their governing or legislating style is more like a member of the Republican Party.
Heather Bresch is an American business executive. In 2012, she was named as the chief executive officer (CEO) of Netherlands-based pharmaceutical company Mylan, becoming the first woman to run a Fortune 500 pharmaceutical company. Bresch retired in 2020, upon the closing of Mylan’s combination with Upjohn. Bresch has been a central figure in two controversies: a 2007 accusation of inflating her resume with an unearned MBA degree, and as the CEO of Mylan during the 2016 controversy over pricing of the company's EpiPen products. In 2015, she was listed as #22 in Fortune magazine's “Most Powerful Women” list.
Antonio James Manchin was a West Virginia Democratic politician who served as a member of the House of Delegates, as Secretary of State (1977–85), and as State Treasurer (1985–89). A colorful and controversial figure, he was the uncle of former West Virginia Governor and current U.S. Senator Joe Manchin.
The 2012 United States Senate election in West Virginia was held on November 6, 2012, to elect one of West Virginia's two members of the U.S. Senate for a six-year term. In a rematch of the 2010 special election, incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Joe Manchin won re-election to a first full term against the Republican nominee, John Raese. Notably, Manchin outperformed Barack Obama in the concurrent presidential election by 25.06 percentage points in vote share, and by 50.86 percentage points on margin.
The 2010 United States Senate special election in West Virginia was held on November 2, 2010. Incumbent Democratic Senator Robert Byrd died in office on June 28, 2010. Democratic Governor Joe Manchin appointed Carte Goodwin to temporarily fill the vacancy. Goodwin pledged to not run for election to the seat in exchange for the appointment. This was the first open U.S. Senate seat in West Virginia since 1984 and the first in this seat since 1956. Manchin won the open seat and served out the remainder of Byrd's elected term, which ended on January 3, 2013.
Ann Louie Li, popularly known as Ann Li, is a Filipino–Taiwanese businesswoman, fashion influencer, former actress, model, photographer, and television personality. She splits her time between Manila, Taipei, and Paris. Her accolades include being the first recipient of the Shorty Award for best in fashion on social media and being the youngest to be featured on Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia list for the arts. Often dubbed by publications such as Vogue, L'Officiel, Preview and more as an It girl and a Multi-Hyphenate.
The 2016 West Virginia gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 2016, to elect the governor of West Virginia, concurrently with the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as well as elections to the United States Senate in other states and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. The primaries were held on May 10.
James Conley Justice II is an American businessman and politician who is a United States senator-elect from West Virginia. A member of the Republican Party, he has served as the 36th governor of West Virginia since 2017. Justice was once a billionaire, but his net worth had declined to $513.3 million as of 2021. He inherited a coal mining business from his father that included 94 companies, including the Greenbrier, a luxury resort and National Historic Landmark in White Sulphur Springs.
The 2018 United States Senate election in West Virginia took place on November 6, 2018, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of West Virginia, concurrently with other elections to the United States Senate, elections to the United States House of Representatives, and various state and local elections. This was one of ten Democratic-held Senate seats up for election in a state won by Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election.
Leomie Jasmin Francis Anderson is a British fashion model, television presenter, and activist. She walked in four consecutive Victoria's Secret Fashion Shows from 2015 to 2018, and became a Victoria's Secret Angel in 2019. Anderson was included in a 2020 Forbes '30 Under 30' list for the art & culture category.
National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month is an annual national health campaign organized by major childhood cancer organizations to increase awareness of pediatric cancer and to raise funds for research into its cause, prevention, diagnosis, treatment and cure.
The 2024 United States Senate elections were held on November 5, 2024, as part of the 2024 United States elections. Regularly scheduled elections were held for 33 out of the 100 seats in the U.S. Senate, plus one seat in a special election. Senators are divided into 3 classes whose 6-year terms are staggered so that a different class is elected every 2 years. Class 1 senators faced election in 2024. Republicans flipped four Democratic-held seats, regaining a Senate majority for the first time since 2021.
The 2024 United States Senate election in West Virginia was held on November 5, 2024, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of West Virginia. Democratic Wheeling mayor Glenn Elliott and Republican Governor Jim Justice were seeking their first term in office. Justice will succeed independent incumbent Joe Manchin, who did not seek a third full term.
The 2024 West Virginia gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 2024, to elect the governor of West Virginia, concurrently with the 2024 U.S. presidential election, as well as elections to the United States Senate and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Republican state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey was elected to his first term in office after defeating Democratic Huntington mayor Steve Williams in the general election. Incumbent Republican Jim Justice was term-limited and was unable to seek re-election to a third consecutive term in office; he instead ran for the U.S. Senate.
The 2024 United States House of Representatives elections in West Virginia were held on November 5, 2024, to elect the two U.S. representatives from the State of West Virginia, one from each of the state's two congressional districts. The elections coincided with the 2024 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the House of Representatives, elections to the United States Senate, and various state and local elections. The primary elections were held on May 14, 2024.
The political positions of Joe Manchin encompass the established political and economic positions taken by Joe Manchin, the senior United States senator from West Virginia. Manchin's positions are reflected in his voting record, public speeches, and interviews. A member of the Democratic Party until 2024 when he registered as an Independent, Manchin is characterized by his self-described moderate beliefs.