Elisa Sednaoui is known as a world-famous model, actress, and even film director. But it's her role as philanthropist that's her biggest yet. Of Egyptian, French, and Italian descent, Sednaoui has now just started a new crowdfunding campaign for the cultural centre her charity organisation runs. The Elisa Sednaoui Foundation "curates and delivers interdisciplinary educational programs within local communities to empower and engage the next generation of problem solvers through arts, cultural exchanges and the facilitation of life skills."

Back in November, MO4 Network's in-house PR agency #MO4PR teamed up with the Elisa Sednaoui foundation, along with Christian Louboutin, to hold an extravagant gala at Nineteen Twenty Five to raise funds for their extraordinary work in empowering children through education.

Image source: maryosbazaar.com

The foundation was launched as a youth workshop in Luxor back in 2014. And in the years since, they opened two more youth workshops and four adult learning centres. In 2016, Elisa’s foundation opened Funtasia, a cultural centre offering art classes and activities for children and youth.

Image source: elisasednaoui.org
Elisa Sednaoui and Christian Louboutin at #MO4PR Life's a Circus Gala

The Elisa Sednaoui Foundation’s mission is to empower and educate communities, with a focus on youth and children, through creative learning and the arts. Funtasia was established to be a permanent workshop to provide these classes and has only gone from success to success.

Image source: Facebook

Since they started, Funtasia expanded their operations to Italy, and have trained more than 240 adults and taught more than 900 children in total between there and Egypt. Partnering with Goya Sawiris and the Mansour Foundation, they've also managed to expand within Egypt to Haram and Alexandria. Then in collaboration with Save The Children, they successfully established themselves in Rome, Bari, and Torino, and now they're set to expand further to Milan, Genova, and Sassari later in 2017.

So much has been their success, demand has been growing across the board for the beautiful things they have so far achieved. Communities, parents, and even children alike have been eager to see Funtasia increase its capacity, and that’s why they recently decided to start their crowdfunding campaign, #TogetherForFuntasia.

Image source: Facebook

They’re aiming to raise $50,000 so they can improve the quality of their facilities and staff, and broaden their services across Egypt and Italy. Elisa, and the wonderful job she has done with her foundation have helped transform the lives of many in only a short period of time. We can only expect to see more great success stories in the future.

For more info about Funtasia and the work they're doing, check out their Facebook page, or head over to the Elisa Sednaoui Foundation's official website.

You can donate to Funtasia's fundraiser by visiting their donation page here.

You can also help them by sharing the hashtag #TogetherForFuntasia

Main image: Vogue Middle East