Imane Elomari
Associate in Science Degree in Business Management 
Hostos Student Ambassador

Imane ElomariImane Elomari was born in Casablanca, Morocco in 1989 and she had the chance to travel around the world, while she was very young, with her parents who were United Nations Diplomats. Imane took great pleasure in visiting the places that she went to; the foods, the cultures, the languages and even the people, but in reflecting upon her past now, she realizes that she probably had no real sense of the scope of hardships, sadness and despair that sometimes exist in some of the places that she visited.

Imane came to live in the United States in 2008 to pursue her education and to work on creating a strategy for changing the world. Before arriving in New York City, she was told by everyone, including her parents, that America was the “Land of Opportunity” and that she could do anything that she wanted, but when she arrived here in the States, she faced many barriers, including the fact that she spoke another language and had to learn how American Society functions. In the initial stages of her educational career, she was told many times what she would not be able to do or could not do and it was only through her struggle and her passion to make change in her own life that she began to realize all of the things that she could do.

Imane began attending Hostos Community College in spring 2009 and has come to value to diversity of language and culture that exists both on the Hostos campus and throughout the City of New York. She loves the fact that you can sit down anywhere at any time and possibly have a conversation in any language from around the world; French, Spanish, Arabic, etc. At Hostos, Imane is studying Business Management and hopes to continue her studies at a four year institution, but she also has a dream and a desire to go to Med-School one day, which was one of the things that she heard she couldn’t do when she first came to America.

Imane has been a member of the Hostos Student Leadership Academy’s AmbassadorImane ElomariProgram since summer of 2009 and in the course of her time as a member she has had some life-changing experiences. Imane was part of a six-member team that participated at the Model New York State Senate Session Project in spring 2010, debating the issue of term limits on the state senate floor. She has also participated in a variety of community service and volunteer campus efforts; which include feeding the homeless at POTS Soup Kitchen and Painting a Mural at Harlem River Park. She has discovered through her engagement in the community that there are many issues in society that need to be resolved and when she thinks to herself about how much she has done here to help others, she can’t help but to think that there was so much more to do back in her home country and she has a desire to one day be able to have an impact not only regionally and nationally, but also globally.

As a member of the Academy, Imane has had the rare opportunity to attend a series of conferences on Leadership and Leadership Development as well as to participate at New York State conferences; such as the United States Hispanic Leadership Institute Conference, the Black and Puerto Rican Caucus Conference and the SOMOS El Futuro Conference in Albany.

Imane is the 2010-2011 selection for the Ernesto Malave Leadership Academy Fellowship Program, where she is hoping to make a huge impact in her community and New York City this year. She was a member of the French and Francophone Club and is currently a member of the Women’s Empowerment Organization. She was also accepted at Syracuse University and Rutgers University.

Imane has a heartfelt desire to make an impact upon society. She is determined to make change through action and has begun taking steps to be the best leader that she can be. She is a passionate young woman, who works diligently every day to make her life and the lives of others better. It is not always easy to talk to Imane, but the challenge of being in her company always offers those around her a more succinct perception of themselves and the world that exists around them.