#WeArePlay | Meet Maria, AnnMaria and Dennis from the USA. More stories from around the world

Starting with Maria, Annmaria and Dennis from Minnesota, USA - founders of 7 Generation Games. Growing up as a Latina in rural North Dakota, Maria wanted to build something inspired by her experiences and help support the education gap in underserved communities. She teamed up with her mom AnnMaria, a teacher and computer programmer, and software developer Dennis, to set up 7 Generation Games. They make educational games – in English, Spanish and indigenous languages – to improve math skills of Hispanic and Native American children. Making Camp Ojibwe is a village-building simulation where players earn points by answering math and social studies questions. Now with multiple titles, their games are proven to improve children’s school results.

Next, David, Arman & Hayk from Armenia - founders of Zoomerang. After uploading his music online, David got limited views because his video editing wasn’t engaging. It was his passion for music that led him to start Zoomerang with co-founders Arman and Hayk. They created a platform where content creators could get editing templates for their videos, allowing thousands to grow their brand and vivify their content.

Next, Rama from Jordan - founder of Little Thinking Minds. When she and her friend and co-founder Lamia had their first boys, they struggled to find resources to teach their children Arabic. So, they utilized their background in film production and started making children’s videos in Arabic in their backyards. When they held a screening at a local cinema, over 500 parents and children came to watch it, and they had to screen it multiple times. A few years later and the content is now digitized in a series of apps used in schools of 10 countries. The most popular, I Read Arabic, has educational videos, books, games, and a dashboard for teachers to track students' progress.

Last but not least, Prakash from South Africa - founder of ForKeeps. When Prakash’s sister passed away, his nieces longed to hear her voice again and keep her memory alive. When his father died, he felt the same and regretted not having all his photos and messages in one place. This inspired Prakash and his co-founders to create ForKeeps: a platform for preserving a person’s legacy with photo albums, stories, and voice messages. Through the app, people can feel their loved one’s presence after they're gone. The Forever Album tool also allows the audience to share and celebrate special occasions in real time. Now Prakash’s goal is to help more people across different cultures around the world record memories for their loved ones.

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