Parisa Pirooz

Parisa Pirooz is the founder of an organization that has grown from a one-person operation to a global team of over 70 volunteers across multiple countries in just one year. Her journey from law student to movement builder offers a fascinating perspective on how real change happens outside traditional systems. Her insights challenge conventional wisdom about both institutional power and the role of money in creating meaningful impact.

Hi Parisa, so happy to have you with us today and there is so much we want to ask you about your journey and the lessons you've learned along the way.

Let's start with something I love asking our guests - if you could go back and give your 20-year-old self one piece of advice, what would it be and why?

I would tell her that proximity to systems is not the same as the ability to change them.

At 20, I believed that if I studied law and understood the system well enough, I could create meaningful impact from within it. What I didn't yet see was how much those systems are designed to maintain themselves.

Over time, I realized that some of the most meaningful shifts happen outside formal structures by building new models, redistributing power, and creating alternatives that don't rely on existing permission.

Law gave me language. But building gave me leverage.

That's really insightful, and it sounds like you've learned a lot about how change actually happens. Along those lines, I'm curious about your relationship with money - how does it look today versus when you first started? How has it changed you?

When I started, I thought money was the prerequisite for impact. That without funding, nothing meaningful could move.

But in our first year, we grew from one person to a global team of 70+ volunteers across countries without traditional funding. That forced me to rethink what actually drives momentum.

What I understand now is that money doesn't create movement. It scales what already exists. Trust, clarity, and shared purpose come first.

Today, I see money as an amplifier, not a starting point.

Thank you so much for sharing your story with us, Parisa.