Dehkhoda Educational Foundation

05/31/2026

05/31/2026

The Inspiration of Audrey Hepburn

One of the most meaningful moments from our exhibition, The White Rose & The Beloved Community, has been seeing so many visitors pause to take a photo by Audrey Hepburn’s banner.

Audrey Hepburn’s life reminds us that beauty, courage, and compassion can belong together. As a young girl in the occupied Netherlands during World War II, she witnessed fear, hunger, and oppression. Later in life, she transformed those memories into service, becoming a global humanitarian voice for children through UNICEF.

In our exhibition, Audrey stands as a bridge between resistance and service—between the courage to endure darkness and the compassion to help heal the world. Her example helps lead us toward the Beloved Community—a world where there is no hunger or poverty, where justice and agape love reign, and where service becomes a path to peace, progress, and prosperity for all.

Alongside Sophie Scholl, the White Rose, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Mirza Jahangir Khan Sur-e Esrafil, and other servant leaders, Audrey helps us remember that moral courage can take many forms: speaking truth, resisting injustice, serving children, and carrying hope forward.

We are grateful to all who have visited, reflected, and shared in this journey with us.

Special appreciation to Masoud Rad for these beautiful pictures.

05/30/2026

It is always a good day—as it was on May 9—to have the humanitarian, Chicago-based Iranian-American director, writer, and photographer Hossein Khandan with us at the Dehkhoda Educational Foundation & the International Servant Leaders Museum’s 3rd Annual Event.

05/30/2026

It is always a good day—as it was on May 9—to have the humanitarian, Chicago-based Iranian-American director, writer, and photographer Hossein Khandan with us at the Dehkhoda Educational Foundation & the International Servant Leaders Museum’s 3rd Annual Event.

Hossein Khandan is an award-winning Iranian-American filmmaker, writer/director, and photographer based in Chicago, with more than four decades of experience in film and visual storytelling. His work reflects a deeply humanistic spirit; he describes himself as “a global citizen” who cares about the quality and equality of human beings. He is known for films including Waiting for Kiarostami and Silky Eloquence, and his photography has been exhibited internationally, including in Beijing, Dubai, Chicago, and San Francisco.

We were honored by his presence and grateful for the spirit of art, humanity, and cultural bridge-building he brought to our gathering.

(Special thanks to Masoud Rad for these great pictures).

05/29/2026

Exciting news from the International Servant Leaders Museum! 🌟

We are thrilled to share a brand-new feature on our blog highlighting the journey of our high school intern, Daria Kasperek.

In her new piece, Daria reflects on her time with the Dehkhoda Educational Foundation and shares how exploring our past "Ode to Joy" exhibition—which brought to life the profound history of Ludwig van Beethoven—helped shape her understanding of moral courage and civic unity.

We are so proud of the thoughtful perspective and dedication our youth interns bring to our community on Shermer Road. Daria's experience is a beautiful example of how the next generation is engaging with history to learn what true servant leadership looks like in action.

Click the link below to read Daria’s full story and see how our internship program inspires young leaders to carry these values forward! 👇

LeadersMuseum

Maine South High School junior Daria Kasperek shares her experience as an intern at the International Servant Leaders Museum, exploring the magic power of unity through servant leaders in the Ode to Joy exhibition.

05/26/2026

Our co-founders, Azar Khounani, left, and Hamid Akbari, right, profoundly believe in the values of the Dehkhoda Educational Foundation and the International Servant Leaders Museum: cultivating peace, progress, and prosperity in the world through servant leadership.
(Photos by Masoud Rad).

05/25/2026

This Memorial Day, We Remember the Candles.

Today, we pause to remember all those who gave all they could—and all they had—in the service of peace, prosperity, and progress for all, and in defense of freedom, justice, and equality.

At the Dehkhoda Educational Foundation and the International Servant Leaders Museum, our guiding mantra is:

Remember the Candles.

Inspired by the great Iranian scholar and polymath Ali-Akbar Dehkhoda’s poem for Mirza Jahangir Khan Sur-e Esrafil and for all those who gave their lives in the service of truth, freedom, justice, and human dignity, this mantra reminds us of the “dead candle”—the one that burned itself down to bring light to others.

This is the heart of servant leadership: lives offered in memory, service, love, and hope so that others may live with greater dignity, freedom, and possibility.

Most recently, through our new exhibition, The White Rose & The Beloved Community, we remembered Sophie Scholl and the White Rose, Mirza Jahangir Khan Sur-e Esrafil, Audrey Hepburn, and many others whose lives continue to remind us of the power of courage, conscience, service, and humanity.

Thank you for helping us build a community dedicated to peace, prosperity, and progress for all.