Hero Scholar: Jana Alnajjar
Jana Alnajjar's calling crystallized in a single quiet moment in Istanbul, offering candy to a young refugee girl who hesitated and refused. "Her teeth hurt," her aunt explained. That moment shaped over 600 hours of humanitarian work supporting refugee and orphaned children through earthquake relief efforts in Turkey and Morocco, and continues to drive her work today as founder of SAHA Health, an initiative improving culturally responsive nutrition and preventive care for underserved populations.
Her leadership spans continents and disciplines. Jana has coached girls’ basketball within the Muslim community for over eight years, building confidence and belonging for students with limited access to structured activity, while co-founding FindMDS, a platform connecting over 20,000 patients across Canada to family physicians. As Director for the Toronto Metropolitan Students’ Union, she represented over 10,000 students and helped launch a free breakfast program addressing food insecurity, and she was later selected as a UN Youth Delegate in Rome, engaging with policymakers on health equity in conflict-affected regions.
Now pursuing a Doctor of Dental Medicine at Roseman University’s South Jordan campus, Jana brings a rare blend of humanitarian experience, entrepreneurial drive, and a deeply personal understanding of how oral health shapes dignity and daily life. The Hero Scholarship, funded by The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company, will support her mission to become a dentist who builds patient-centered solutions that expand access to care for underserved communities everywhere.