Nadia Benamara

I admire my parents. They raised my sister and I to expect a very different world, devoid of the kind of hardship they themselves experienced as children. Born during WWII, they learned young how to struggle hard – my mother in post-war Germany, my father amidst Algeria’s subsequent war of independence from France. Over time, they managed to secure educations, opportunities and outlooks that in turn granted us a much better life.

My early career frankly didn’t look like much of a career. I had long been drawn to filmmaking and storytelling but despite a formidable education did not possess, nor develop, the kind of earth- shattering talent or burning desire that gets one noticed in Hollywood. I took on all kinds of industry jobs because I needed to make an income. These helped me develop a concrete skill- set that led to long-term employment and fulfilling professional relationships. Nonetheless, I was always positioned, or positioned myself, as someone who could help bring other people’s unsung visions to a wider audience. I did not dare to dream bigger.

It’s only in recent years that I feel I’ve come into my own. Because I now love and am very good at what I do, I have gained greater financial rewards and freedom to do more of what I feel passionate about. It strikes me as ironic that it required my return to Vienna, Austria – the town I grew up in – to do so. But it makes sense. It took familiar, familial territory to remind me that what I ultimately strive for is to build on my parent’s experience. My career now (yes it is one) enables, and in fact requires, me to engage with communities worldwide, to discover and articulate the simple aspirations that drive and motivate all of us. People strive and people hope, no matter their day-today.

I am proud of who I come from, and truly believe that most people want to create a better world than the one they were born into. To me, Lucy means encouraging and enabling people like my parents, and granting them a tangible means to succeed. I want to help build Lucy as a means for people to swiftly, smoothly and securely access their own forward potential.

Artist: Lisa Taranchenko, from USA