Meet this week’s campus celebrity at Seton Hall University, Joe Sehwani!
Q: What is your major?A: I am currently pursuing my B.S. in Business Administration with a concentration in Management and an M.P.A. in Nonprofit Management.
Q: What made you choose Seton Hall?A: I selected Seton Hall over other universities for several reasons. I spent most of my life growing up in Florida and I wanted a change of pace and a new environment. Also, I was happy with the prestige of the Stillman School of Business, as it was apparent to me that I wanted to pursue Business Management for my undergraduate degree. However, one of the main reasons I picked Seton Hall at the time was to be close to my family – because they planned to move to New Jersey for my Dad’s career.
Q: What do you like most about Seton Hall?A: I enjoy the people at Seton Hall the most, anyone who knows me will agree that I am a friendly person who enjoys meeting new people, this is because I like to learn the ambitions, hopes and interests of others while sharing my own.
Q: What drove you to join the fraternity Pi Kappa Phi?A: I was always interested in being part of Greek Life, however my goals of developing my charitable organization required a lot of my time and effort. I felt if I were going to be so involved in my own philanthropic ventures – joining Greek Life would be counterproductive, because my goals were set on helping the disabled community. When I heard the fraternity, Pi Kappa Phi, was coming to campus, I learned that all of their philanthropy focuses on disability awareness. So I decided that since my own personal goals and the goals of the fraternity were aligned – I could learn from their organization, Ability Experience, and gain more insight on supporting the disabled community.
Q: Tell us about your personal cause.A: It all started in my high school Spanish class on September 21, 2011 when I was 16. After rubbing my left eye, the words and colors on the board all blurred together. I quickly excused myself from class and called my parents. From that point on the sight loss progressed, and I was taken to numerous doctors, however I had a general idea of what was happening: LHON, a hereditary disease that has in my family affecting my grandma and uncle. LHON causes the loss of central vision, and on October 2011 I was officially diagnosed with LHON. I had a lot of obstacles with my disability within my school program and was told not to consider college and I was rejected from receiving any accommodations.
Although I received a lot of negativity from people around me, it only empowered me to become a better version of myself. As my eyesight declined, the rest of my life came into focus. I thought hard about what I wished to do with my life, how I wanted to do it, and the impact I was going to make. I knew how it felt to be taken by surprise by a sudden, rare disability and my personal ordeal made me more passionate about encouraging and empowering other people with disabilities. I made the choice to start a nonprofit because I wanted to positively impact the lives of others. This determination and inspiration shaped the mission and core values of my 501c3 nonprofit organization: Dreamscape Foundation.
Dreamscape Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization that encourages the community to embrace their creativity and talents in order to give independence to the disabled. This leadership position was a stepping-stone for myself to establish my visions, despite my disability, and continue to challenge myself while providing a service for our community. I establish my foundation’s fundraising strategy and community interaction, as well as our volunteer network. Dreamscape Foundation has gained support from companies such as: Google, Amazon and Nissan for its philanthropic ventures. The organization is currently working with a disabled-school program to implement adaptive technology into their classroom, as well as raising funds for research development with the project DreamCars.
Q: Now, what about Pi Kappa Phi’s philanthropy?A: What sets Pi Kappa Phi apart from other Greek organizations is that PKP operates its own philanthropy, The Ability Experience that works with individual chapters across the nation to serve people with disabilities. The Ability Experience uses shared experiences to support people with disabilities and develop the men of Pi Kappa Phi into servant leaders. One of the Ability Experiences most prominent philanthropy events is the Journey of Hope: which is the largest fraternal fundraising and awareness cycling event, that 12,000 miles.
As mentioned, the goal of Pi Kappa Phi and the Dreamscape Foundation is primarily to support disabilities. Thus, I accepted the responsibility of Philanthropy Chair of our chapter. With the Epsilon Theta chapter at Seton Hall my goal is to combine my own charitable resources with Pi Kappa Phi to double the impact on the disabled community. In addition, for our chapter I wish to familiarize the students at Seton Hall with the importance of philanthropy for disabilities by promoting The Ability Experience.
Q: What do you see yourself doing in 10 years?A: 10 years from now I hope that my charitable organization Dreamscape Foundation, is well known across the nation. I believe my philanthropic efforts would have helped many underprivileged individuals reclaim their independence and I can picture my organization funding several rare disabilities and disease research studies to fund cures. I hope that Dreamscape Foundation has also adopted several disabled classrooms and is helping the students achieve success and further their education. I can picture myself engaging in opportunities to work with other nonprofits organizations, large and small – in order to learn various philanthropic techniques and apply them to Dreamscape Foundation. On more of a personal goal, in at least 10 years I always thought it would be an amazing experience to take a year vacation and travel the world, it would be a once in a lifetime opportunity and I enjoy being adventurous. This adventurous feat however will not be complete with my loved ones of course.
Q: What is your favorite part about having your own philanthropic cause?A: My favorite part about operating my own philanthropy is helping people and inspiring the community at large. It is truly a rewarding experience when a group of individuals get together to support a single philanthropic cause. During the first year of Dreamscape Foundation – I was approached by a group of people who were holding an event to raise funds for a 3-year-old girl, who was diagnosed with stage 4 neuroblastoma cancer. I witnessed a community that bonded over a heart-breaking situation and were motivated to help her in anyway possible. In collaboration with the community, we were able to raise the required funds for the girl’s medication during the holiday season. Philanthropy is a truly rewarding experience, from my time running the Dreamscape Foundation with my family and friends I have learned that there are a lot of good people in our community and I have the opportunity to work with them to make our world a better place.
Q: How has Seton Hall helped you in making this philanthropy successful?A: The Seton Hall community itself has been supportive of my philanthropic journey. I am always sharing my organization with anyone I meet because I am proud of it and love spreading the word with others. I have been featured several times in the Setonian newspapers – and students often reach out to me to inquire about volunteering to fulfill their hours. Overall, it makes me happy to be recognized for my organization around campus.
Q: Is there anything else you would like to tell me?A: Every time I share my ordeal of losing my eyesight and building my own philanthropy – I always point out the biggest takeaway from my story. This takeaway is to simply follow your dreams – because that dream that you’re holding in your mind, it is possible. If you have a dream, you have to protect it and pursue it. Despite the odds, never let any challenge or obstacle stop you and you will be victorious.