Meet Ahva Sadeghi of Symba in Scottsdale

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ahva Sadeghi.

Ahva, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
My name is Ahva Sadeghi, and I’m a first-generation Iranian American woman. I have committed my life to human rights work to generate meaningful social change.

In my academics, I pursued human rights. I studied Philosophy, Politics Economics and Law (PPEL) at the University of Arizona Honors College (2015) and founded the first human rights student-led organization on campus. Then, I did my masters at the London School of Economics and Political Science and served as president of the LSE Human Rights Committee (2016).

In addition to my studies, I did internships with the State Department, Peace Corps, and various nonprofits. With each internship, I realized that I was one of few women of color represented. There was a clear lack of opportunity for students. This troubled me because internships are fundamental to career success. But, how can students access internships unless they can afford them or have a powerful network to access them?

This exclusive nature of internships manifests inequality and underrepresentation in the workforce. When I was named a John Lewis Fellow for Civil and Human Rights, I created Symba to improve the internship space. As a human rights activist and social entrepreneur, I want to open doors for students from all backgrounds to excel.

Since founding Symba in 2017, we have grown to a diverse team of 5 women in tech. Our team at Symba is dedicated to removing barriers of entry to the workforce. Our all-in-one internship management platform simplifies and digitalizes internship programs for employers, enabling organizations to reach talent like they never could before. We make internships accessible to students and prospects around the world.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It has been an action-packed journey! Our tech startup has grown from ideation to launching our private beta with the federal government in under 7 months.

There was a major learning curve for me because I did not study business or software engineering. Therefore, I surrounded myself with powerful mentors to teach me and guide me through the journey. I took classes on coursera, read many books and asked tons of questions. I have never learned so much in my entire life. Business encompasses everything from team management, legal work, sales, marketing, and more!

Through this process, I have learned that the most valuable component of a startup is your team. My co-founder, Nikita Gupta, is a brilliant engineer who brings to life our startups ideas. Ellen Zhang, Chief of Marketing, spends 30+ hours outside of her day job to craft beautiful content and make Symba shine. Tamara Estrella, Chief of Strategy, wears multiple hats from diving into research to spending hours editing our videos. Natalie Chambers, Chief of Revenue, excites the world about Symba and builds valuable relationships with our users.

I call us the dream team! We are able to work together and solve major problems that may come our way. I believe this is the key to overcoming any challenges as an entrepreneur.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Symba – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Symba is a software tool that helps employers manage their interns. Symba is a one-stop solution that streamlines internship management to include orientation and training, project assignment, and feedback and engagement tools. We help companies curate a valuable internship experience and track their interns’ performance.

After companies build an internship experience, all of the data from project assignments can be recycled year after year for the managers, saving them lots of time. Additionally, analytical reports of the interns’ performance will improve the potential full time hires for the company.

For a demo, please email us at ahva@symba.io

Our Mission – Our team at Symba is dedicated to removing barriers of entry to the workforce. Our all-in-one internship management platform simplifies and digitalizes internship programs for employers, enabling organizations to reach talent like they never could before. We make internships accessible to students and prospects around the world. We are globalizing talent.

Behind the Name – We create symbiotic relationships between employers and interns.
That’s why we’re called Symba.

Symba consolidates the functions and costs of various technologies used during an internship. On top of the value our product brings, we are also breaking our own barriers in the workforce as a founding team of five diverse women. We’ve been through our own internship experiences and through the highlights and pain points we’ve directly undergone, we know how to create valuable internship experiences.

So, what’s next? Any big plans?
With Symba, companies will not be limited by only on-premise internships. Companies will be able to scale and expand by creating more internship opportunities for remote work. Students from around the world will be able to contribute to meaningful projects and companies will be able to access the best talent.

Because Symba’s software is all online, we can redesign internships to overcome the geographic and financial barriers. In this way, we plan to scale the internship space to give opportunities to any student with the desire to intern.

Contact Info:

• Address: 15033 E Sunburst Dr.
• Website: http://symba.io/
• Phone: 2102790877
• Email: ahvasadeghi@gmail.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/symba.internships
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/symba_io
• Other: https://www.linkedin.com/company/symba-io/

Getting in touch: VoyagePhoenix is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.