Farida's Fund

Kristjanson, Farida (nee Farideh Hashemzadeh-Fallah)
February 22, 1926 - March 23, 2011

Farida's Fund supports experiential cross-cultural learning opportunities through Lisle International.

Farida Kristjanson (nee Farideh Hashemzadeh-Fallah, 1926-2011) had her first experience with Lisle in 1950, shortly after arriving in the United States as a foreign student from Iran. At that time, Lisle was organizing summer programs on university campuses; the founders, fondly referred to as Uncle Si and Aunt Edna, brought together foreign and American students to live and work as a cohesive unit, and these unique learning opportunities had a profound impact on Farida and many others who participated.

Over time Lisle expanded its scope, opening its programs to adults of any age and nationality. Working deputations took place all over the world, and Farida participated in as many as she could. She was deeply committed to Lisle as an organization, and to its philosophy as a way of life.

Lisle now gives small grants each year to international projects. The purpose of Farida's Fund is to support ordinary individuals who wish to become more actively involved in one of those projects.

Farida was born in the Turkish-speaking region of northwest Iran, to Iranian Muslim parents who worked with American Presbyterian missionaries in the 1920s. Her mother taught at the American Mission School and her father, after having obtained a degree in agriculture in the U.S. in 1922, helped develop experimental farms and new agricultural techniques throughout Iran.

Farida graduated from the University of Tehran in the 1940s with a degree in education; she taught in Tehran and helped support her family; she then obtained a scholarship for further studies in the United States. In the U.S. she met and married a Canadian of Icelandic decent, and together with their children they lived in Canada, Iran, and Italy, pursuing a common goal of promoting international economic development.

Farida both embodied and embraced cross-cultural interaction and learning experiences; it was her way of life. Farida's Fund supports others who wish to do the same.

Farida's Fund

Lisle broadens global awareness and cultural understanding through world-wide projects which integrate learning with experience