George Arakel (1987) is a social entrepreneur of Armenian descent with a strong commitment to ethnic diversity. He is the founder of the platform Voorbeeld Allochtoon, author of the book Persoonlijk succes is een keuze, theatre maker and speaker. In 2013, he was included by the Ministry of Social Affairs in the book Bonding and Bridging as one of 12 success stories, and in 2014 he was named among the top 100 most influential people of immigrant background in the Netherlands.
Life Story
George Arakel came to the Netherlands with his sister and mother as a refugee in 1997. He spent more than three years in asylum seeker centres. After receiving a residence permit and moving to a village near Groningen, he soon experienced racism. A group of 15 Dutch locals attacked him in his schoolyard. From that moment on, he turned against Dutch people and became involved in street life. Fights and criminal activities became his new routine alongside his new friends of immigrant backgrounds. He struggled to find his place both at school and in society. He was expelled from school and had to appear in court at the age of eighteen.
That became a turning point in his life. He decided to leave his street life behind and make something of his life. He learned to turn hatred into love and use his experiences to make a positive contribution to society. In 2012, he founded the platform Voorbeeld Allochtoon, a counterintuitive solution to a social issue based on his own experiences.
From there, things moved quickly. In 2014, he was invited to speak at TEDx about his transformation, his platform and his business. This was followed by collaborations with companies such as YoungCapital, IBM, Omdenken and Google. The fact that he had no diploma and a difficult past did not stop him from starting a business, which has since attracted thousands of followers.
George as a Speaker
George is regularly invited to speak at a wide range of events. When he speaks, he creates connection. He focuses on solutions and maintains a positive tone, with inner strength and love at the heart of his message.
In 2015, his book Persoonlijk succes is een keuze was published, in which he shares the choices he made from the age of eighteen onwards and their positive consequences. George speaks about topics such as success, entrepreneurship and progress, drawing all his knowledge from his personal life lessons. Since 2017, he has performed a nationwide theatre show, through which he aims to share the stories of refugees and people from immigrant backgrounds across the Netherlands.
