(DLM) Project-Based Learning Health Program

Meet Dina Hawthorne, Co-Founder and President of the Elijah-Alavi Foundation.

Dina is our fierce, action-oriented, solution-based President. Even as the Elijah Law continues to travel across this country, saving the lives of other children, she still feels that more needs to be done. She believes a law needs to be enforced to be effective. Transforming her grief once again into purpose, she dedicated her life to protecting children and then decided to use her background in education to support the bill.

Dina created the Different Like Me (DLM) Project-Based Learning Health Program. The projects are designed to encourage storytelling, classroom engagement, and interactive learning as a way for Pre-K through 8th-grade educators and child care center educators to teach about food allergies, inclusion, empathy, and acceptance, and for students and staff to learn about them. DLM helps students understand and support peers with food allergies and other differences, fostering safer and more compassionate school communities.

Together, Elijah’s Law and Different Like Me represent a comprehensive approach to protecting children by combining policy, education, awareness, and inclusion. Dina’s work is helping create a future where children with food allergies are not only safer but also understood, respected, and empowered to thrive.

Through her leadership and unwavering commitment, Dina continues to ensure a safe learning and developing environment for all children and families across the country.

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