Mari Malek – The Fraudulent Gofundme Host, Detrimental to Sudanese Models

• Mari Malek has become detrimental to the growth of Sudanese models in the international market
• Mari Malek is not the owner of Runways to Freedom brand

This is a story of Mari Malek, a Sudanese model who was reportedly engaged in fraudulent and detrimental activities in sourcing for donations online which includes the fraudulent use of Runway to Freedom brand on Gofundme to generate funds, and misrepresentation of Sudanese models in the international market as homeless and suffering models which has resulted in restrictive measures put up against the models in getting visas and jobs.

The story started with Mari Malek trying to be part of the ISIS Models organization (Runway to Freedom™), but the founder – Joan Okorodudu – after confirming her fraudulent intentions, refused her to come on board. Mari Malek’s response to this was to start a campaign using “Runways to Freedom™ brand” without approval from the owner, Joan Okorodudu.

The trail of deceit doesn’t end here. Impact A Village, a known charitable organization, was falsely implicated in partnerships and fundraising schemes, Mari Malek claimed to be in partnership with “Impact A Village” to build the Malek primary school, the founder of “Impact A Village” gave a response of disassociation with her, which means there was no confirmed collaboration or partnership with her. The “Malek Primary School” was built exclusively by Impact A Village.

Runways to Freedom™ has urged Instagram and GoFundMe to take decisive action to prevent further misuse of their platform and protect potential donors. This case highlights the challenges of regulating online fundraising activities and the importance of verifying the legitimacy of charitable campaigns before contributing.

Mari Malek claimed to raise funds to help Kakuma refugees, but the impact of her actions are not helping the refugees, rather its portraying their vulnerabilities and putting them at a disadvantage in the fashion industry in the long run.

And the monies being raised through the Gofundme Campaign are neither truly going to the purpose for the funds, nor was it benefiting any model…
This raises questions about where the donations are truly going.”

The following lines are quoted from conversations between Mari Malek and organizations where she claimed to have partnerships… the screenshots below will confirm their sources and authenticity.

“Dear Hope for Humanity,

We discovered that Mari Malek has been using our name for her GoFundMe campaign without our consent. No funds have reached us, no agreement exists.”

Hope for Humanity

Lisa Wade of Impact A Village reaches out to Mari Malek directly, seeking clarity and setting boundaries.”

“We never gave permission for fundraising in our name. This revelation is as shocking to us as it is to you.”

Our projects aim at global improvement, not solely South Sudan. The Malek school project is on hold due to regional instability. We must deny your funding request and insist you remove any false claims of partnership from your materials.”

Lisa Wade

“Mari,

You must remove any reference to Impact A Village in conjunction with the Malek Primary School from your documents immediately. We are not collaborating, and we do not support this misrepresentation.”

Lisa Wade

The overall actions of Mari Malek has made it harder for Sudanese models in the international market, as it becoming more difficult to get visas for the models.

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