Noori Barka, 70, is founder of the biotechnology company Calbiotech, the Chaldean Community Council and the charter school Kidinnu Academy, all in El Cajon. In 2014, he helped launch Hope for Iraqi Christians in response to attacks from the Islamic State on northern Iraq Christian villages, including the one where he was born. The nonprofit has raised millions of dollars to help Iraqi citizens through its adopt-a-family program. As part of Hope for Iraqi Christians, the Kids-to-Kids project has brought thousands of toys and other gifts to children in the villages over the past six years. The Chaldean Community Council was launched in 2017 to provide various services to immigrants in El Cajon. The council is the only tenant in a city-owned building that includes an incubator to help small businesses in El Cajon. Barka recently sat down for a chat with The San Diego Union-Tribune. Q: Where are you from originally? A: I was born in Tel Skuf (a village in Northern Iraq). When I was like 10, we moved to Baghdad. There were more opportunities for jobs in Baghdad than in a village, and my dad found a job in Baghdad, so we decided to move to the capital. He was a driver. Q: When did you leave Baghdad? A: I left Iraq 1980. I studied in Belgium, where I did my Ph.D. in diagnostic immunology, which is basically to diagnose diseases. That’s my specialty. Q: What brought you to the United States? A: I was invited by a company in Santa Monica that saw my research, my published work, to join their team in 1986. I worked in Santa Monica for a company called Specialty Lab Rotaries for 12 years, and then I moved to San Diego and started my company. Q: What brought you to El Cajon? A: We have a lot of family here. My wife’s family. Besides my immediate family, I had my brothers and sisters. I had two brothers. They both passed away. I have only two sisters left and the rest passed away. I was the youngest. Q: What’s the name of your company? A: Calbiotech. I’m the founder. I started the company in 1998, and I sold it in 2017. I stayed with them for three years. But then they didn’t know how to manage it. In 2022, we bought it back. My son is kind of now in charge of the company. Q: When and why did you start the Chaldean Community Council? A: I started the CCC in 2017 because I wanted to educate our people. I want to help to assimilate them. I want to make sure they are good citizens. When you have a lot of people coming here as refugees, they need support. They need help. They need programs. They come from a different culture and situation. They need help with applying for school. They need help with the social services. They need help with finding a job. So all of that is done here. Q: How many people from the Middle East are in El Cajon? A: We have around 40,000 in El Cajon. Around 30,000 are Chaldean. Q: What was your role in starting Kidinnu Academy, the dual-language elementary and middle school in El Cajon? A: I saw there is a need. I saw the level of education in El Cajon was not really what we look for. So we decided to start our own charter school. The nice thing about a charter school is we’re a district ourselves. So I am the superintendent of the school, for example. And I have a board and we hire teachers. So we run it our way. Basically, we pay more attention to kids and family because we know their specific need. We know our culture. Q: You came to the United States after being recruited to work in a job. Do you feel motivated to help other immigrants who came as refugees or under other circumstances? A: One hundred percent. That was my motivation since I moved here. I’ve been very much involved with our community. I took the mission to help these people. And I have teams. I was blessed having good people around me.