The Arab World Social Innovation Forum - AWSIF

Dr. El Said is the current Minister of Planning, Monitoring and Administrative Reform. Previously, she was the Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Political Science at Cairo University. She also served as an Advisor to the Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt and Executive Director of the Egyptian Banking Institute. She is also a member of the board of directors of several financial and banking institutions including EBI, the Central Bank of Egypt, and Egypt’s National Post Authority. She is a member of the board of trustees of the Anti-Money Laundering Unit at the Central Bank of Egypt, and has previously served as a board member of the Arab African International Bank.

Dr. Al-Mashat, is Egypt’s current Minister of Tourism, and the first woman to hold this position since the ministry was established more than five decades ago. As a leading expert in monetary policy and international economics, Al Mashat has worked with prominent financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), where she served as advisor to its chief economist, Professor Maurice Obstfeld, and senior economist. She also played a key role in working to modernize and develop the Central Bank of Egypt as assistant sub-governor and head of its Monetary Policy Department.

Her Excellency Dr. Aurelia Frick (*1975) has been a member of the Government of the Principality of Liechtenstein and the country’s Foreign Minister since 2009. Since March 30, 2017 she has been serving as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Justice, and Culture. Minister Frick studied law at the University of Fribourg and completed her PhD in 2005 at the University of Basel, both in Switzerland. In 2004, she was admitted to the bar in the canton of Zurich. Prior to joining the government, Minister Frick worked for various law firms in Zurich and London. In addition, she was an independent management consultant and part-time lecturer at the University of Liechtenstein.

For over 40 years, Roy has demonstrated the power and impact of the grassroots community movement and the need for social entrepreneurs to be social activists first. Influenced by Gandhi’s approach to self-reliance at the village level, the Barefoot College has taught practical skills, including solar engineering, architecture, and water purification, to approximately 1 million illiterate men and women in over 100 countries. Upon completion of their six-month educational program at the Barefoot College, students bring their newly attained skills home to their villages, where they help improve local living standards.

Dr. Iskandar was the Minister of State for Urban Renewal and Informal Settlements in Egypt from 2014 to 2015, and previously served as Minister of State for Environmental Affairs in the two cabinets following the June 30th Revolution. Prior to holding public office, she was a leading member of civil society both nationally and internationally, working with grassroots communities in informal urban settlements and deprived villages in Upper Egypt. 

Ayman Ismail is the Abdul Latif Jameel Endowed Chair of Entrepreneurship and assistant professor at The American University in Cairo’s School of Business, as well as the founder and director of the AUC Venture Lab.

Ayman is a former research fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Kennedy School of Government in Harvard University.

He received his PhD in international economic development from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

El Beih expanded Drosos support for entrepreneurship, economic empowerment and creativity for youth. Her previous roles include UNICEF Chief of Global Fund Management in Somalia; UNAIDS Country Director in Egypt; Programme Manager with Care International; and Senior Research Analyst with Abt Associates. El Beih is a medical doctor with a master’s degree in Health Systems Management, and has 20 years of experience managing development in the MENA region and the US.

Jared is a multi-disciplinary development finance specialist currently leading the design of the Education Outcomes Fund for Africa and the Middle East. His previous experience spanned across a range of corporate and non-profit roles with organizations such as Bain & Company, Goldman Sachs, The UK National Advisory Board on Impact Investing and the Clinton Health Access Initiative. Jared studied Finance and Actuarial Studies at the Australian National University.

Rana Ghandour Salhab is a member of the regional Executive Committee at Deloitte in the Middle East. She also previously served as an elected member of its board of directors. She led a Deloitte collaboration with a global NGO, to create an entrepreneurship curriculum for Arab high school and university students. In 2017 and 2018, Rana was ranked amongst the top “Global Champions of Women in Business” lists by the Financial Times and HERoes in the UK.

Through national campaigns, community leadership, and health advocacy, Morgan and co-founder Vanessa Garrison mobilize Black women to be changemakers simply by walking. GirlTrek aims to rally 1 million Black women to attain better health by 2020 and reclaim the streets of the highest-need communities in the US. Dixon previously served as Director of Leadership Development for Achievement First and directing the start-up of six public schools in New York.

Sunyoung “Sonia” Park leads Ashoka’s Global Venture team, focusing on growing and innovating the search and selection of new Ashoka Fellows around the world. = Park launched Ashoka in South Korea and helped lead Ashoka’s global task force for executive recruiting. Earlier in her career, Park taught students of foreign affairs and worked as a trade policy analyst with the Korean Embassy in Washington, DC. She has a BA in International Studies from Johns Hopkins University, and a graduate degree in Middle East Studies from AUC.

Hasina Kharbhih is the Founder and Managing Director of Impulse Social Enterprises and Founder Chair of Board of Impulse NGO Network. For 30 years now, she has been working to provide sustainable livelihood in a safe environment for women and children. What started out as a mission in her home state of Meghalaya, has today evolved into a global program that aims to put an end to human trafficking and exploitation worldwide. She is a trainer, Motivational Speaker, Writer and Poet, and published many books, and articles.

Leila Ben-Gacem is an Ashoka Fellow, socio-cultural entrepreneur that designs and implements projects which improve the socio-economic dynamic of heritage, culture and crafts through Blue Fish. Leila also founded Dar el Harka, a creative industry hub and Dar Ben Gacem, Boutique Hotel and cultural catalyst in the medina of Tunis. Leila is also an elected city council member at her native town of Beni-Khalled. Before switching careers, Leila held various positions at multinational corporations and has a BS in Biomedical Engineering.

Dr. Edit Schlaffer, social scientist and trained psychoanalyst, founded WwB in 2001 with a view of building up the competence and confidence of women to effect positive social change in marginalized and neglected communities across the world. As an academic, she published Austria’s first study on domestic violence, became a leading authority on female empowerment as the head of an influential Austrian think-tank, and published numerous bestsellers on in-depth sociological studies.

Arbind is empowering informal workers by developing new laws, polices and programs and securing their access to markets, financial services and technology. He is an Eisenhower Fellow and has been awarded Social Entrepreneur of the Year by the Schwab Foundation. He was also awarded at the first innovation forum set up by the Govt of Bihar in 2007. In 2012, he was given the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship. He holds a Bachelor and Master’s degree in Sociology from the Delhi University.

Adnane Addioui is a social commentator, social entrepreneur and disruptive thinker committed to enabling creative thinking, entrepreneurship and innovation for the common good in the MENA region. He is the former country Country Director for Enactus Morocco, a World Bank-IMF Fellow, a United Nations Foundation Social Good Advisor, and a member of the Junior Chamber International. He has founded a number of programs focused on startup incubation and acceleration.

For over 30 years, Dr. Heineke has been pursuing his mission to mitigate social gaps and foster empathy through exhibitions, the most popular of which is Dialogue in the Dark. His company Dialogue Social Enterprise operates globally and reaches out to 800,000 people annually. He has received various international awards and is a Global Fellow of the World Economic Forum. He holds a PhD in philosophy and is an honorary professor of social business at the European Business School in Germany.

Brittany has run several major programs for the Skoll Foundation since 2006, including the Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship. She currently oversees Skoll’s Portfolio Intelligence program, a collaborative platform that allows the Foundation to develop insights and share learning on the impact of its awardees. She is passionate about building partnerships to drive more diverse, equitable, and inclusive practices in philanthropy to support underrepresented leaders on their path to scale.

Nick is the Director of TrustLaw, the world’s largest legal pro bono service and a programme of the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Prior to becoming Director of the service, he spent nearly four years in Johannesburg spearheading the Foundation’s activities across Africa as Head of African Programmes. Nick has a special focus on social innovation and the social economy and designed and leads TrustLaw’s Social Enterprise and Impact Investing legal training courses.

Mariam Farag is leading the CSR program at MBC Group, responsible for driving its corporate responsibility vision and strategy in the region. Prior to joining MBC Group, Farag managed Partnerships & CSR for the Community Development Authority of the Dubai Government, where she focused on building strategic partnerships between the private and public sectors, spreading CSR awareness and maximizing impact in Dubai.

Samar is one of the pioneers of drama and theatre in education in Jordan and a lifelong cultural activist. In 2006, she founded the youth empowering initiative Takween Open Spaces in Jordan and has developed several innovative and multi-disciplinary initiatives that integrate education, development and the arts. She graduated from Santa Clara University with a degree in theater arts and previously served as an Amman city council member. She is a founding board member of Al Ballad Theater and Muktama for Education Development as well as a founding member of Mujtama3i.

Dr. Hourani is the founding CEO of the educational platform for9a.com and Souq Fann. He also established the new and creative qualitative research methodology FADFED and is the creator of Diwanieh Debates. He has received the Takreem prestigious Award for the “Young Entrepreneur” category in 2018, the King Abdullah II Demoqrati award in 2014 and EUROMED youth award in 2013. He was also elected as the Jordanian Role Model of 2011 and received the Jordanian title “Knight of Change” in 2008.

Dr. Hande is the co-founder of SELCO, a social venture to eradicate poverty by promoting sustainable technologies in rural India, and the implementer of several REEEP-funded projects. He has created a social enterprise that places this population at the center of the business – from product design to financing mechanisms to ongoing service and maintenance – to successfully overcome hurdles that underserved populations face.

Kara Andrade is a researcher, journalist and entrepreneur who focuses on Latin America, media, technology and society. As co-founder of HablaCentro Informatics NFP and LLC, she created a network of citizen journalism and information sharing hubs in Latin America that shared reliable and timely updates from the ground during crisis. Her work focuses on the adoption and implementation of innovations to solve common democracy problems.

Maysoun set up and managed the first-ever English Radio Station in the region, 93.6 RAM FM, with studios in Jerusalem and Ramallah. In August 2009 and with the partnership of the Swiss based Womanity Foundation headed by Swiss businessman Yann Borgstedt, Maysoun set up Nisaa Fm, the pioneering all-women’s radio station in the region, and today she heads the operation.

Katherine Milligan was the Director and Head of the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship from 2012 – 2018. She received her B.A. from Dartmouth College and her Master’s in Public Policy from the Kennedy School of Government, where she was the recipient of the Pforzheimer Scholarship for Excellence in Nonprofit Management.

Zeinab works on fighting for agricultural and environmental issues and women farmers’ rights, empowering them starting from Jordan to Arab countries then third world countries. She is the president of the Specific Union for productive Farmer Women in Jordan; President of the Arab Farmer network Arrinina; a member of the Jordanian Farmer Union, the World Farmer Organization, and the committee on climate change and food security in the World Union; and board member of the Center for Agricultural Research and Extension.

Tamer founded the Arab world’s CrowdSolving platform, where local artisans, factories, entrepreneurs, NGOs and governmental entities feature their challenges and innovators are incentivized to come up with affordable and market-oriented solutions. He has more than eight years of consulting experience in the field of innovation policy and collaborative economy. He has consulted in nine countries for national and international organizations such as the World Bank, UNDP, UNIDO, he Islamic Development Bank, GIZ, and EIB.

Salem Massalha is the co-founder of Clickfunding, an innovation that enables causes to raise funds and awareness through social media interactions. The Clickfunding model was able to reach approximately 36,000 beneficiaries through more than 13 million social media users. Salem is a social entrepreneur with longstanding experience in the field of development.

Fida worked with community NGOs for 17 years. She has launched more than 65 initiatives and through her Palestinian Center for Communication and Development Strategies and Iradah, the first businesswomen incubator in Palestine, she participated in implementing more than 70 development projects. Her work focuses on empowering women economically, socially and politically.

Amina Evangelista Swanepoel is the Founding Executive Director of Roots of Health and the local administrative arm of Ugat ng Kalusugan, a reproductive health organization in the Philippines. She is a member of the Provincial Family Health Council of the Province of Palawan, and of the Puerto Princesa City Maternal Death Surveillance and Response Council. She is a Philippines Ashoka Fellow, a past Vital Voices Lead and Global Ambassadors Fellow, and an Asia Society Asia 21 Young Leader.

Professor of Neurosurgery, and a fellow at the Royal College of Surgeons of England, Dr. Amr holds a Healthcare Management Diploma, a Financial Certificate from the Egyptian Financial Institute, and finished the Stanford Endeavor Leadership Program in scaling fast growth companies in global markets from Stanford University Graduate School of Business. He founded one of the largest medical provider networks and founded “Smart Medical Services” a tech-based Healthcare Management company in 2010.

Dr. Dhaif is an oral and dental surgeon and human rights activist. She is the current chairperson of Bahrain Rehabilitation & Anti Violence Organization (BRAVO), a non-profit charity that aims to rehabilitate and treat Bahrain’s victims of torture and violence. It is also a member of CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation, which includes over 270 organizations. Dr. Dhaif has lectured in some of the most prestigious universities, such as Regent University and Oxford University.

Farahat is a co-founder and current general manager of Nafham, an online educational resource designed to align with and compliment public school curriculum. With billions of dollars spent on private tutors throughout the Arab world every year, it was clear to Mostafa that schools alone are unable to help students reach their full educational potential. Mostafa created Nafham as a website to host professionally reviewed, crowd-sourced instructional videos on a variety of topics, ranging from five to 20 minutes long. Videos are sorted by subject, grade, and term, making the website easily navigable, student-friendly, and ultimately more useful. After starting with content for curricula in Egypt, Nafham now also has content for Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Algeria, and Syria and reaches about 700,000 users each month.

Al Mahmoud is the Strategy and Partnerships Manager of the Sharjah Entrepreneurship Center, “Sheraa,” a government entity – chaired by Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi – that aims to develop the entrepreneurship ecosystem in the UAE and create the next wave of entrepreneurs. In her role, Al Mahmoud oversees the formulation and implementation of Sheraa’s strategy. Al Mahmoud is also in charge of cultivating and managing Sheraa’s network of key stakeholders in both the government and the private sector.

Dr. Fikry is the Founder and CEO of Almentor FZCO. Almentor FZCO is a Dubai-based free zone company that owns and manages almentor.net, the leading B2C and B2B cutting-edge video-based digital learning platform directed to Arabs around the world. Before establishing Almentor FZCO in 2016 with his cofounders, Dr. Fikry had 23 years of multinational experience leading positions with blue chips such as ExxonMobil.

Mahdi is an educator, social entrepreneur, and the founder of The Mawada Project (TMP), an organization based in Dubai that creates opportunities for community engagement, social responsibility, and life-skills development. In addition, Mahdi’s background is in education consulting, training, facilitation, and educational program design.

Abu Elgheit is an entrepreneur at heart and an engineer by profession. Since 2010, he has engaged with more than 17 international and local communities, founded three startups, and was honored by Egypt’s Minister of Trade and Industry. Abu Elgheit was the first-place winner at Startup Weekend Cairo’16 and recognized as the best Community Builder at Global Entrepreneurship Week Egypt’18.

Aboulhassan is the founder of MaterialSolved, an awardwinning startup that eases visual scientific communication. Previously, Aboulhassan was the project manager and founding team member of the VISTA project in Bibliotheca Alexandrina. The project is the first-of-its-kind CAVE system in the Arab world serving researchers and architects.

Mansi co-founded training and consultancy firms in Egypt and the UAE. He managed several organizational development projects, utilizing the Lean Six Sigma model. Apart from heading the Youth Committee at Alexandria Business Association, which trained young entrepreneurs, Mansi supported the entrepreneurial movement in Alexandria by collaborating with international programs featuring the USAID, among others, and enabling local startups’ access to finance.

Kafafy is the Founder of Agrona, a start-up offering new processing technologies in manufacturing particleboards, recycling agricultural waste to produce high-quality wood at convenient prices. By recycling agricultural waste, Agrona tremendously contributes to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Through its products, Agrona aims to reduce carbon emissions and forest-cutting in Europe, while simultaneously providing decent jobs for both youth and women in rural communities.

El Hamaky is a computer engineer and Founder of Mama fl Shoghl. Her initiative is aimed at raising awareness of working mothers about their rights at work. After researching labor laws for women, she shared her findings via Facebook in simple terms for the community to understand. El Hamaky also supports women in balancing time between work and home, encouraging them to focus on their talents.