Arab Women Rising

36 Entrepreneurs Making a Difference in the Arab World ARAB WOMEN RISING Nafeesa Syeed Rahilla Zafar Contents Acknowledgments 2 Foreword 3 Introduction 5 Part One 10 Trailblazers: Making It in a Traditional World Jalila Tamallah: A Blossoming Business in Tunisia 11 Maha Al-Farhan: Striking a Balance between 14 Business Success and a Happy Home Rasha Shehada: A Daughter Is Awarded Control of a 20 Family Business Wafa Sayadi: Another Person’s Trash Is Her Business 24 Adela Bint Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud: A Royal 30 Advocate for Women in Saudi Arabia Part Two 37 Tech Entrepreneurs: Finding New Avenues through Technology Yasmine El-Mehairy: The Entrepreneur behind 38 Egypt’s SuperMama Heidi Belal: An Egyptian Entrepreneur’s Mix of Computers 44 and Cookies Hanan Abdel Meguid: Choosing Personal Happiness and 50 Career Success Leila Belkhira Jaber: A CEO Carries on the Business 61 Her Late Brother Founded Lamies El-Hussieny: EgyDroid’s Smart Smartphone Girl 67 Part Three 71 Entrepreneurs: Rebuilding the Arab World Maha Mahgoub: Promoter of Entrepreneurs 72 Nayla Al Khaja: A Filmmaker Seeks Support for the 77 Burgeoning Emirati Movie Industry Rasha Abdel Rahmen: An Entrepreneur Establishes 81 Her T-Shirt Republic Deena Fadel: Her Exercise in Creativity and Entrepreneurship 88 Hiba Jammal: Cooking Up Innovation in the Catering World 93 Loula Zaklama: The Unwitting Pioneer 104 Rana El Chemaitelly: Inspired to Create a Science Education 114 Franchise Part Four 118 Innovators: Reinventing the Middle East Sally Sabry and Doaa Zaki: Behind the Success of Modesty 119 Covers in Egypt Randa Abdou: An Egyptian Marketing Expert Seeking to 125 Rebrand Her Country Esra’a Al Shafei: Using Digital Innovation to Amplify 133 Minority Voices Nadia Wassef: Opening a New Chapter for Arabic Booksellers 141 Ranwa Yehia: Foundation Nudges Youth toward Expression 149 through Digital Means Dana Al Taji: A Designer Who Modernizes Islamic Dress 159 Part Five 165 Leaders: New Ways Forward for the Region Nisreen Shocair: Leading the Reemergence of the 166 Arabic Entertainment Industry Fahda bint Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud: 170 A Royal Legacy for Women’s Education Huda Al Lawati: Breaking Barriers in Private Equity 177 Rama Chakaki: Nurturing Entrepreneurs Is a Heartfelt Mission 181 Contents Yasmin Altwaijri: A Saudi Scientist Tackles Mental Health 188 and Obesity Sadika Keskes: A Tunisian Glass Artist’s Effort Displays 192 Women’s Strength Part Six Social Entrepreneurs: Lending a Helping Hand Asma Mansour: The Social Business 200 Yasmin Helal: Helping Cairo’s Poorest Children Learn 203 Essma Ben Hamida: Bringing Microfinance to Tunisia 209 Maali Alasousi: A Kuwaiti Woman Leading Development 219 Efforts in Yemen Maha Helali: A Mother’s Mission to Build Acceptance for 224 Autism in the Middle East Raghda El Ebrashi: A Social Entrepreneur Offers Jobs and 231 Acceptance for the Poor About the Contributors 238 About Knowledge@Wharton 240 © 2014 by Knowledge@Wharton All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, in any form or by any means, without written permission from the publisher. Company and product names mentioned herein are the trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. Knowledge@Wharton The Wharton School University of Pennsylvania 332 Steinberg Hall-Dietrich Hall Philadelphia, PA 19104 ISBN: 978-1-62921-079-7 The women featured on the Arab Women Rising cover include (clockwise from top left): Yasmine Mehairy; Dana Al Taji; Asma Mansour; Essma Ben Hamida; Hanan Abdel Meguid; Deena Fadel; Jalilah Tamallah; Nisreen Shocair; Rama Chakaki; Randa Abdou; and Maha Mahgoub. Arab Women Rising Acknowledgments We would like to thank all the inspiring women featured in this book for sharing their experiences, insights, and wisdom with others. This project would not have been possible without Nafeesa Syeed and Rahilla Zafar and their tireless efforts in creating the book’s content by reporting from all over the world and on the ground in the Middle East and North Africa. Thanks are also due to Suleman Din and Pankaj Paul, who shepherded this project from the very beginning. —Knowledge@Wharton 2 Foreword One evening in 2008, I decided to protest having to purchase my personal garments from a man, and the “Lingerie Campaign” was born in Saudi Arabia. Three years later, the Saudi authorities announced major plans to tackle women’s unemployment and tens of thousands of jobs opened up. Until 2011, the public workplace in Saudi Arabia was operated entirely by men. The sales and operations of the $10 billion-plus retail sector, from car tires to toys to lingerie, were all run by male salespeople. Women’s participation in the private sector was a meager 1.5%, and the unemployment rate among job seekers was rapidly on the rise. In June 2012, I received a phone call from Arabian Business magazine, informing me that I had been nominated as the third most powerful Arab woman that year for my efforts in campaigning for women’s employment in the retail sector. Women in other Arab countries have driven their cars for decades, mastered various career skills far earlier than we did in Saudi Arabia, and enjoyed different levels of freedom only an Arab would be able to accurately assess. We Arabs are different from one another in many ways. We share language, religion, and often the culture and traditions, all with intricate dissimilarity. Twists in accent, variation in levels of traditionalism and conformity to norms and religion, and of course, lifestyles, fashion, and modes of daily living all define who we are. With that said, it is not surprising that non-Arabs make little distinction among the natives of different Arab countries. However, in a world with a population of 7 billion, massive urbanization, and growing demand on resources, getting to understand each other has become essential to building bridges between nations for better coexistence and peace. A hotly debated and controversial issue in the Arab world is the role of women. In most western literature, we are commonly depicted as submissive, family-focused, financially dependent, and sensual. In 3 Foreword fact, the mainstream media classifies Arab women as either affluent and indulging or battered, weak, and oppressed. In a more connected and well-informed world, it is naïve to label and view millions of women so simplistically and stereotypically, especially when these generalizations shape public opinion (and even policy) against a key part of the world. Media and literature can play a great role in neutralizing these stereotypes. One way to eradicate such stereotypes is through more accurate and apolitical works that reach a wide segment of readers. This important collection from Knowledge@Wharton, Arab Women Rising, aims to provide a closer look into the lives of women from different parts of the Arab World. A fresh and modern-day perspective, it focuses on the stories and lives of a diverse group of professional and accomplished women from Tunisia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and other countries. The aim is to gain insight into how they began their journey and where they are today. Representing an interesting array of fields and domains, these women defy the prevailing image of subjugation and failure. They excel in arts, sciences, medicine, photography, fashion, and technology, among other fields, and were able to compete with their counterparts worldwide. I am thrilled that Knowledge@Wharton contributors Nafeesa Syeed and Rahilla Zafar genuinely hope to break some stereotypes by publishing the real stories of accomplished women, from a variety of backgrounds and social strata. We still don’t know what the future holds. There are still vast areas of empty land in Saudi Arabia, and we women still can’t drive our cars. How things will unfold remains uncertain, but I have strong faith in natural “evolution.” It is the process of progress and growth that is worth documenting and learning from. —Reem Asaad 4 Arab Women Rising Introduction The germ for this book emerged from a 2010 article that appeared in the Arabic section of Knowledge@Wharton, the online business journal of the Wharton School, under the headline “How Women Entrepreneurs Are Driving Business in the Middle East.” It featured women ranging from the founder of an investment bank in Morocco to the organizer of an entrepreneurship center in Qatar. The article was very popular among Knowledge@Wharton readers, which prompted us to ask, who else was out there? Then came the Arab Spring. New possibilities appeared to open up for women’s participation in social and political spheres as well. Against this backdrop, we set out at the end of 2011 to begin documenting the experiences of Arab women entrepreneurs. But first we had to ask: what, or who, is an entrepreneur? Experts gave us myriad definitions. Some said any person starting a moneymaking venture, from a stall on the road to a tech firm, is an entrepreneur. Others added that entrepreneurs could also include those who unveil a new product or service into their respective markets. Yet another camp insisted that an entrepreneur could also be someone who introduced a sustainable method of social change whose impact could be measured. In the end, it became clear that entrepreneurs are both innovators and initiators. We sought out women who possessed these qualities as they pushed the definition of entrepreneurship to new frontiers in their diverse fields. We had to be mindful of the context. We were not so much chronicling a new phenomenon as capturing the latest phase in a long- running tradition. There are historical accounts of businesswomen and female leaders in Arab lands dating back more than a millennium. Moreover, many Arab countries have strong women’s movements that have worked for decades on issues such as legal rights and literacy.

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