The following articles are part of a series on delegates to the April 26–27 Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship: Award-winning Kuwaiti promotes youth innovation in technology If there is an international event for enhancing youth participation in information technology development, it is likely that Kuwait's Manar Al-Hashash will be there. In March, the Kuwaiti-educated information technology entrepreneur visited the United Nations to participate in the UN Global alliance for Information and Communication Technologies and Development (GAID) meeting series. “The UN invited us to this meeting to place a comprehensive plan for how technology could be used to achieve the Millennium Goals in general, and especially for youth, and to present it to the member states so that it can be endorsed in the General Assembly's next session,” Al-Hashash told the Kuwaiti News Agency (KUNA). The United Nations' Millennium Development Goals are eight objectives ranging from reducing extreme poverty and hunger to achieving gender equality and environmental sustainability to combating diseases like AIDS. Al-Hashash is a trailblazer. In 2006, she was the only woman selected from the Arab world for membership in the UN World Summit on the Information Society, a role she continues as a grand jury member of the World Summit Award board. Al-Hashash is also a member of GAID's panel of advisers and a part of the Bahrain-based Arab eContent Award organization that recognizes achievement in electronic information products. And in 2008, Microsoft chose her as one of the judges for its Imagine Cup, the world's premier student technology competition. Back home in Kuwait, Al-Hashash is known as one of the country's premier information technology entrepreneurs. Her list of business start-up achievements includes Dot Design, a software development company she co-founded and continues as its general manager. She is the founder and publisher of Dot, an information technology magazine with a focus on Kuwait. Al-Hashash was invited by the Obama administration to Washington for the Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship in recognition of her many achievements. One of three Kuwaitis invited to attend the entrepreneurs' summit, Al-Hashash expressed pride during her KUNA interview for being selected to represent her country. The news agency reported she was selected on the basis of a US Embassy report that praised her “tremendous efforts for the promotion of the electronic culture through her participation in volunteer works.” Educating the Kuwaiti public about technology issues through the media is another of Al-Hashash's hallmarks. In addition to Dot magazine, Al-Hashash writes columns about information technology for Kuwait's al-Watan newspaper. Beyond print, she makes regular appearances on Kuwaiti television to discuss technology issues through Compunet World, which is broadcast in Arabic, and Zero Ones, broadcast in English. Qatari entrepreneur leads effort to empower businesswomen Aspiring Qatari businesswomen have a good ally in Buthaina Al-Ansari. Early in her career, the London School of Economics graduate noticed that Qatari women were not rising up the corporate ladder. “I came from the banking sector and saw that women are not leading, but were only reaching middle management levels,” Al-Ansari told America.gov. “I wanted to help move them up to senior level positions.” To achieve this goal, Al-Ansari created Qatariat. A holding company, Qatariat incorporates three distinct firms — Qatariat Training and Development, Qatariat Media and Advertising, and Qatariat Magazine — and is changing the way women do business in Qatar. A member of the Qatari Business Women Forum and the Arab International Women's Forum, Al-Ansari said she faces challenges in advancing the cause of female entrepreneurship in Qatar. “The biggest challenge is not being a woman in Qatar, but convincing others to believe in what local entrepreneurs can do,” Al-Ansari said. Al-Ansari said business training by governments and corporations in Qatar focuses on corporate social responsibility (CSR), rather than on small business needs. Appeals by her organization to international groups for support of business growth often go unanswered, she said. An accomplished executive, Al-Ansari is rooted in the corporate and entrepreneurial worlds. The award-winning businesswoman manages strategic planning at Qatar Telecom and directs the Qatarization development program with al Rayan Investment. But it's her role as founder and chairwoman of Qatariat where Al-Ansari is really making her mark by inspiring and training Qatari entrepreneurs and business professionals. Qatariat Training and Development is where Qatari women obtain the skills to prepare them for business success. Female entrepreneurs and business professionals are selected to receive training in numerous areas including internal auditing, strategic planning and human resources development. Al-Ansari said she needed to find a way to reach women who wanted business training but could not attend workshops. What she came up with was a monthly business magazine, Qatariat. It covers the achievement of businesswomen in Qatar and other Arab countries by focusing on events, social contributions, business challenges and future projects. Like many entrepreneurs going to the summit, Al-Ansari traveled to Washington to acquire new knowledge of business ventures and to network with the aim of improving her business prospects. She is also coming with a message. “I want to show the whole world that Muslim women can do great jobs and be successful all by themselves,” Al-Ansari said. Palestinian youth sees business opportunity in entertaining peers A Palestinian youth who was named “Best Student CEO in the Arab World” a few years ago has her sights set on studying entrepreneurship in the United States in preparation for becoming an independent businesswoman. Considering what she has already accomplished, perhaps she should be teaching entrepreneurship. When 20-year-old Waed Al Taweel was in high school in Ramallah, she started Teen Touch, a company that organized special events, such as birthday parties. al Taweel hired 28 classmates to staff her business that, for example, sent out invitations, rented facilities and arranged for catered food. “We took care of all the arrangements from A to Z. We made all kinds of cakes for children's birthdays and other holidays. We decorated people's houses, schools, buildings and banks in Ramallah at Christmas,” Al Taweel said. After six months in operation, Al Taweel sold her business and distributed profits to investors, as the rules for the INJAZ student entrepreneurship competition required. INJAZ, which means “achievement” in Arabic, is a program launched by Jordan's Queen Rania in 1999 to develop leadership and entrepreneurship skills in young people. The INJAZ program has spread to 11 other Arab countries. Teen Touch won the local INJAZ competition in Ramallah, and then entered the inter-Arab competition in Amman, Jordan, where student entrepreneurs from other countries displayed their businesses. “At the Amman awards ceremony, I was selected the best student CEO [chief executive officer] in the Arab world. My company took the honor of best student company,” Al Taweel said. Al Taweel now is in her second year at Birzeit University in Ramallah, where she studies accounting and business. After completing her degree, Al Taweel hopes to earn an advanced degree in entrepreneurship from a U.S. university. She has already identified her next business venture. She wants to build a recreation and entertainment center for Palestinian youth in the West Bank. “I want it to be a unique gathering place where fun, amusement, laughter and personal growth with friends and family are the primary focus,” Al Taweel said. She envisions that the center will have a bowling alley, a skating rink, a miniature golf course, and a library, with books and magazines from abroad and from within the Palestinian Territories. Such a center is badly needed, she said, because of the grim lives that many Palestinian youths lead. Al Taweel has no illusions about the difficulty in launching the center. __
