At Geekettes, our team and community speak dozens of languages, span multiple countries and time zones. We are a diverse organization that aims to connect with women in technology across different cultures, personalities, backgrounds, religions, abilities, belief systems and so much more.
Geekettes has always taken active steps to bring the technology world closer together and to make it more inclusive. Over the 9+ years, we know that we’ve only scratched the surface in understanding what it takes to transform this industry and elevate women in their tech careers. In the process of growing Geekettes, we came across an opportunity to meet leaders from Gaza via the Gaza Sky Geeks accelerator program formerly led by Iliana Montauk.
Gaza Sky Geeks ended up supporting us with great space and introduced us to two extraordinary women Mai Temraz and Wafaa Bardawil (would later become our very own Gaza Geekettes ambassadors). They did a fantastic job in leading a new chapter for our global org and taught us a lot in our journey to support women from different regions of the world. Nearly a decade later, I can now reflect and have a deeper appreciation for the experiences that led me to meet these pioneers from Gaza. Thank you to my Berlin mentor, Zoe Adamovicz for connecting us to these amazing leaders in the Middle East, none of this would have happened without your warm introduction. You’re always moving mountains for others.
Today Mai and Iliana work on Manara, a social impact startup funded by Y Combinator, Reid Hoffman, Jessica Livingston, and other top investors. Their mission is to untap the full potential of talent in the Middle East & North Africa (MENA), with a focus on women computer scientists. In Palestine 52% of computer science students in university are women, but 83% of them are unemployed. Manara inspires & prepares them to apply to top global tech jobs, including companies like Google, Meta, and Amazon. (Manara is doubling the size of its team in the next 6 months and it’s remote-friendly, so if you have similar passions, check out their careers page.)
Wafaa is now based in Dubai and has launched a large community Facebook/Meta Group ملتقى سيدات المشاريع الصغيرة that supports 14K+ young entrepreneurs in the Middle East. “This community brings women together to support them, helps them share their projects with each other, share questions, ideas, and market their projects to the world. I love mentoring these women in marketing and amplifying their work.” - Wafaa
Major Milestones
Next Generation (VEIP Program)
Over the past few months, I’ve been busy supporting the Virtual Entrepreneurial Immersion Program (VEIP) for young professionals in Gaza, Palestine, a program funded by the U.S. State Department and designed and implemented by Legacy International in partnership with Amideast. The program focuses on sustainable social impact ventures, building, training, and supporting a network of emerging entrepreneurs and young professionals in Gaza, Palestine. I mentored two women-led startups that have a focus on disrupting ineffective systems and filling critically-needed gaps in the Gazan context.
It was a pleasure to mentor Venus Women’s Joy space co-founded by Deema Abu-Nijela, Ne’ma Sabra, Shima Abu-Seria, and Sally El-Hato. Deema studied English at the University of Gaza, Sally studied English literature at Al Azhar University, and Ne’ma studied applied sciences with a focus on Anesthesia and Resuscitation at the University College of Applied Science. They come from incredible backgrounds and have a keen interest in supporting their society - specifically supporting women who do not have the same opportunities to be open and to express themselves freely. They strive to build a space that allows women to be more creative since these spaces do not currently exist outside of their homes. Nearly all women wear hijab, and there are very strict cultural norms in Gaza. Their top line goal is to create a space for women to be joyous and connect with other women. This is a space that allows them to remove their hijabs and wear what they want, free from judgement, sexual harassment, responsibilities at home raising their children. Venus Women’s Joy space provides a place for fun, creative expression, exploration, wellness activities, fitness, and so much more. I truly hope to visit this space someday!
Beautiful Collage the Venus Women’s Joy team created! (I will miss our sessions together)
“I wanted to create something for myself, set my own rules, create a friendly environment and work in a place of joy and peace.” In 2021, I learned that due to the circumstances of COVID19, life can be challenging and it doesn’t stop for anything. We have to keep pushing forward and make use of every second to develop ourselves.” - Sally.
The second startup I mentored focuses on a mother’s pregnancy & birthing training founded by Aya, a young new mother based in Gaza. She studied English literature at the University of Al-Aqsa and hopes to launch her own business in the near future. Aya's company helps address the critical lack of and need for high quality and accessible information to support women during pregnancy and birthing. Important statistics: 25% of pregnant women in Gaza are at risk for death during childbirth and require specialized health care during pregnancy. Factors include weakened primary health care, stock outs of essential drugs/disposables, lack of access to family planning services and essential education. I should also note the shortage of healthcare facilities also result in the discharge of babies and moms just 2-3 hours after delivery. Additionally, cultural norms also result in a higher rate of adolescent pregnancies among girls between the ages of 15-19 years old (much higher than other Palestinian territories). This space needs a lot of attention and I believe Aya and others will come up with new solutions in the near future.
Aya is up against a lot of challenges but has the determination and resilience to push forward. When she’s not busy building her startup, she’s teaching her brothers, sisters and fellow students in her community. Aya’s mother is her true role model that gives her strength. “She is always positive. Imagine a world such as this one, always so positive and amazing. She is so kind and I really love her and she is my role model. When she smiles, she smiles for you.”
“Life is not easy but we need to keep fighting and make it easier and creating new opportunities. We all need to use our time wisely because we don’t do a lot of things that we want to do” - Aya
As a collective, we deep dived into weekly sessions and discussed customer segments/pains/needs, developed a marketing strategy, business plans, fundraising and growth/exit strategies. We learned so much from one another and I felt a deep connection with these women despite being thousands of miles away. I was excited to see the start of their entrepreneurial journeys and the impact they will have on many women’s lives in Gaza, and the greater Middle East. It once again reminded me of why we need to continue supporting each other. Solidarity is everything. If we can continue to bring talented women together and share their stories, hopefully it will inspire the next generation of female leaders.
“I learned that I need to invest time into myself. I need to prioritize how to improve myself via reading, writing, knowing what is good for me and what can truly help my community. The VEIP program taught us that you need to have a network, reach out to many people around you and be aware of entrepreneurship opportunities. We also learned how to develop a biz idea, organize and how to market it better.” - Deema
“At VEIP I learned how to take risks, try testing some of our ideas, leveraging the business model canvas and learning how to market our projects and finance some of them too.” -Ne’ma
With a growing population of youth in Gaza and high unemployment rates, we might see a spike in entrepreneurship out of necessity and opportunity. Many younger folks have access to technology and have big ideas but they need capital and that's where the rest of the world can help out. Some people would argue that places like Gaza have too much political instability and the risk is high for investment. But what I see is a huge opportunity and a place to find bold founders. They must be brave to deal with the gaps in investment but also manage daily political and economic hurdles. Even in major times of uncertainty (COVID pandemic), the Geekettes team sees a huge opportunity in many parts of the world. With the right density of talent, creativity, connectivity, capital and the belief you can build, anything is possible.
It’s clear that a major entrepreneurial shift is taking place in the Middle East and the startup ecosystem has grown exponentially over the years. I’m particularly happy to see women at the helm of building startups and I hope they secure funding and more support as they grow their businesses. Today there are many successful startups and we’re seeing more founders across the region building digital solutions for local problems.
There is still so much we can do to support our fellow Geekettes both in Gaza and worldwide. I encourage everyone in our community to keep mentoring and supporting each other as we move forward in these challenging times. I’m excited to see what Deema, Ne’ma, Shaima, Sally, and Aya will build in 2022 and I hope they will continue to help other women build a stronger network of global mentors, advisors, investors and fellow peers within the startup ecosystem. Thank you to Katie Curiel, Jason Scott, Iliana Mountauk, Mai Temraz, Wafaa Bardawil and Zoe Adamovicz for continuing to pave the way for others and bringing our worlds closer together.
I’m rooting for you Gaza Geekettes!
Cheers to 2022 and beyond,
Jess Erickson (Founder & CEO of Geekettes)
