Last June, the US president announced in his celebrated “New Beginning” speech in Cairo that Washington would host a “Summit on Entrepreneurship” to identify how to strengthen ties between business leaders, organizations and social entrepreneurs in the US and Muslim countries and communities around the world.
The summit will cover topics such as entrepreneurial success stories, businesswomen, young entrepreneurs, the culture of entrepreneurship and the roles of technology and capital in successful businesses.
Delegates have been selected to represent their home countries, regions and communities. They include existing successful entrepreneurs, investors, academics and leaders of business networks, charities and organizations invested in promoting business or social entrepreneurship in Muslim societies.
The four women — Maria Al-Mahdaly, Lamees Al-Mufti, Norah Al-Maghrabi and Muna Alamer — are all students at Dar Al-Hekma College (DAH) in Jeddah.
Al-Mahdaly, a graphics designing student at Dar Al-Hekma, was named by the US-based Entrepreneurs’ Organization as one of top 30 student entrepreneurs in the world.
She was invited by the US Ambassador James B. Smith to attend the summit.
Al-Mahdaly is general manager of Fainak, which focuses on developing a socially responsible youth culture through events, its interactive website and a magazine.
Al-Mufti accidentally came across the summit’s application while browsing the Web and so she applied. The application was full of questions about the applicant, most importantly, their accomplishments.
Al-Mufti is the founder and CEO of Be the Change, a small home-based business that improves the capabilities and morals of youth through inspirational quotes on T-shirts and notebooks.
“I believe the reason why they chose me is that they were looking not only for youth, but activists, and I had been fortunate enough to represent my college and country in several events and conferences globally.”
Alamer is a management information system student at DAH who heads both the Recycling Club and the Model United Club at the college.
“I was chosen because I showed them I’m not a regular student. I’m juggling a full schedule of classes along with managing two clubs and a lot of charity work,” she said.
Al-Maghrabi is a nursing student at DAH who identified the need to establish a social environmental enterprise that focuses on promoting recycling within the Saudi community. So she founded a recycling club at the college. During her college years, she was heavily involved with community service and received the “Dar Al-Hekma Student award for social responsibility” for more than 1400 community service hours.
“I want to devote my time and energy to make Saudi Arabia a better and healthier place to live in and to integrate Islamic teachings about saving the earth into our daily lifestyles,” Al-Maghrabi said.
