Ambassador Melanne Verveer Visits the TYO Center

Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues Melanne Verveer visited the TYO Center in Nablus on Wednesday, April 20, 2010. Her time at TYO Nablus included a working breakfast with the Fostering Women Entrepreneurs in Nablus (FWEN) participants and its steering committee members,  TYO’s Spring 2011 International Interns and TYO staff as well as an informative tour of the TYO Nablus Center and its programming.

Ambassador Verveer gave remarks at the working breakfast that spoke to the importance of innovation in unlocking the great potential of female leaders within their own communities. TYO’s female entrepreneurs shared their business plans as well as the successes and challenges they encountered over the last year during which many of them successfully launched their businesses. Each FWEN participant received personalized feedback and encouragement from Ambassador Verveer. The four Spring 2011 Interns also introduced themselves and their work at TYO highlighting the overwhelming hospitality they’ve experienced since their arrival and the importance of intercultural exchange and direct engagement between American and Middle Eastern communities.

Ambassador Verveer toured the TYO Center with several TYO staff members and had an opportunity to speak to women serving as volunteers in our MEPI literacy project, university students volunteering in our Core Program classes and our Core Program teachers.

TYO was honored to be on Ambassador Verveer’s itinerary during her three-day trip to the West Bank, Jerusalem and Israel, in which she met with government leaders, civil society leaders and non-government organizations to highlight the work they are doing to promote women’s empowerment.

More photos are on Facebook here and here!

FWEN Participant Opens Restaurant in Nablus

Along the sidewalk of An Najah Street, FWEN Participant Nehaya in the company of family and friends, unveiled the sign to her new restaurant, “Matbakh Beit Al-Eleeyah.” While the official grand opening is set for Saturday, March 26, 2011, Nehaya took the opportunity thank all those that supported her throughout the last year, including her friend and fellow FWEN participant Sahar, who designed the new sign.

Nehaya’s restaurant will provide traditional Palestinian food to university students interested in a home-cooked meal in place of more typical student foods such as fast food. As a student at An-Najah University (she graduated in 2007 with a degree in biotechnology), Nehaya noticed a problem that is universal to students around the world: Because they live far away from their families while at school, many students miss home-cooked meals and crave “comfort food.” Though her participation in the FWEN project, Nehaya acquired the leadership and business skills necessary to turn her idea into a reality.

ABOUT FWEN: During the Fifth Annual Clinton Global Initiative (New York, September 2009), the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women and Tomorrow’s Youth Organization (TYO) committed to contribute to women’s economic empowerment in Nablus. The project, Fostering Women Entrepreneurs in Nablus, is now underway at the TYO Center in Nablus and at a satellite location in Lebanon.

FWEN Video: Nehaya Shares Her Training Experience in Cairo

FWEN Participant Nehaya received an enormous opportunity when she was selected to participate in the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women “Women Entrepreneurs and Leadership” Certificate Program at the American University of Cairo. Along with other female entrepreneurs from Egypt, Jordan, and Palestine, Nehaya participated in this five-week training program to gain in-depth knowledge in operations management, finance, and human resources, among many other topics. Watch this video to hear Nehaya talk about her favorite parts of the 10,000 Women training and what she gained from the experience.

The Fostering Women Entrepreneurs in Nablus (FWEN) program is co-sponsored by Tomorrow’s Youth Organization (TYO) and the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, with support from the Small Enterprise Center in Ramallah.

FWEN Video: Aya Presents Her Business Plan

FWEN participant Aya plans to become the first woman in Palestine to own her own sheep farm. She is full of ambition and has been hard at work on her business plan during the past year, gaining experience and confidence from the FWEN training sessions. Watch the video below for a chance to hear Aya speak about her business and her dreams for the future.

The Fostering Women Entrepreneurs in Nablus (FWEN) program is co-sponsored by Tomorrow’s Youth Organization (TYO) and the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, with support from the Small Enterprise Center in Ramallah.

FWEN Video: Yasmeen Discusses Her Successful Business

FWEN participant Yasmeen is not waiting for the end of training to put her business expertise to work — she has already been running a successful and profitable clothing shop in her home village for several months. Watch the video below for a chance to see Yasmeen at work and learn more about the social impact of owning a business for her and her family.

The Fostering Women Entrepreneurs in Nablus (FWEN) program is co-sponsored by Tomorrow’s Youth Organization (TYO) and the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, with support from the Small Enterprise Center in Ramallah.

FWEN Wraps Up Successful Year with Retreat in Ramallah

The Fostering Women Entrepreneurs in Nablus (FWEN) program brought a successful year of training, mentorship, and business creation to a close with a retreat at the Movenpick Hotel in Ramallah from Thursday, December 9, to Saturday, December 11. The 12 women participating in the second phase of the FWEN program benefited from a weekend together to brainstorm and evaluate their progress, as well as to take part in several informative workshops.

On Thursday evening, Sandra Khoury spoke about how working women can strike a successful balance between professional and family responsibilities. Mrs. Khoury is General Manager at Pharmacare PLC and has significant experience with women’s and youth development programs in Palestine.

Sandra Khoury chats with FWEN participants after her talk

On Friday, Esperanza Tilghman, Public Diplomacy Officer at the U.S. Consulate in Jerusalem, led a workshop on public speaking and presentation skills, and continued an informative question-and-answer session with the FWEN women over lunch.

Esperanza Tilghman demonstrates effective presentation skills

Throughout the retreat, TYO staff members Suhad Jabi, Psychosocial and Program Specialist, and Fatima Irshaid, FWEN Project Manager, led a number of sessions allowing the women to address personal growth and evaluate their progress in the program thus far. Suhad emphasized interpersonal skills and healthy ways of addressing emotions such as fear and anger. During the final program evaluation, the women highlighted new skills they had learned through the FWEN trainings, including time management, problem-solving, self-confidence, self-expression, and professional communication.

Finally, the chance to leave Nablus for a weekend had some additional benefits for these budding female entrepreneurs. Project Manager Fatima Irshaid says that for many of the women, the retreat was the first time they had been in a hotel and it was an exciting new experience for them. The women took advantage of the luxury and privacy of the hotel to relax and get comfortable; they changed out of their formal clothing and finished up the retreat in their pajamas. Fatima observed that in addition to learning new skills during the retreat, the participants were “living something new.” She noted that over the course of the FWEN program, many of the women have changed their opinions on what constitutes appropriate behavior for females in Palestinian society. This newly acquired courage and openness can only help them to succeed in the future as entrepreneurs.

Fabric Shopping with Heba and Hana

As the American intern working this semester to improve media outreach for the Fostering Women Entrepreneurs in Nablus (FWEN) program, I have jumped at every opportunity to get to know the budding businesswomen in this program and learn more about their projects. A few weeks ago, I had the chance to go fabric shopping in downtown Nablus with Heba and Hana, the entrepreneurs behind “H2 Fashion.”

Heba & Hana in downtown Nablus

The Cherie Blair Foundation for Women and The Portland Trust Visit FWEN at TYO

Nicola samples FWEN participant Nehaya’s homemade Palestinian cuisine

Martin Kaye, a trustee of the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women (CBFW) and Nicola Cobbold, Managing Director of The Portland Trust visited the Fostering Women Entrepreneurs in Nablus (FWEN) project at TYO on Wednesday, November 24, 2010. Their visit came at the height of the project’s first phase as the women behind the ten leading business plans work diligently to advance their proposals and determine the support (financial, in-kind and supervisory) required for their successful development and implementation as pilot businesses.

The FWEN participants created booths displaying their business concepts and sample products to the visitors and received personalized feedback and suggestions. Several invited guests took the opportunity to purchase jars of specialty coffee from Rima and Afnan and clothing from H2 Fashion Design. The Portland Trust contracted Sahar to design a flyer for an upcoming event.

Mr. Kaye and Ms. Cobbold also met with the FWEN Steering Committee, comprised of leaders from diverse areas of the public and private sectors in the West Bank, who provide guidance and expertise within the context of the Nablus economy to the young businesswomen. Katie Highet, Client Outreach and Account Manager at long-time partner SoukTel, also joined the meeting. They shared a stimulating session on the possibilities and challenges of securing funding for the innovative business plans.

Mrs. Blair and Hani Masri, a Palestinian American businessman and founder of Tomorrow’s Youth Organization, launched the FWEN project as a 2009 Clinton Global Initiative Commitment to Action. The Small Enterprise Center (SEC) in Ramallah, the technical partner for this project, provides invaluable and ongoing training and mentoring support. At the 2010 CGI conference, TYO signed a new three-way CGI commitment with CBFW and SoukTel to offer FWEN participants and their mentors cutting-edge mobile technologies to launch and advance their businesses.

FWEN Profile: Nehaya

Name: Nehaya
Age: 25 years old
Location: Nablus
Business Plan: Traditional Palestinian Cuisine Restaurant

How did you decide to participate in FWEN? What have you gained from the program?

As a student at An-Najah University (she graduated in 2007 with a degree in biotechnology), Nehaya noticed a problem that is universal to students around the world: Because they live far away from their families while at school, many students miss home-cooked meals and crave “comfort food.” Although there are some fast-food restaurants offering delivery on campus, there is no way for students to get the traditional Palestinian dishes their mothers would have made them at home.

FWEN Profile: Hayfa & Ayat

Name: Hayfa and Ayat
Age: 24 years old
Location: Balata refugee camp
Business Plan: Recycling Plant

How did you decide to participate in FWEN? What have you gained from the program?

When Hayfa and Ayat, two friends from Balata refugee camp, saw an advertisement for FWEN online, they knew it was the perfect opportunity for them to make their dream a reality. They had both graduated from An-Najah University in 2009 with degrees in chemical engineering, and their graduation project on recycling had won a scientific award from the Arab American University in Jenin. Hayfa and Ayat knew that they wanted to take the ideas from their award-winning project and turn it into a profitable and innovative business: to create the first recycling plant in Palestine.