Navigating the future with Kariman Mashharawi
The "Voices of Resilience: Women Entrepreneurs of Palestine" podcast celebrates the resilience and innovation of women shaping Palestine's business landscape. Through a GIZ-led initiative, 15 female professionals from Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza journeyed to Berlin and Cologne, immersing themselves in Germany's vibrant start-up ecosystem. They honed their skills, fostered connections, and shared insights about Palestine and their ventures at events, gaining valuable marketing materials and exploring collaborations. This experience emphasized the importance of professional networks, learning from role models, and mastering digital innovation and networking. Join us as we delve into their stories, triumphs, and aspirations!
GIZ, an agency of the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development, actively supports the Palestinian private sector, with a focus on sustainability and resilience. A key initiative, co-funded by the European Union, is the tourism support program. This program concentrates on developing business skills, capacity building, and resilience in Palestinian tourism businesses, guiding them towards sustainable and environmentally-friendly practices.
About Kariman Mashharawi
Through Architista, Kariman was able to exhibit the work of artists and architects at different local and global art fairs. In 2017, Kariman co-founded a new company called Yadiaha; a platform that links women work in Palestinian embroidery with customers in the US and Europe. Yadiaha has created income for over 50 unemployed women in Gaza. Her work was featured by different local and global media agencies.
In the spring of 2021, Kariman led a team of more than 50 venue designers to organize the first TED event in the Gaza Strip. The event attracted over 1000 attendees, in addition to 30 sponsors from all around the world. Most recently, Kariman was nominated to lead and train a team of 25 creative coders and engineers by a prominent company in Dubai called V-VERSE to build the first Metaverse experience in the Middle East. Ms. Mashharawi received her BSc in Architecture Engineering from the Islamic University of Gaza.
About Architista
"At Architista, we provide new female graduates with the training and resources they need in the fields of technology, programming, and design to find jobs abroad. We also make contact with multinational corporations to assist them in hiring qualified employees from Gaza, which enables them to grow quickly and cut costs.
Also, through mixing with various cultures, they are able to strengthen their teamwork.
Additionally, we were able to launch dozens of art fairs, provide free art instruction to hundreds of university students, and host Gaza's first art conference, which raised awareness of art technology and the prospects available to bright artists abroad.”
Email: Kmartstudio1@gmailcom
Links: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kariman-al-mashharawi/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kariman-al-mashharawi/]
Update from February 2024: “I work with my team with various companies across the globe, we created partnerships and worked on many projects for the governments as well as private companies. Until now, we are working in our small office in Gaza, and we are moving to the Gulf region this year. Now I am in Saudi Arabia, I had the chance to build a partnership with one of the biggest companies working in IT since 1996, with them, we will launch a huge project in the VR industry. In the coming year, I see myself leading a thriving community of Palestinian female entrepreneurs, where they are not only running successful businesses but also actively involved in shaping our society.”
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This podcast was produced with the financial support of the European Union and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. Its contents are the sole responsibility of the women featured in the podcast episodes and do not necessarily reflect the views of the EU or the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.
