Jouna

Seeds of Peace Fellow, 2015

IMPACT: ECONOMIC

Connecting young Arab women to the Israeli high tech sector.

How have you impacted your community?

I am a Palestinian biomedical engineer living in Israel. I earned my B.Sc. at the Technion Institute of Technology and have been based in Haifa ever since. Alongside my work at Microsoft as a productivity solution specialist, I am a social activist combining technology with education. I am a co-founder of Hiya-Tech (in Arabic: “She-Tech”), a grassroots initiative aimed at promoting Arab women and increasing their ranks in the high-tech industry. Our vision is to lead the community to a place where no boundaries are too hard to cross.

Hiya-Tech looks to promote the participation of Arab women in one of Israel’s most prestigious and successful fields, the high-tech industry. The Hiya-Tech initiative was established by a group of pioneering Arab women who have succeeded in developing careers in the high tech sector and are now seeking to help others do the same.

By helping Arab women develop a sense of self–efficacy, break stereotypes, and improve their economic status, our work can greatly influence the way that these women perceive themselves, and are perceived by their society. Hiya-Tech will reach out to groups of young female Arab high school students, mentor them through their studies, and assist them in finding positions in the high-tech sector upon graduation.

In the press

With support from Google & Cisco, Startup Weekend launches in Israel’s ‘Arab capital’ (VentureBeat)

“The network and the people who are a part of Seeds of Peace and the Fellowship are changemakers and...leaders in their own society and in their own community and we can help each other as a network and learn from each other in a very big way.”