The Atlantic Council’s Women Innovators (WIn) Fellowship will host the launch event for the Jordan Cohort on Monday, November 18th at 10:00 a.m. (ET); 6:00 p.m. Amman time.
This event will explore the current entrepreneurial landscape in Jordan, highlighting the country’s initiatives designed to support women entrepreneurs and tackle the challenges they face. We’ll also discuss whether adopting a new investment model could be key to driving equitable growth in the country’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Jordan’s business ecosystem has transformed in the past decade. In recent years, the country’s Ministry of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship (MoDEE) has catalyzed digital transformation in the country, with a significant focus on using technology to scale businesses and social enterprises. Working with the private sector and other government institutions, the Ministry has supported startups, SMEs, and larger businesses in overcoming challenges related to access to markets, funding, and talent.
Despite these gains in the entrepreneurial space in Jordan, however, significant challenges remain for women to be equal players. Across the country, women have launched small and medium-sized enterprises in several fields—from design to healthcare to technology and sustainability. However, women’s total entrepreneurial activity (TEA) is only 3.3 percent in Jordan, compared to a global average of 10.2 percent, according to the World Bank Jordan Economic Monitor.
Increasing women’s participation and scaling potential growth sectors are key priorities under Jordan’s Economic Modernization Vision, which aims to create economic opportunities for Jordanians and enable inclusive economic prosperity. Addressing barriers for women entrepreneurs can represent an enormous opportunity to improve the gender gap in the business world and advance female economic inclusion.
During the event, we will cover these important questions and discuss the future of entrepreneurship in Jordan.
The event will be held in person in Amman and will also be live-streamed. If you would like to attend in person, please email ndabboussi@atlanticcouncil.org
Opening remarks
Emilia Pierce
Deputy Director, Operations and Finance, Atlantic Council
Keynote remarks
H.E. Yael Lempert
Ambassador of the United States to Jordan
H.E. Dina Kawar
Ambassador of Jordan to the United States
Panel one: the state of Jordan’s entrepreneurship ecosystem
Tamer Al-Salah
Managing Director, Beyond Capital
Rama Kayali
CEO and Co-Founder, Little Thinking Minds
Dana Darwish
Program Manager, Jordan Source
Moderated by: Nour Dabboussi
Assistant Director, Atlantic Council
Panel two: Investment trends in Jordan and the potential for alternative approaches
Luma Fawaz
CEO, Oasis500
Shereen Al Abbadi
Socio-economic Consultant, The World Bank
Sara Asad
Investments & Community Manager, MSA Novo
Moderated by: Reem Goussous
Co-Founder, Viaka
Explore the WIn Fellowship
Featured Content
Sponsors & In-country Partner
About the empowerME
empowerME at the Atlantic Council’s Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East is shaping solutions to empower entrepreneurs, women, and youth and building coalitions of public and private partnerships to drive regional economic integration, prosperity, and job creation.
Atlantic Council TV
Watch this event and more content on ACTV
Follow the conversations shaping our world. Available on all major platforms.
Follow the conversation on social media with @ACMideast and using #ACempowerME