As a senior software engineer, Rana has global responsibility for the tech and entrepreneurship field. Rana brings 4 years of youth empowerment leadership experience across multiple industries in one of the toughest areas in the world, Gaza, where many people feel left behind by the economic changes of the last few decades. Her background in coding drives her to create a social impact solution and invest in her experience in product development. Iridescent, Christian Aid, and PCRF are just a few of the youth empowerment organisations that consider her, a real role model in changing the community and building the ecosystem for the better tech world. Rana holds a bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering and an MBA from Islamic University of Gaza, Palestine. Follow Rana on social media
Rana’s Project: {GET} Global Exceptional Talents
The Problem Muslim women in Europe are inactive economically and don’t identify themselves as creative workers while they are highly educated and speak English fluently. This is due to several reasons classified to internal factors in their communities and lifestyle (e.g. family caregiver, culture sensitivity, .. ) and external factors in the community around and the market (e.g. discrimination and racism, inflexible working practices, .. ). On the other hand, a massive shortage is still in the Software Engineering Industry. The tech sector in the UK as an example reports that its greatest challenge is accessing the talents (TechNation Report 2018)). Furthermore, the tech sector experiences significant difficulty in increasing the gender and ethnic diversity of the workforce – particularly in leadership roles. This is increasingly a priority for government and public perception of companies. Target Audience The Users: The Muslim Women in the isolated communities in Europe who are currently inactive economically. Ideally, the UK will be the base and the start of the business and the young Muslim women who are at the A level or first-second level of University will be the best group to test with. The Customers: The clients who are likely to prefer getting access to the talents through the freelancing or outsourcing models to reduce the cost and the risk of having full-time regular employees. Such clients don’t necessarily need to be big companies, they are more likely to be SMEs who can’t afford the high cost to get the advantage of the latest technology in the market. The Idea Develop a community of unique talents and connecting them to the market. The vision is to unlock new opportunities for highly talented young Muslim women in the tech market so they materialize the future of Software Engineering by their aspiration and special skill-sets. “The Women of the Isolated Communities Today Materialize the Future of Software Engineering Industry Tomorrow!” [GET] believes that there room in the software engineering industry for the talented women in the isolated communities who have the aspiration and creativity to cover this need. The product is based on six main pillars categorised in two lines:
- LINE1: Communities’ Engagement & Development [Discover, Empower, Develop]
- LINE2: Jobs’ Accessibility & Evolution [Network, Communicate, Work]