22/11 Day of the entrepreneur - Day of the female entrepreneur. #SheDIDIT
Today 22/11 is day of the entrepreneur in Belgium. Perfect day to run a female entrepreneurship event. I am so happy and honoured that I was invited as a panel member/ guest speaker at the event of #SheDIDit. They promised not an ordinary Friday but a day full of entrepreneurship, diversity and youth… I can officially say that SheDIDIT!
#SheDIDIT is a unique platform full of female talent across cultural backgrounds. It is for the entrepreneurial female with foreign roots. The SheDIDIt woman is willing to do develop all her skills and use her talent to chase her dreams!
ALTI sat in a room full of talented, inspiring and ambitious women from various countries in the world. The event took place on the 10th floor of the Arteveldehogeschool in Ghent, Belgium, which has an amazing panoramic view by the way. We were all connected by the fact we are all women and our common Belgian background either by education, culture, family or just by location. It was amazing to see the diversity and female talent in this country.
In the panel I sat next to Soraya Hayani from the organization FLEKS; an organization that aims to inspire youth to become entrepreneurs. Hearing her talk, I am sure she has inspired many young kids! Bravo Soraya! Keep doing your thing 💜
Fleks | Omdat jongeren de toekomst zijn.
Another panel member was Katrin Van Den Troost; a very well informed young woman that knows entrepreneurship very well. She is part of Haven Incubator, a cooperation that stimulates kids to turn their hobbies into a business.
I also like to mention Emmanuel Iyamu, not a woman but a very interesting young man. He co-founded AYO Belgium, a student union that assists in increasing the success rate of Afro Belgian youth in academics. Emmanuel is full of energy and know - how. I was delighted to discover that such organization finally exist in Belgium. When I was studying, no such organizations existed nor were their any thoughts of creating such. Way to go Emmanuel; you are doing great things! He put the “He’ in ‘She’.
Yasmina Kichauat from Waka Waka Gen also presented strongly.
After the debate, Karijn Bonne, Head of Research and Development Center Business & Management at the Arteveldehogeschool presented the results of her research about the drivers and obstacles of female entrepreneurship amongst newcomers (people who recently arrived in Belgium) and migrants. The results of the study were surprising and at the same time interesting to me. I was mostly surprised to find out that migrant parents were less entrepreunial. Having worked in microfinance in Belgium in the past, and being overwhelmed with loan applications from migrant communities; I had the idea that most migrant parents were self employed. However, the study only covered a small sample of 60 girls with a variety of backgrounds from Liberia to Japan. So it is rather indicative then representive. It is interesting to learn that the majority of the girls would choose to become entrepreneurs for non economic reasons. Reasons are 1) To become a role model. 2)To become financially independent. 3) To have a social impact. 4) Market opportunities. 5) To fight discrimination on the labour market and offering jobs to others. 6) Children: becoming an entrepreneur for kids. The young girls felt that if a Muslim girl with a hijab 🧕 makes it… that’s some serious ish… streetcred all the way. The girls apparently found it hard to come up with a role model. Eventually, they did identify Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey, Kylie Jenner and I noticed Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. I assume she was identified by the Liberian girl in the study group. It was clear that more female role models are needed. Either way, it is already a good start away from the classical, old grey haired, blue suited, caucasian man, that was described multiple times during the event, as the old skool representation of the entrepreneur/ businessman. The obstacles of entrepreneurship are similar for boys as for girls. However, a big concern for these young girls is pregnancy and children. How to combine both? What about paid, versus self employed non - paid pregnancy leave? Another obstacle is access to finance and not having the right network (as with most entrepreneurs). A key finding though, is that fathers can be the backbone and support of these young girls, wanting to start their entrepreneurial dreams. Seems to me that we have to start investing in Daddy Groups, if we want our girls to have more chances to succeed! This is just a quick summary of the results but more can be downloaded on the website of SheDIDIT.
#SheDIDIT - een netwerk van ondernemende vrouwen mét migratieroots
SheDIDIT is a wonderful organization lead by very professional women such as Lien Warmenbol and Katia Kribotuchko who led this event successfully. They invited icons for more discussion and provided a delicious lunch by the catering company “From Syria with love” managed by Yara Al-Adib. The food was amazing! It is the first time that I had Syrian food and I want more more more!!!! and I want to eat it cooked by them :) Meeting Yara was also as her food such a delight. She is such a positive woman full of great potential that sparks your energy. You can book FSYRIAWLOVECATERING for all your events, business dinners or parties. I am sure I will!
ALTFSWL Home | Flanders | From Syria With Love
Another icon is Roningirl - A samoerai without a sword - she is Cheryl Miller - Van Dijck and she gave us a serious reality check. This Ronin hit us with facts on the discrepancy between men and women. Trust me, we women do not want this; we want equality on all levels. Yet we still do not receive the same opportunities as our fellow male gender brothers. Real Talk: Only 14 percent members of the board in Europe are women, 1 in 5 employees are women in ICT Europe, technology drive entrepreneurship by women in Belgium is at the bottom of Europe, Belgium ranks at the bottom in terms of girls in STEM education. Sad sad sad 😢 we must do better. As a matter of fact, 80% of women are marginalized in their career. Yet with all the obstacles in place, women still find their way to entrepreneurship and at increasing rates. Today we are at 35% in Belgium. A quote that stuck with me today was “The only thing that seperates women of color from anyone else is opportunity- Viola Davis” let that resonate for a bit… It is key according Mrs. Miller that women do not longer give their time to the patriarchy and start their own business. I find this essential in creating equality. We must teach our girls to stand their own ground even better than men! Another icon was Claudia Pahola from Guatemala, a lecturer a St Lucas, a designer at Samsonite and so much more. She brought us nothing but good tips on how to say No as a woman in business, how to deal with failure and how to stay positive! Blogger, influencer Sarah Dimani was also present and gave us a brief insight of what it meant to be a blogger. Most people do not see her as an entrepreneur, they think she is unboxing all day. Well, they are damn wrong, because what I saw was a serious business woman and an equality activist. She explained to us: how to take control of the narrative when the media covers you in trash without ever even asking for an interview. She talked about how it is difficult to keep the balance between personal and business life as an Instagram celebrity with a massive following. Influencer is the correct term but she finds it denigrating; at the end of the day she also needs to make sure her bookkeeping is done and the bills are paid. In order to do so, she is required to run her account as a business and create the necessary content. Unboxing is the easy the part. She is part of the first generation that grew up with social media and in the future being an influencer will be considered a proper job. I agree with her, in my opinion being an influencer is already a serious job/ business. It’s not easy to get Likes ;) Maybe Sarah will even construct an empire such as the Italian Chiara Ferragni; she definitely has the allures for it.
In general, I must conclude it was a fantastic day. Schools were awarded that participated in the business game and Sakina closed down the event with some nice slam poetry. I left on the beats of DJLizaay after networking with Wouter Van Bellingen, the backbone of this project through Integratiepact, Elvira from TedXGhent, IIana Brandwain from Noble Fine Jewelry 💎, Gudrun Verschuere Managing Director at Markant, Alenka Le Compte from the King Boudewijn Foundation and so many more leading ladies! A day full of love and support on what I now call female entrepreneurship day 22/11.
P.S.: this post is written on my iPhone X so sorry for the mistakes.
Professional pics will be uploaded soon taken by Mackengo Creations
