5 Speakers You Shouldn't Miss at MSA's Entrepreneurship Hub

Egypt's Modern Sciences and Arts (MSA) University is launching its first ever Entrepreneurship Hub, an event that sets off to support and encourage youth to embark on entrepreneurial ventures. Kicking off on November 1st and 2nd at the university's campus located in 6th of October city, the event is an all-round marathon with four major happenings coming together in parallel, starting off with an international conference where $250 Million entrepreneur Dawnna St. Louis will give a talk on how to turn your worries into a real sustainable business, and startup consultant Neil Fogarty will trace back his experience across 66 countries to help students break the impasse towards a more supportive entrepreneurship ecosystem.

The event will roll on to exciting workshops covering the more functional aspect of building a startup, as well as a trade fair focused on female entrepreneurs, and a startup exhibition for startups, investors, incubators, governmental bodies and NGOs. Open not only to students but youth across Egypt and the Middle East, the event has called on international speakers to inspire, empower and drive the entrepreneurial spirit amongst Cairene students. Here's some of the most exiting panelists not to miss:

1. Mike Cockburn

A leadership coach with over 20 years experience in organisational development, Cockburn founded Sogno in 2004, garnering major clients such as Jaguar Cars, Newcastle University, Pfizer, York St John University, Nokia and Ernst and Young, and actively leading the development of drama-based learning. Along with holding a Post Grad Diploma in Coaching for Organisational Excellence, Mike is an Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) Practitioner, a Young Enterprise volunteer, and a member of European Mentoring and Coaching Council.

2. Dawnna St. Louis

A homeless teenager-turned founder of a $250,000 tech consultancy, Dawnna St Louis is an extraordinary woman. At 19 years old, she called her old broken down Dodge Omni home; but decided to invest in herself and bartered her way into her first real job. Within a few years, she was an in-demand IT expert and worked her way up the ladder in a male dominated field, transforming  a master’s class project into BizIntel – a tech consultancy which she later sold for $250,000 billion after 12 years of growth.

Now the founder and CEO of her a venture, E-Suite Network, St. Louis works with leaders and sales teams to ditch incremental improvements for exponential business growth that dominates the market and crushes the competition. Under her consult, business leaders and entrepreneurs have stood out from the competition to increase revenues in a crowded marketplace. The bold startup founder does not talk to an anonymous audience: she talks to you. Dawnna’s presence at any event can and will make a difference; imagine where you will be when you have the mindset of a winner.

3. Neil Fogarty

A business writer, international speaker and advisor with clients in Europe, GCC, Africa and The Americas, Fogarty has spoken on four continents about entrepreneurship, intrapreneurship, and corporate health. Having built his first international multi-million dollar company in his twenties, Fogarty has set-up, grown, and turned around businesses, using intrapreneurship as an engine for growth. Now running his 10th company - international management consultancy Spark Global Business - Neil combines a wealth of real world experience with a questioning approach to speaking, training and facilitating, and is sensitive to the needs of every individual.

The author of Kill Your Salesman, No More Noodles, and Life After Noodles, Forgarty has a passion for helping people realise their potential, and is currently drafting two publications: Business Noodles and Nurturing Your Organizational Effectiveness. Author of Kill Your Salesman, No More Noodles, Life After Noodles. Currently drafting publication of Business Noodles and finalising second draft of Nurturing Your Organizational Effectiveness. 

4. Rania Abu Rabia

Abu Rabia is a master trainer, facilitator and coach, specialised in transformational leadership, team dynamics and women empowerment. Rania’s vision is to inspire those who cross her path to seek, connect with and embrace their own individual potential, energy and vulnerability, and capitalise on that to achieve effective positive growth and development. The founder and lead facilitator of women empowerment platform THINK, which uses Lego Serious Play for transformational leadership development.

With over 20 years of corporate and coaching experience across Canada, UAE and Egypt, Before she is the first Egyptian co-leader of the ICF-certified IDDI Dialogical Coaching Certification program. Abu Rabia is a proactive optimist who seeks to live a purposeful life, and to leave a legacy by being an inspiring role model for her children.

5. Hussayn Hilal

The Co-founder at ‎FooolTank, Hussayn graduated in Digital Media Engineering from the German University in Cairo in 2008. Having worked in corporate jobs after his graduation, the young entrepreneur launched Egyptian food startup FooolTank in the summer of 2012, together with two friends. On the same year he left Cairo for two years split between El Gouna and Berlin, in which he completed his Master’s degree in Urban Development at Technische Universität Berlin - Campus ElGouna. Currently he is an advisor for accessibility planning and management at TatweerMisr.

For more information and to get tickets for the event, lick here.

Startups can also apply for startup tickets here.

Main photo courtesy of MSA.