6 Badass Speakers You Can't Miss at Cairo's She Can Conference This Weekend

Women's Month is only getting started across the world, and the Middle East's fierce bossladies are already taking the stage by storm. Run by a 26-year-old entrepreneur, She Canhas grown to become Cairo's leading event for women entrepreneurs, with an endless and relentless array of panels, workshops, and inspiring panels. Set to begin on Friday 2nd at The Greek Campus, the conference will roll on through two days of panel discussions, fireside chats, and workshops where would-be entrepreneurs will access mentorship, advice, and empowering stories to gear up for the business path. Hitting the stage this year, not only will prominent entrepreneurs inspire the audience, but also regional investment wizzards, such as Womena's powerhouse, Elissa Freiha. Here's 6 panelists to keep an eye on. 

Elissa Freiha, investor and founder of Womena

Elissa Freiha is an angel investor, motivational speaker, and founder of WOMENA, a Dubai-based angel investment platform. As an active angel with over 40 investments, she has won numerous awards including being the first female recipient of Investor of the Year at the StartUp Awards. She is frequently listed by media outlets, most notably by the BBC as one of their 30 women under 30, and by Arabian Business as one of the 100 most influential Arabs. Elissa received her Bachelor of Arts in Global Communications from the American University of Paris, the city in which she was born and raised. She is an Emirati of Lebanese and American decent and is a strong advocate for equal rights, and women’s rights with a focus on the Middle East. Her passions for entrepreneurship and gender diversity have given her the opportunity to speak at events around the world and has drawn the attention of brands such as Cartier, Christian Dior, Ralph Lauren, and Burberry.

Mariam Farag, Head of CSR at MCB Group

Mariam Farag is leading the CSR program at MBC Group, which is responsible for driving its corporate responsibility vision and strategy in the region and globally. Launched in 2013, MBC Group’s CSR arm, MBC Al Amal, is an ongoing interactive initiative that is the collective umbrella for the multitude of campaigns, with a core focus on the empowerment and development of Arab youth. Farag brings to MBC Group over 18 years of experience working in the fields of social development, humanitarian relief, communication, corporate & social change in the MENA region and globally with UNDP, UNHCR, education and governmental sectors.

 Norshek fawzy & Nabil Rostom

Yasmine Ghaith, Actress & Cancer Survivor

"I was diagnosed in September 2016 with stage 2 breast cancer. My story started with a post on Facebook that went viral in a day and night, then participating in different awareness campaigns and TV interviews. Few months later Baheya chose me to be their ambassador. Then the producer of Halawt Al Dounia saw one of my posts and chose me to play Heba's role in Halawt Al Dounia series (Ramadan 2017)... and the story continues," says Yasmine Gaith, anticipating the powerful story she's about to tell at She Can.

Iman Bibars, Regional Director of Ashoka Arab World

Iman Bibars is the co-founder and chairwoman of The Association for the Development and Enhancement of Women, an NGO providing credit and legal aid for poor women who head their households. As an Officer at UNICEF for six years, Bibars managed the 'Urban Community Development' and 'Children in Difficult Circumstances' projects. An independent consultant since March 1998, she has worked with a number of international and multinational organizations such as the World Bank, UNDP Kuwait, UNDP Lebanon, UNIFEM, UNICEF Cairo, the Population Council MENA Office and the European Commission in Cairo. She is currently the Regional Director in Ashoka Arab World, and Vice President in Ashoka.

Yara Yassin, Co-Founder of Up-Fuse

A product designer born and Raised in Cairo, Yara Yassin is the co-founder of Upfuse. With a Bachelor degree in Applied arts and sciences from the German University in Cairo in 2013, she started the company following her passion to revive discarded materials while helping create job opportunities and empower women in marginalized areas. Together with her team, the entrepreneur helped upcycle 50,000 plastic bags in two years and created 24 job opportunities. Yassin is as Wemena competition ambassador, she was named as StartupScene's 25 under 25, and awarded as one of the 10 women around the world who help in detoxifying the future by UN Environment.

Find out all the speakers and the event's agenda here.