Passionate. Driven. Curious. Risk-taker. Inspirational.
These are the words that describe Dalia Shurrab and they are the seeds we aim to nurture in our TAPers!
At 31, Dalia ditched her career in the sciences and embarked on a journey to find a new passion. She fell in love with journalism and began exploring the social media world when two start-ups, Souq.com and Yamsafer, gave her the opportunity to launch her new career path in content writing.
Perhaps even more impressive than her willingness to take risks or her ability to constantly learn, grow, and challenge herself, is her awe-inspiring conviction to make an impact in her own community. After volunteering for two years with the Gazan tech hub and start-up accelerator, Gaza Sky Geeks, she helped raise over a million dollars USD to expand the initiative and help grow the future technology leaders of Gaza, and beyond.
“By collecting stories, creating exposure, and writing content, my goal is to build a bright image of Gaza Sky Geeks and Gazan people.”
This was just the beginning! When five mentors from the US came to Gaza to present workshops in STEM fields, Dalia planned an event where over 200 female participants attended. They were so impressed with her that they invited her to apply to the TechWomen leadership program in Silicon Valley.
“The TechWomen experience was life-changing, from going to the US for the first time, and then visiting Silicon Valley! I met experts in the fields of FinTech, Women Empowerment, and Communication. I visited companies like Google, LinkedIn, Salesforce, and Twitter.”
She actively absorbed all she had learnt in Silicon Valley and began working on an impact project called ‘Mompreneur’ with her friend, Maysa.
“Mompreneur is my project that supports micro and small business owners, especially Palestinian moms. This project was designed to help business women who have less experience in the digital world to start promoting and selling their products online in order to decrease the costs and to increase their revenues. Of 255 applications that we received within 2 weeks, 73% of the ladies were from Gaza and 27% were from the West Bank.”
From a degree in physics, pivoting as a social media expert, then flying off to Silicon Valley, and returning with a purpose to support women in Gaza in their own entrepreneurial journeys, Dalia is truly a force to be reckoned with. This is her advice to our TAPers:
“Never give up, never ever! Believe in yourself and your capability to do anything and learn anything. Google and YouTube must be your best friends during your learning journey and find yourself a mentor who will not only help you professionally but will also be your biggest fan, support you personally, and help you get through tough situations.”
Dalia is an example of impeccable talent in Palestine, and she proves why we need to nurture talent like hers all across Palestine. This is exactly what we aim to do at TAP. We are building a tech ecosystem in Palestine by making educational programs and technical training accessible to all no matter what their economic circumstances are. We are opening the door to the best remote tech opportunities for talented youth in Palestine and the MENA region, and we love to spotlight incredible people like Dalia who are making a social impact through tech!
