Business Summit Provides
New Opportunities for Arab Business Women

By Debra Sherman and Keri Minehart | May 31, 2005

Last week, more than 200 Arab women entrepreneurs and executives participated in a training and networking conference put on by the Beyster Institute at the Rady School of Management. The Business Women’s Summit, held in Tunis, Tunisia, was sponsored by the U. S. Department of State Middle East Partnership Initiative as part of the MEET U.S. grant (Middle East Entrepreneur Training in the U.S.) being implemented by the Beyster Institute at the Rady School.

(Left to Right) Afnan Al Zayani of the Bahrain Business Women's Society and Bouchra Bouchiha of Morocco, Associate Director of HP Maroc (not associated with Hewlett Packard).

Summit participants hailing from 15 countries in the Middle East and North Africa spent three days learning and networking with each other, as well as with American entrepreneurs who are members of Women Entrepreneurs, Inc., who co-sponsored the summit. The opportunity to network and interact with women entrepreneurs from other countries was a unique experience for many participants. In an area of the world where business education for women is rare, this summit provided opportunities that these women never thought possible.

The summit also offered a unique experience for two Rady School FlexMBA students, Sam Kim and Jan Tuttleman, who went to Tunis for the event. Kim and Tuttleman had the opportunity to interact with other participants and also served as volunteers for the Beyster Institute staff, providing logistical support and taking notes. “These students are extraordinary individuals,” said Beyster Institute Executive Director Ray Smilor. “Their presence as part of the American delegation added value for Middle Eastern participants.”

The summit included workshops and panel discussions on marketing, business financing, leadership and women’s business support organizations. The group heard from officials representing the U. S. government and the government of Tunisia. Participants also attended an evening of music hosted by the Tunisian government, complete with dancing.

In addition to the benefits for growing their businesses that participants took from the summit, the summit received positive media coverage in Tunisia and around the Arab world as a positive step toward building relationships not only among the U.S. and the Arab world, but also between the Arab countries.

The goal of the summit was to help win the peace by providing economic and entrepreneurial hope and opportunity. And, based on the feedback from participants, it did just that.