Dreams Are Bigger Than Boundaries!

Posted on May 28, 2023May 28, 2023 by admin

Young college-educated women in Palestine face many challenges as they pursue their dreams and careers. Despite having degrees and aspirations that extend beyond the walls that confine their territory, these women often encounter obstacles that limit their opportunities. Politics may create boundaries, but these resilient women are proving their dreams have no bounds. Through the power of the internet, these women are proving their place on the world stage.

Politics may create boundaries, but these resilient women are proving their dreams have no bounds

Women and girls living in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) often face discrimination and are at risk of gender-based violence (GBV). Cultural norms can restrict women to traditional female professional roles, leaving little room for advancement. Young girls often lack role models to look up to, which can hinder their aspirations for advancing professionally. Unemployment is high in the region, with a rate of over 25%, and those who are working may be satisfied with just keeping their jobs rather than advancing into leadership roles. These roadblocks can make it more challenging for women to move into leadership positions, especially in male-dominated businesses.

Progress for Women in Palestine

Despite these challenges, progress is being made. Female participation in the Palestinian workforce has doubled in the past seven years and now stands at 19%. Women make up 50% of those enrolled in local universities and they are increasingly taking control of their business ideas and starting new companies. MENA Alliances is one organization that is working to help alleviate poverty and injustice in the MENA region by creating jobs for over one million disadvantaged women and young people from the region. They provide training, job opportunities, and growth while promoting social justice, and economic opportunity.

Talented Palestinian Woman Connects to Dream Job

Raneem is a talented individual with a wide range of website management and SEO skills. With expertise in WordPress, Sala, Joomla, T-Soft, SKwid, and mastery of the Yoast SEO Tool, Google Search Console, and Google Analytics, Raneem is well-equipped to handle the challenges of on-page SEO management.

As a young woman interested in tech, Raneem dreamed of working with multinational companies. She had hoped to find mentors to enrich her experience and help her build worldwide expertise. Thanks to MENA Alliances, Raneem was allowed to work as an SEO specialist for a US company. This experience was precious for Raneem and helped her grow personally and professionally.

“Working with multinational companies and mentors to enrich my experience and build a worldwide expertise was one of my dreams. MENA Alliances provided me with the opportunity to work as an SEO specialist for a US company. This experience was the greatest as it added to me a lot. THANK YOU, MENA Alliances, for pointing me in the proper direction.” – Raneem

Raneem is grateful to MENA Alliances for providing this opportunity and helping her discover E-work or remote work options. She is excited to continue building her SEO and website management skills and expertise.

Resources Help Dreamers Overcome Boundaries

In Raneem’s case, MENA Alliance was a resource. It was the support system she needed to get outside the barrier she felt within her country. Tech companies who choose impact sourcing through these organizations provide a valuable resource to women like her. This hiring option lifts not just the worker, but the entire community in which she lives. Raneem has been able to reach her dreams, and through her example to other women and youth in the region, others will learn they, too, are capable. Raneem, who worked hard to achieve her education and background, now also has the pride of actualizing her dream to include in her life’s accomplishments.

Sources:

Mardirossian, T. (2019, April). Challenges Facing Palestinian Women. Retrieved from The Wilson Center: https://www.wilsoncenter.org/blog-post/challenges-facing-palestinian-women
The Power of E-Work: Creating Opportunities for Young Women in the West Bank and Gaza. (2019, November). Retrieved from World Bank: https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/147761583135333286/pdf/The-Power-of-E-Work-Creating-Opportunities-for-Young-Women-in-the-West-Bank-and-Gaza.pdf

The CEO’s Guide to AI: How to Leverage Technology to Streamline Your Workday

Posted on May 26, 2023May 28, 2023 by admin

As a CEO, your ability to maximize your productivity during your day is essential to success. Good time management skills are crucial, but never at the cost of missing information that could have provided you with valuable insights needed to make strategic decisions. With AI and ChatGPT, you can get defined results, quick answers, leveraged power, and clear time-savings.

“The adaptation to a world deeply integrated with AI tools is probably going to happen pretty quickly; the benefits have too much upside. These tools will help us be more productive, healthier, smarter, and more entertained.” – Sam Altman, CEO, Open AI

The Benefits of Leveraging AI

Leveraging AI in your workday provides numerous benefits such as saving time, improving productivity, and making better decisions. Automating repetitive tasks frees up your time to focus on more pressing initiatives. AI helps you streamline your workflow by providing valuable insights and recommendations. AI-powered tools also offer improved accuracy by analyzing data and providing precise insights. Before starting, seek an AI consultation with your tech team member to help you set up effective tools such as Grammarly for continuous improvement of your writing.

Use the Right Type of AI Tool

To use AI effectively and streamline your workday, identify tasks that can be automated and delegate them to AI-powered tools. Choose a tool that handles multiple tasks and blends well with your existing systems. Integrating AI tools seamlessly into your workflow frees up time to focus on more important initiatives. Keep up with the latest AI trends and technologies to identify new opportunities and stay ahead of the competition. There are basic types of tools and categories:

Virtual Assistants
Project Management Software
Time Management
Predictive Analytics
Speech Recognition Software
Customer Relationship Management
Talent Acquisition Software
Finance Management Software
Market Analysis Software

Top AI Tools for CEOs

There are numerous AI-powered tools available that can help CEOs streamline their workday. The list can be endless, but here are tools that consistently come up on top. You don’t need to use all of them but have your consultant help choose the ones most effective for you, your business and your systems.

- Zoom.ai – an AI-powered personal assistant helps automate tasks such as scheduling meetings, sending follow-up emails, and ordering lunch.
- Trello – a collaboration tool to help you manage your projects more efficiently. With Trello, you create boards for different projects and tasks, assign tasks, teams, and track progress in real-time.
- Lindy – your AI personal assistant, a CEO’s job on autopilot.
- RescueTime – a time management tool that helps you improve your productivity. With RescueTime, you track how you spend your time on your computer and mobile devices and get insights on optimizing your time.
- Writesonic – a platform many companies turn to for content. You can create content with source material links 10x faster. This AI-writing and image-generating platform creates SEO-optimized and plagiarism-free content.
- Notion.so – an all-in-one workspace that uses AI to help you manage your tasks, notes, and projects. With Notion.so, you can collaborate with your team, track progress, and get insights on optimizing your workflow.
- Grammarly – an AI-powered writing assistant that helps you improve your writing skills. With Grammarly, you can get suggestions on improving your grammar, spelling, and punctuation and even get feedback on the tone of your writing.
- x.ai – an AI-powered scheduling tool that helps you schedule meetings more efficiently. With x.ai, you can cc Amy or Andrew (the AI assistants) in your emails, and they will schedule the appointment for you.
- AIssistify – your AI marketing team in a tool. Get ready to create marketing Ads, campaigns, emails and more with AI.
- Hootsuite – an AI-powered social media management tool to help manage your social media accounts more efficiently. With Hootsuite, you can schedule posts, track metrics, and even automate specific tasks such as responding to comments.
- Cleo – an AI financial assistant that helps manage your finances more efficiently. With Cleo, you track your expenses, set budgets, and even get insights on how to save money.
- Google Assistant – an AI-powered personal assistant that can help you automate tasks such as setting reminders, sending messages, and even making phone calls. With Google Assistant, your time is valued, and any critical duties will have your much-needed focus.
- Microsoft Copilot – If you’re continuing to write code, this coding assistant can help you write it more efficiently. With Microsoft Copilot, you can get suggestions on improving your code, generating code snippets, and even writing entire functions.
- Slack – a collaboration tool that can help communicate with your team more efficiently. With Slack, you create channels for different projects and tasks, collaborate with your team in real time, and even automate specific tasks, such as sending notifications.

Bardeen – is an automation tool that can help you automate simple tasks without knowing any code.

Best Practices for Integrating AI into Your Workflow

Integrating AI into your workflow can be complex, but some best practices can help. Here are best practices for integrating AI into your workflow:

Start Small: Start by identifying a few tasks that can be automated and delegating them to AI-powered tools. You should get comfortable with using AI and build confidence in its capabilities.
Choose the Right Tools: Choose AI-powered tools that integrate well with your existing systems and processes and are easy for you and your team.
Train Yourself and Your Team: Take the time to train yourself and your team on how to use AI-powered tools effectively. Ensure everyone is getting the same training so you get the most of your investment in AI.
Measure Your Results: Track your progress and measure the results of your AI implementation. Identify areas to improve then make informed decisions about optimizing your workflow.

AI Implementation Services for Businesses

Where do you start? What processes can be handled by AI? AI implementation or automation services can help you better understand the potential for AI in your business. These services can help you identify opportunities for leveraging AI, choose the right tools, and integrate them seamlessly into your workflow. You can find automation specialists to help you walk through the steps of your business process to eliminate unnecessary steps and automate those that AI can manage.

Fortune 500 Companies Show Successful AI Integration in the C-Suite

Numerous companies have successfully integrated AI into their C-suite workflows. For example, IBM has leveraged AI-powered tools to help its CEO make informed product development and marketing decisions. Similarly, Coca-Cola has used AI to improve its supply chain management and reduce costs.

AI-Powered Decision-Making Works

AI can play an essential role in decision-making for C-level executives. AI can help inform strategic decisions and identify new opportunities by analyzing data and providing insights. However, it’s important to remember that AI should be used to support decision-making, not replace it entirely.

As a CEO, it’s vital to leverage AI-powered tools to inform your decision-making and rely on your expertise and experience to make informed decisions.

Future Trends in AI and Its Impact on the CEO Role

As AI continues to advance, it will provide CEOs with valuable insights and enable them to focus on strategic initiatives. However, it’s important to remember that AI is not a substitute for human expertise and experience. CEOs must rely on their instincts and insights to make informed decisions, and workers should be taught to use AI as a tool to enhance their performance. Additionally, AI needs human judgment and expertise to continually improve its ability to connect with your target audience. Marrying AI with your human workforce is crucial to lead your business effectively into the future.

Takeaways for CEOs Looking to Leverage AI Technology

In conclusion, to effectively leverage the power of AI, CEOs should start by identifying the tasks best suited for automation. It involves carefully assessing the organization’s workflows and processes to determine which can be streamlined with AI tools. Once the appropriate functions have been identified, choosing the right tools and integrating them seamlessly into the workflow is essential. You will need to commit to staying current with the latest developments in the field, which requires a deep understanding of the capabilities and limitations of different AI technologies.

CEOs can gain a competitive edge in their industry by effectively utilizing AI as a tool to enhance their work. However, more is needed to adopt AI technology and hope for the best. CEOs must also be able to demonstrate the impact of AI throughout your organization, both in terms of improved efficiency and cost savings, as well as better decision-making and strategic planning. You must be willing to invest in your people. Investing in training and development programs that help employees understand how to use AI tools effectively to create a powerful workforce.

Ultimately, the key to success with AI lies in a willingness to embrace change and experiment with new ideas. By staying open-minded and constantly looking for ways to improve workflows and processes, CEOs can harness the full potential of AI and drive their organizations forward in today’s rapidly evolving business landscape.

Sources:

AI for CEOs. (2023). Retrieved from All Things AI: https://allthingsai.com/ai-for-ceos

Altman, S. (2023, February 18). Sam Altman . Retrieved from Twitter: https://twitter.com/sama/status/1627110888321978368

How CEOs Can Tap AIs Full Potential. (2019). Retrieved from PwC: https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/innovation/assets/how-ceos-can-tap-ai-full-potential.pdf

Client Story: B100Ragl

Posted on January 30, 2017June 10, 2022 by admin

Asmaa Guedira, Program Manager at Womanity Foundation, comments

” MENA Alliances has provided quality work to help design and develop our website, and they are very reactive when needed. We are happy and proud to work with a company created by Palestinian women. “

Website: http://b100ragl.com/

The Client

Womanity is a private philanthropic Foundation established in 2005 in Switzerland. It is also registered in the United Kingdom and the USA. Womanity works around the world to empower girls and women to shape their future and accelerate progress in their communities.

Womanity and its programme partners produced an exclusive Arabic radio fiction, Worth 100 Men (Be 100 Ragl in Arabic). The series follows the story of Noha, an intrepid young radio journalist, who confronts gender discrimination in the workforce, in family, and the social sphere. Noha challenges prejudice and oppression, and becomes a role model for the whole community. The series covers divorce, domestic violence, sexual harassment, women’s access to education and professional careers, the status of single women in traditional society, and healthy romantic relationships.

In addition to online conversations, the Womanity Foundation is partnering with a range of grassroots organizations to host a “B 100 Ragl Tour”. The tour will center on a series of events across the Middle East and North Africa. Through a mix of online and community-based debate, Womanity is looking to challenge audiences to develop creative solutions to the issues that plague their societies.

The Challenge

Rapid growth due to popularity of the captivating fiction series across different countries resulted in the need for translation to help reach wider audiences
The topics that Noha and her friends deal with on the series struck a chord with viewers, so there was an increased need for more information about relevant topics
Creating an online Tour calendar of the “B100 Ragel” program to keep the audience updated about upcoming events
Highlighting success stories for women of the MENA region

The Solution

MENA Alliances developed and designed a new responsive dual-language (Arabic and English) website for Womanity to showcase the “Be 100 Ragl” series
MENA Alliances provided translation and localization services to Womanity for expanding the audience
MENA Alliances developed subtitling for the “Be 100 Ragl” video episodes series, so that a larger audience would have the opportunity to view the program
MENA Alliances created calendar for “B100 Ragel Tour” to keep audience updated about upcoming events.

Results

“B100 Ragel” Program at Womanity foundation has an online platform to promote “B100 Ragel” episodes and to increase awareness about the challenges that face Arab women
Inspiration for other women by sharing women’s success stories online
Increase conversation rate on social media networks through add social media plugins within the “B100 Ragel” website
Through MENA Alliances localization and translation services, “B100 Ragel” program reached a larger audience around the world

Next Steps

Womanity Foundation assigned MENA Alliances as the sole provider of maintenance services for the “B100 Ragel” website.

Enjoy watching “B100 Ragl” episodes by visiting B100 Ragl website: www.b100ragl.com

Client Story: Lamsat Ummi

Posted on January 30, 2017June 10, 2022 by admin

Dr. Fayeq Oweis, Founder of Lamsat Ummi, explains his experience with MENA Alliances

“ I worked with MENA Alliances team to have a website developed for my initiative, Lamsat Ummi (My Mother’s Touch), and I am very pleased with their professional work, dedication, and excellent services. I am very happy with how the website turned out, and the team was very helpful from day one and throughout the whole development process. Thank you very much and I hope we will use your services for future projects.”
Website: lamsatummi.com

The Client

“Lamsat Ummi”, a non-profit and cooperative project that empowers women, especially mothers, in marginalized societies and refugee camps while striving to preserve the Palestinian art of embroidery. This endeavor is the brainchild and passion of Dr. Fayeq Oweis.

He created it in honor of his beloved mother, who inspired his art and love for embroidery. Each “Lamsat Ummi” hand-made product combines Arabic poetry with Kufic Arabic calligraphy designed by Dr. Fayeq Oweis and is embroidered by hand. The name “Lamsat Ummi” means “My Mother’s Touch” and it was inspired by the words of Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish : “I yearn for the bread of my mother, her coffee and her touch.

The Challenge

Lamsat Ummi wanted t0:
Enable the works of these women/mothers to be a source of income to them through selling their products through lamsat Ummi online platform for customers around the world
Build an effective online platform that would enable the embroidered products to be promoted and sold around the world
Create more jobs for marginalized/refugee women
Outspread the word about the importance of supporting this project and buying these goods

The Solution

MENA Alliances Group addressed the issues through knowledge and experience with their ownstaff of women who are empathetic to the challenges of refugee women/marginalized peoples
MENA Alliances Group advised on best methods of getting the product to market
MENA Alliances Group designed and developed an online platform to market and sell Lamsat Ummi products
Online payment methods were integrated through the Lamsat Ummi Website
Women’s stories were shared over the website to inspire actions by others around the world
Highlighting the activities of the Lamsat Ummi – reinvestment of profits back into the empowerment of women empowerment through: training and scholarships, creating a blog, Meet the Artisans, and Donate pages within Lamsat Ummi Platform.

Take a tour of Lamsat Ummi Platform lamsatummi.com. Don’t forget to give us your feedback!

Results

Lamsat Ummi Project launched a responsive online platform by testing the responsive design across all devices to ensure a great customer experience.
To increase sales of Lamsat Ummi products, MENA Alliances …..

Developed an online store to sell women’s embroidery products
Connected the platform with social media plugins such as Instagram, Facebook, etc.
Integrated the online payment methods into the platform to enable customers around the world to buy the women’s products

To promote the social impact of lamsat Ummi project, MENA Alliances Group enabled….

Sharing the stories behind the women producers of the unique embroidery products by creating “Meet the Artisans” page

Client Story: Masmoo3

Posted on January 30, 2017June 10, 2022 by admin

Ala’a Suliman, CTO at Masmoo3 in Jordan, explains:

“We no longer need to divide jobs to be carried out by so many people. We just deliver the work to MENA Alliances and they do it professionally. We like the flexibility and full cooperation, working hard to meet our demands, prioritizing and delivering work on time.”

Website: www.masmoo3.com

The Client

Masmoo3 is the first specialized digital audio book production and publishing house in the Arab world. They aim to offer Arabic speakers easy access to a digital audio library for arabic books.

The Challenge

Hiring qualified team members to accomplish large amount of work in a timely manner
Reduce their operational expenses and save more money
Prioritizing the large amount of work to be done

The Solution

MENA Alliances vetted, tested and hired a team of 12 contractors in the West Bank and Gaza to
assist with completing Masmoo3 translation and localization work based on their projects.
MENA Alliances oversaw and provided quality control for the work compl
eted by the team of contractors
MENA Alliances managed Masmoo3’s projects and the team of contractors at the formation“Tashkeel” part in Masmoo3 work process.

Results

Masmoo3 reduced their operational expenses through outsourcing their secondary business functions to MENA Alliances

Masmoo3 is able to accomplish a larger number of projects and increased workload
Masmoo3 and MENA Alliances continue their cooperation working on a variety of projects.

Improve your reading and listening comprehension in Arabic through Masmoo3 audio books” http://www.masmoo3.com/

Client Story: ServiceAlliances

Posted on January 30, 2017June 10, 2022 by admin

Christine Hobbi, President & CEO of ServiceAlliances says:

“MENA Alliances is a tremendous asset for ServiceAlliances. We worked with MENA Alliances on several projects between the US, Qatar and Palestine. The team was fully engaged and passionate on each and every project we did and are continuing to do. I am very happy with end results and our partnership and the opportunity to make a difference in the world! “

Website: www.servicealliances.com

The Client

ServiceAlliances is a RSR (Remote Services Resourcing) organization based in the United States. It offers business innovations to small, medium and large organizations with a positive social impact. Its goal through the provided services of training, social media, web design, translation and localization, as well as IT development is to enrich the lives of people and improve the efficiency of organizations by building service alliances and filling service needs around the world.

The Challenge

“Getting the word out” about services offered
Finding ways (through social media) to bridge the gap between the West and Middle East markets and workforces
Targeting organizations/leaders that are expanding to new markets both in the U.S./Western Countries and the MENA Region

The Solution

MENA Alliances designed and developed the ServiceAlliances’ website
MENA Alliances partnered with ServiceAlliances in bringing work from organizations in United States.
MENA Alliances provided translation services to ServiceAlliances
MENA Alliances and ServiceAlliances partnered to offer training and webinars for MENA contractors to bridge skills gap between the West and Middle East markets and workforces

Results

MENA Alliances and ServiceAlliances maintain an ongoing partnership in reaching a variety of markets for solutions-oriented services
MENA Alliances and ServiceAlliances partnered to offer training and webinars for MENA contractors to bridge skills gap between the West and Middle East markets and workforces

Client Story: Palestenian Start-Up

Posted on January 30, 2017June 10, 2022 by admin

The Client

A startup, on-demand delivery service for eCommerce, local businesses and individuals at the touch of an app that summons a fleet of freelance couriers in the MENA region that also would hold packages at local collection points for convenient delivery times.

The Challenge

Creating jobs while providing hassle-free logistics network to move packages quickly and efficiently to their ultimate destination
Building a network of freelancers to make deliveries
Partnering with clients that will order services

The Solution

MENA Alliances provided the client their expertise and experience with startups
MENA Alliances developed and designed a target profile and presentation to for use with potential partners
MENA Alliances gathered the information needed by the startup to build a strong market entry strategy in their target market including setting parameters of research and gathering the needed information

Results

MENA Alliances continues acting as a resource on the ground in the target market to help this startup begin closing deals/agreements. At the client’s directive, MENA Alliances represents it in phone calls and meetings and act as a local point of contact for communication between the startup and its targets.