9 young Arabs to watch!

Published April 10th, 2016 - 07:50 GMT

Arabian Business released another round-up of Arabs to keep an eye on, this time it's the most influential young Arabs under age 40 who are shaking up sectors across a broad sweep of careers. The usual celebs make an appearance (crooners Mohammed Assaf and Nancy Ajram, and E! channel darling Amal Clooney squeaked in at age 38!) but the list excludes royals.

We've culled out 9 who are making significant differences in their chosen fields, who warrant special attention for shattering stereotypes about what it means to be a young, modern Middle Easterner. If these teasers grab your interest, read more about them on the full story, link here.

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Broaden Minds! Injaz Egypt founder Dina El Mofty has given real-life skills and work experience to 500,000 students through a program that builds on the work of the late Soraya Salti. She wants Egypt's grads to think, “I’m not going to wait around anymore for a job to come my way, I’m going to create my own work opportunity.”

Put women to work! Khalid Alkhudair started Glowork to tackle female unemployment in Saudi Arabia. He estimates he’s helped 26,000 women find jobs in government, on Shoura council, and in e-commerce. Today 490,000 Saudi women work, eight times more than in 2012. He’s building an empire based on balanced work and life for women.

Taxi! Mariam Abultewi created Wasselni, a version of Uber that sidesteps Gaza's challenged telecom network. It uses a mobile app to field bookings which are then called in to drivers who may not have smartphones. Wasselni, which was one of the first start-up investments in Gaza, also works as a social network.

Think big! Blogger and speaker Khalid Al Ameri wants to create entrepreneurial leaders who, in turn, will create a unique UAE work culture. He offered to take an unpaid leave from his job at the Abu Dhabi investment company Mubadala to be teach youth to think big. The action went viral on UAE social media (tweeted by Sheik Abdullah bin Zayad!).

Is there a doctor in the house? Iqbal Al Asaad finished high school at age 12, then became the youngest Arab doctor on the planet at age 20! Trained at Cornell University/Qatar, her Palestinian refugee roots ban her from work in Lebanon’s public hospitals. She dreams of building hospitals to provide free medical care in refugee camps.

Learn by laughing! Riyadh-based Hisham Fageeh started in stand-up while at Columbia University, later performing in his Arabic YouTube series Isboo’iyat Hisham. You’ll know him from his Bob Marley-inspired ‘No woman, No drive’ satire - the clip went viral the same day that a number of Saudi women defied the kingdom’s driving ban.

UAE queen of social media! Emirati YouTube sensation Futaim Al Falasi has nearly 400,000 subscribers, pulling in 63 million views since it began in 2012. She also started an online radio show, which rates as the most listened channel in the Arab region. Almost 2 million Instagram followers track her posts.

Boy wonder! In 2013, Ahmad Alhendawi became the youngest-ever senior official at the UN when he was appointed the first Envoy on Youth, responsible for enhancing the UN response to youth issues, increasing youth involvement and advocating for their needs. He was previously youth policy adviser to the League of Arab States.

Action! Jordanian Naji Abou Nawar spent a year living in Jordan's southern wadis, preparing for Theeb, his 2014 film release that he calls a “Bedouin western”. The critically acclaimed movie earned a Best Foreign Language Film nomination at the 88th Academy Awards, a BAFTA Award, and became the first Jordanian film to be Oscar-nominated.

Broaden Minds! Injaz Egypt founder Dina El Mofty has given real-life skills and work experience to 500,000 students through a program that builds on the work of the late Soraya Salti. She wants Egypt's grads to think, “I’m not going to wait around anymore for a job to come my way, I’m going to create my own work opportunity.”

Put women to work! Khalid Alkhudair started Glowork to tackle female unemployment in Saudi Arabia. He estimates he’s helped 26,000 women find jobs in government, on Shoura council, and in e-commerce. Today 490,000 Saudi women work, eight times more than in 2012. He’s building an empire based on balanced work and life for women.

Taxi! Mariam Abultewi created Wasselni, a version of Uber that sidesteps Gaza's challenged telecom network. It uses a mobile app to field bookings which are then called in to drivers who may not have smartphones. Wasselni, which was one of the first start-up investments in Gaza, also works as a social network.

Think big! Blogger and speaker Khalid Al Ameri wants to create entrepreneurial leaders who, in turn, will create a unique UAE work culture. He offered to take an unpaid leave from his job at the Abu Dhabi investment company Mubadala to be teach youth to think big. The action went viral on UAE social media (tweeted by Sheik Abdullah bin Zayad!).

Is there a doctor in the house? Iqbal Al Asaad finished high school at age 12, then became the youngest Arab doctor on the planet at age 20! Trained at Cornell University/Qatar, her Palestinian refugee roots ban her from work in Lebanon’s public hospitals. She dreams of building hospitals to provide free medical care in refugee camps.

Learn by laughing! Riyadh-based Hisham Fageeh started in stand-up while at Columbia University, later performing in his Arabic YouTube series Isboo’iyat Hisham. You’ll know him from his Bob Marley-inspired ‘No woman, No drive’ satire - the clip went viral the same day that a number of Saudi women defied the kingdom’s driving ban.

UAE queen of social media! Emirati YouTube sensation Futaim Al Falasi has nearly 400,000 subscribers, pulling in 63 million views since it began in 2012. She also started an online radio show, which rates as the most listened channel in the Arab region. Almost 2 million Instagram followers track her posts.

Boy wonder! In 2013, Ahmad Alhendawi became the youngest-ever senior official at the UN when he was appointed the first Envoy on Youth, responsible for enhancing the UN response to youth issues, increasing youth involvement and advocating for their needs. He was previously youth policy adviser to the League of Arab States.

Action! Jordanian Naji Abou Nawar spent a year living in Jordan's southern wadis, preparing for Theeb, his 2014 film release that he calls a “Bedouin western”. The critically acclaimed movie earned a Best Foreign Language Film nomination at the 88th Academy Awards, a BAFTA Award, and became the first Jordanian film to be Oscar-nominated.

Tags:Amal Clooney Mohammed Assaf Nancy Ajram

9 young Arabs to watch!

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