I had the privilege of being Kiva’s first fellow to work with Together Association for Development and Environment (TADE), our only partner in Egypt. TADE is based in the Minya governate, known locally as the “Bride of Upper Egypt.”
Before arriving, all I knew about Minya came from headlines of vicious extremist attacks targeting Christian communities. I was relieved to find an oasis of harmony, where the community ties... Continue Reading >>Omar is a first generation Palestinian-American and a native of Washington, DC. He spent extensive time working in the Middle East with organizations focused on human rights, youth entrepreneurship, and small business development. During this time, he came across Zaytoun, a social enterprise that provides small-scale Palestinian farmers with access to global markets. He was exhilarated by how the model enabled sustainable, locally-driven approaches to empower communities. It inspired him to explore and design social enterprise models that alleviate poverty among the most marginalized and vulnerable groups of people. Omar is excited to advance this goal by learning from and supporting Kiva's field partners in Palestine, Jordan and Egypt.