“I am an active and energetic person. I love being independent, especially financially, to have my own job and not burden my parents with my expenses.” She said.

Hala loves to attend workshops to develop her skills. One day she saw a post about GIL, the Generation of Innovation Leaders, which is an entrepreneurship programme that aims to provide monetary support to small startups and offers them the needed training to kickstart their businesses. It is powered by UNICEF and funded by the Kingdom of Netherlands.

“I never took an entrepreneurship workshop before. I was curious to learn more since I aim to become an entrepreneur myself and one day have my own business. Thank God that’s exactly what I managed to do in a short period with GIL’s support.”

Her project is called Bloom Center; it specializes in developing children’s skills. “In our region, there are many centers that take care of academic aspects for children, but unfortunately, there are no centers that develop their skills. Educational play is important because children are nowadays stuck playing on their phones/computers or, worse, playing on the streets, exposing them to bad habits such as smoking. Therefore, we created Bloom Center to entertain and educate those children at the same time. I manage Bloom with my older sister Reem, and we divided it into four clubs: Little Readers Club, Little Artists Club, Little Geniuses Club, and the Languages Club. In these clubs, children will choose to learn more about topics they are interested in, such as drawing, acquiring a new language, or simply choosing to play board games. We also help them develop collaboration, leadership, honesty, etc.” She said.

Hala attended GIL online via zoom during the Coronavirus lockdown. The programme comprised three phases: ideation, financial study, and incubation. During the ideation phase, she had to devise an idea to solve a societal problem.

“GIL helped me build a foundation for my project. I couldn’t realize this project without GIL. I learned how to start a business, rely on myself, and think like an entrepreneur. I did the market and financial study; our trainer Miss Rania was supportive every step of the way.”

After GIL, I enrolled in many entrepreneurship programmes “because I realized how priceless such information is,” she added. Hala did not stop at GIL; she also participated in the Generation Unlimited ImaGen Ventures global competition for 2022. She presented her project Bloom and made it among the top five winners which earned her a seed funding of $1,000 and incubation support. She decided to develop her center by offering academic lessons to children. Hala believes in empowering women; she aims to change mentalities in her region. She wants her project with GIL to be an example for young women, to motivate them to become financially independent and believe in themselves.

“Women lack support from their surroundings. GIL is there to offer them this support and give them equal opportunities regardless of gender. I encourage youth to participate and take their chance for a better future,” she concluded.