In order to build a thriving environment for social entrepreneurship in Lebanon, Berytech, funded by MEPI, designed Impact Rise, the social innovation program. The inclusive program incorporates 3 tracks: scaling social startups, training social impact coaches and training social impact mentors while linking them all together to propel their growth and create a long-lasting relationship.
Coaches Selection
16 coaches have been selected to assist the startups shortlisted for the scaling program. The coaches will receive a 2-day train the trainer program led by international experts from IES Business School. The program will build the capacities of the coaches, empowering them with concrete tools and methodologies tailored for the support of social entrepreneurs and impact ventures.
The trained and certified coaches will be immediately matched with the social startups to support them in their growth journey during the program. They can also become future trainers for other startups from their networks.
“Berytech was looking for experts eager to work with social startups and help them increase their business growth and social impact, and we are very pleased to have received 90 applications. The 16 coaches we chose to participate in the program are now part of Berytech’s pool of experts, opening opportunities for collaboration in the context of capacity building programs and workshops for entrepreneurs,” comments and explains Krystel Khalil – Programs Director at Berytech.
Meet the Impact Rise Program Coaches
Meet the 16 coaches who have joined Berytech’s Impact Rise Program.
Elie Akhrass | Asher Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship – USEK – Director
Elie Akhrass is the Director of the Asher Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the Université Saint Esprit Kaslik (USEK). Prior to USEK, Elie used to manage the UK Lebanon Tech Hub as their programs manager and director of the International Research Center. His work resulted in creating and growing more than 80 startups and funding 5 applied research collaborations.
Elie started his career at Kafalat where he assessed the financial and credit risk of more than 1500 SME projects across Lebanon.
He holds a Masters’ degree in Economics from Saint Joseph University, a Certificate in Research Commercialization from Cambridge Institute and a Post Graduate Diploma in Innovation and Design Thinking from MIT, Columbia University and Tuck at Dartmouth. He is an expert in finance, innovation, entrepreneurship, design thinking and community building.
Joumana Aoun | Freelancer, Executive Coach and Consultant
Joumana has 20 years of experience in management, strategic planning, marketing, sales, organizational behavior, human resources, customer service, motivation, leadership and teamwork. She is an expert in communication strategies and personal development, and she has led and managed multinational and local companies in the service industry, luxury products, pharmaceuticals and FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods).
Joumana holds a bachelor’s in business administration from the Lebanese American University (BUC/LAU), and a master’s in business administration from Notre Dame University (NDU) with her thesis on the organic growth of SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises). She has a certificate in Human Resources Management (IABC-International Academy for Building Capacity) and is a Certified Life and Executive Coach (ICC- International Coaching Council).
Joumana is also an Advisor for beneficiary small and medium enterprises at EBRD (European Bank for Reconstruction and Development) Lebanon. She has attended over 100 workshops with Harvard, Insead, IE experts and various professional institutions.
Sabah Corm | RiginO sal – Founder and CEO
Sabah is a graduate in Computer Science and holds an Executive MBA degree from the ESA Business School/ESCP Paris. She has more than 20 years of professional experience in corporate companies, and more than 10 years of marketing management. Sabah’s experience involves a great deal of marketing strategy, marketing communication, program management, people management and operations with a special focus on the digital approach. She also has a continuous attention to a proper return on investment in all her endeavors allowing a good conduct of activities and campaigns with a high return.
Chady Fadel | BIAT / USAID Lebanon Enterprise Development – Business Advisor
Chady has a master’s in mechanical engineering from Wayne State University, USA with more than 15 years of experience. He worked on R&D projects with Ford and the US Army, Energy and Oil & Gas for Consolidated Contractors Company (140,000+ employees) and BUTEC (5,000+ employees) in the Energy/Renewable Energy sector. Chady has worked as a consultant and strategist for 12+ years. His job was mainly to assess the Risk and Profits of potential projects and leads, to lay the strategy of opening new markets and sectors, to negotiate with top clients for new projects. For the last 4 years, Chady was working with local Lebanese startups and SMEs providing them with proper strategies, coaching and helping them to expand and secure investments. He is currently working on USAID Lebanon Enterprise Development project, where he assisted 300+ enterprises and created 450+ jobs.
Wael Farah | HEED – Manager
Wael combined his mechanical engineering skills with his passion for sales while applying an analytical mindset in all sales management development projects. Wael’s role in HEED is to lead the customer’s organization to follow a data-driven framework. In addition, Wael has mastered the skills of coaching and training different levels of sales representatives. His areas of expertise include sales analytics, data analysis and planning, and efforts optimization. He leads most of HEED’s projects in the region to transform their business strategies and shift the executive mindsets towards a scientific decision making.
Rania Gholam | Independent Freelancer, Executive & Business Coach
Rania is a business management and people development professional with over 20 years of experience in top companies in the Middle East region stationed in Lebanon. She designed and managed, trained and mentored senior management individuals and teams; an effort that yielded valuable human assets in multiple organizations. Rania is Talent Development Professional, certified facilitator, and executive coach. She is also a corporate outdoor experience-based trainer. Her extensive professional experience in diverse industries and sectors in wide geography and cultures that stretch from the Levant to North Africa enabled her to develop the right competencies and skills set and to assist corporate and businesses in achieving their organizational objectives.
Fadi Hayek | Retired consultant
A graduate in mechanical engineering from AUB in 1977, Fadi is a Senior Executive Management Professional, Executive MBA qualified with an Engineering degree, offering over 40 years’ experience.
He is specialized in the areas of Management, Engineering, Distribution & Marketing, Financial Management & Business Planning, People Management & Leadership. He has extensive experience consulting in the Construction, Engineering, Distribution and Property Development & Management industries, with a rich diversified international exposure to the Middle Eastern, North American, European and African markets. Fadi has worked in Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Cyprus, USA, Senegal, and the UAE. He is currently retired and would like to make himself useful by sharing his experience of which about 20 years are in executive roles.
Myriam Hoballah | Incepthub – Principal Consultant
Myriam is a successful business leader with 18+ years of international professional experience and deep skill sets in Business Coaching, Management Consulting, Strategic Planning, Marketing & Sales Strategy, Start-up Creation and Risks Analysis across diverse industries such as Social entrepreneurship, Environment, Hospitality/F&B, Telecoms and Media. She has a successful track record in commercial and service market environments, with the ability to motivate and hone future leadership while continuously developing systems to achieve operational excellence, attain performance objectives, and steer overall organizational advancement. A multilingual, creative and pro-active leader, she was awarded and recognized in 2012 among Top 20 entrepreneurs in Lebanon by Executive Magazine for founding O’Box, an organic fast food concept. She has a Law degree in Business Law from PARIS II – ASSAS University (France).
Zakie Karam | DON TELECOM – General Manager
Zakie Karam is the co-founder and the general manager of DON TELECOM since 2011. She is passionate about business development and growth and believes that a talented motivated team can only have the sky as limit for their achievements. She was able to increase the annual revenue by 40% in almost all the firms she worked at in the last 30 years.
This has attracted many international organizations and companies, small to big, to seek her mentorship and consultancy. Zakie is currently active on many boards in her community such as FabricAid and Geek Express and has been an angel investor with IM Capital for the last couple of years. She is a certified corporate director by IFC and a certified business angel and Deal Leader by Go Beyond.
She has computer science background, and is an MBA graduate from ESA, affiliated to ESCP-EAP in Paris. She is passionate about technology, telecom and IT industries, and therefore her vast experience with the most leading tech companies in the region such as ABS LTD. where she was the senior sales director for Middle East & Africa, Yahsat where she was the business director for YahCarrier, IDM international where she was the general manager, and many more.
Zakie believes that youth and women have an important role in driving positive change in our community. She consequently volunteers as a mentor with Confideo Lebanon Venture Mentoring based on MIT VMS and is an active committee member at Lebanese League for Women in Business.
Patricia Kebbe | Noyau sarl – Managing Partner
Patricia graduated in Advertising & Marketing and started her career in multinational advertising agencies where she succeeded in building and developing international FMCG brands. She later deepened her know-how in CRM and Digital Marketing.
In 2006, she launched GOU Restaurant & Salon de Thé epitomizing her enchantment for fine foods. She managed the operations and successfully developed the brand for 7 years, to finally turn it from one outlet to a franchise business, which was acquired in 2013 by a regional hospitality group. Since 2014, Patricia has been offering her consultancy services in Sustainable Marketing & Business Development for leading private and non-profit organizations, namely Fair-Trade Lebanon, AUB Food Heritage Foundation, etc.
Youmna Maatouk | Freelance Consultant
Youmna holds a BS in Hospitality and Tourism Management from the Lebanese University of Beirut from which she graduated with Honors in 2005. She then enrolled in an MBA program in International Hospitality Management from ESSEC Business School – IMHI, one of the leading business schools in Europe after which she was recruited by the Real Estate and Tourism consulting team at KMPG Dubai.
Youmna came back to Lebanon in 2009 to head the Beirut office of Hodema Consulting Services, a local company specialized in the hospitality and real estate sectors. She managed the team of Analysts and Consultants while handling her own projects and actively participating in the strategic growth of the company. In 2012, Youmna became a Freelance Consultant working exclusively with Hodema.
Maurice Mouawad | youjad.com – co-founder
Maurice brings 15 years of expertise in business and project management having worked globally, managing commercial interests in the Middle East and Levant and most recently the E-commerce business.
After serving 13 years in Egypt, in different executive positions and initiating several startups, Mouawad moved back to Lebanon to venture in an E-commerce multi-vendor platform youjad.com.
At the strategic level, he is more akin to setting up startups and consulting to help in the execution of projects in domestic and international markets, by undertaking and facilitating cross-functional activities He holds an MSc in Computer Science, an MBA and MPhil / DBA.
Rima Saad | Freelance Consultant
Rima has a decade of experience in coaching individuals, professional companies and NGOs. She started her career at Solidere in the department of Communications and then became a research director at Cushman & Wakefield expanding her career in developing studies for multinational retail shops and companies in Lebanon and UAE.
She then moved into retail and advertising working again with local and multinational companies in the MENA region. Rima considers her experience teaching at the universities of NDU and Balamand as a way to give back to society, which has also allowed her to expand her expertise in coaching and training. Today she works with companies, private businesses, start-ups and NGOs (The Nawaya Network, Care International, Oxfam Badael) and offers pro bono training when asked.
Roula Eid Sawan | Team in Motion – CEO
Roula is CEO at Team In Motion, a specialized company for team building activities, team coaching and personal development training, and is the GM of the Youth & Culture Center at Zouk Mikael municipality.
he is a Certified Corporate Relationship and Team Coach from ORSC-CRR Global San Francisco ORSCC, ACC holder from ICF and a personal development trainer. She holds a master’s degree in Commercial & Industrial Business Administration from St Joseph University and has also earned the TOT from UFE. She delivers workshops at several universities and is a motivational speaker. Roula is the MENA Ambassador of the international organization “Female Wave of Change (FWoC), and a board member at MEPI LAA. She believes in empowering and motivating youth and women.
Pauline Sawaya| Freelance Executive Coach & Mentor
Pauline is the Founder of Swift Shift, and the Managing Director of Noble Manhattan Coaching Levant, the first Coach training in the world. She is an accredited Master Coach from UK, leader, consultant, HR, Mentor and transformational trainer.
Pauline has conducted capacity building, coaching & mentoring for C level, senior managers and employees, empowering them to achieve their ambitions, develop and raise the bar in their career and life. She also works with SMEs to double the value of their business in 2 to 3 years.Pauline holds a bachelor’s and MBA from Notre Dame University, 2 Coach Certifications from Erickson Canada, is a Change Coach from CCI, NLP Practitioner by the American Board of NLP, Time Line Therapy & Hypnotherapist Practitioner. Pauline is a faculty member of Noble Manhattan Coaching, #1coach training in the world.
Pauline was selected as the 2017 Lebanese HR success story by the University of Balamand and is a member/mentor in many Lebanese organizations such as WLC, ICF, C2C.
Chadi Snaifer | WIDER s.a.r.l – Business Consultant, Trainer & Coach
Chadi is a vibrant, and self-motivated professional coach, trainer and business consultant, who is eager to apply the most scientific concepts into the day-to-day activities of the people he works with. He has a blend of behavioral and technical skills that positioned him as influential coach and very efficient business consultant.
He is highly skilled in startup thinking, ideas materialization, budgeting, strategic planning, circulation (distribution & quality control), customer needs assessment, establishing priorities, training, delegating tasks and team motivation.
Chadi has solid knowledge in most GCC & Levant markets, with a vast and diversified portfolio of national and multi-national accounts, along with different types of industries including social entrepreneurs.
His experience extends between coaching and consulting and high-level research and analysis which gives his sessions and consulting plans a very practical aspect with a motivational and interactive style.
Read more about the Impact Rise Program here.
