On the Radio and Social Media — Middle Eastern Women are Changing the Landscape of Gender Roles and Relations
Every year, YPO recognizes a handful of its most inspiring members with a Social Enterprise Network (SEN) Sustainability Award — an honor given to those fostering positive social change on both local and global levels.
This year’s winner of the SEN Sustainability Award for Equality is the Founder and Board President of The Womanity Foundation, Yann Borgstedt. For more than a decade, Borgstedt has been giving women in the Middle East a voice through disruptive media and collaborations across sectors.
Following the successful sale of his first venture in 2002, Borgstedt found that acquiring wealth for the sake of it was neither a sufficient nor fulfilling end.
After rigorous research, he realized investing in girls’ education, as well as vocational training and employment for women, had positive ripple effects on societies across the globe. Soon thereafter, The Womanity Foundation opened its doors and began changing the lives of women in communities throughout the Middle East, North Africa, Brazil and India.
“I would define what we do as an entrepreneurial approach to social issues,” says Borgstedt. “We’re pushing the boundaries to foster change, creating a future in which women and men enjoy equal and full social, economic and political rights.”
Offering a diverse mix of educational curriculum, vocational training and innovative media programs, the foundation is focused on changing the landscape of relationships between men and women. These impactful programs are made sustainable through unique collaborations between the social sector, business world, social entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial organizations. “We’re a mix between a venture capital fund and an entrepreneur,” Borgstedt explains. “We believe in finding, developing or backing innovative solutions led by the right people, all working together to enact change.”
On the radio
A major focus at Womanity is using media to empower women. The organization’s Nisaa FM radio station produces a wide variety of shows, including radio plays, call-in shows and broadcasts that feature both women and and men discussing women’s rights.
“Nissa was the first commercial women’s radio station and website in the Middle East to put the power directly into the hands of those who have traditionally suffered from not having a voice,” Borgstedt says. “The station offers a unique outlet for Arab women to speak their minds and hear stories of other women.”
Written by YPOImage: CC
Publication date: April 2019 Read Full Article Learn about NGOs supporting Women in the Arab World by clicking here.
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