With a commitment to female entrepreneurship

Deborah Lygonis is a familiar face in the startup world. She has founded a number of digital startups and gotten involved in many more. But her great calling is also about helping others. That drive led her to the role of business coach and has paved the way for supporting women entrepreneurs in more vulnerable parts of the world.

She Entrepreneurs is an initiative launched by the Swedish Institute to empower young women entrepreneurs from the Middle East and North Africa in their work for sustainable change. It is also a way to make women's work visible in the official economy. For the third year in a row, our business coach Deborah Lygonis is one of the mentors supporting the women.

- "These women struggle to make their way in male-dominated structures, especially those running tech and IT companies," says Deborah.

The program targets young female entrepreneurs whose business ideas have the potential to create positive change in society. For six months, they participate in online seminars and receive regular mentoring support.

- The mentoring here is very different from what I do on a daily basis at the incubator. The most tangible was when I coached a woman from Palestine and we went through her SWOT. The first item on the list of threats was war and political unrest. Besides the fear and unrest, it also affects their ability to export to neighboring or other countries, which means they have to grow in their own market.

Historically, the Middle East has had the lowest female labor force participation rate in the world. Unequal family relations contribute to women's difficulties in combining work and family life. Technological advances are paving the way for change, but the journey is still long.

- It is extremely inspiring and instructive to be part of the journey of these competent and enterprising women. They struggle with challenges that are not part of our everyday lives, such as political instability and poor infrastructure. Some days when we have mentor meetings scheduled, we have to cancel because they simply don't have a network that day," Deborah concludes.

Today, March 8th, we celebrate International Women's Day to draw attention to gender inequality and the situation of women worldwide. Deborah's work is one of many important pieces in the puzzle of working towards a more equal society.