They innovate and launch initiatives for a better world, fight against inequalities, build a fairer and more sustainable economic system. To what extent do their proposed solutions have a true influence on the capitalist economy?

Join Sana Afouaiz, founder and director of Womenpreneur and author of “Invisible women of the Middle East: True Stories”, Frédéric Simonart, Co-founder & CEO of DUO for a JOB, and Sarah Tirmarche, COO of Epic Foundation for an inspiring conversation.

An opportunity to gather around, learn about impacting changes, innovating initiatives and more at TheMerode.

Speakers:

Sana Afouaiz, Founder, Womenpreneur 

At 27, Sana Afouaiz is the founder and director of Womenpreneur, an initiative that helps marginalized women in Belgium, the Middle East, and North Africa become entrepreneurs. She launched Womenquake, a global think tank, which organizes debates on traditions and norms through a gender lens.

She wrote “Invisible women of the Middle East: True Stories” which deals with the taboos of the Arab world. She is an advisor to UN Women and has lectured in over 50 countries. She was also named one of the ten most inspiring women by the World Bank in 2018.

Frédéric Simonart, Co-fondateur & CEO, DUO for a JOB

Frédéric Simonart is the Co-founder & CEO of DUO for a JOB, an intergenerational mentoring programme that enables young jobseekers, the mentees, to be accompanied by 50+ volunteers, the mentors, and to boost their chances of getting a job. The program is redesigning the traditional structures of mentoring, placing successful Belgian retirees as formal coaches for non-European unemployed youths entering the job market. In uniting these two populations, they are unlocking the social and cultural capital largely held by Belgian.

Frédéric is interested in understanding how social structures and patterns are replicated, generation after generation, in middle and upper-class caucasian environments.

Moderator:

Sarah Tirmarche, COO, Epic Foundation

Sarah Tirmarche is the COO of Epic Foundation, a global foundation whose mission is to empower and protect children, youth and our planet. Bridging the gap between nonprofits forging solutions to today’s pressing challenges, and individuals and businesses who want to drive positive change.

She previously co-led the Ashoka network in France, Belgium and Switzerland and founded and managed her own virtual reality start-up combining new technologies and social impact: smartVR studio.  She also held the position of VP Sales & Marketing at Fleurs d’Ici / Wetradelocal.io in the short circuits. Sarah is a graduate of Sciences Po Grenoble and ESSEC MBA, with a specialization in Social Entrepreneurship.

Timing:

• 17:30 > Welcome
• 18:00 – 19:00 > Roundtable discussion