Program Summary

The HSBC Financial and Entrepreneurship Awareness (FEA) Program was designed to provide young Arab women the opportunity to develop skills that will help them realize their career aspirations in business and finance. Funded by international banking giant HSBC and administered by AMIDEAST in partnership with Wilson College in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, the program addressed the need among young Arab women to acquire skills that enhance their employability, thereby meeting a vitally important goal in a region with extremely high rates of unemployment among women. 

Main Goals

• Support the career goals of young Arab women seeking careers in finance and entrepreneurship

• Provide short-term skills training in business and entrepreneurship basics that complement participants’ university-level studies, with a focus on activities that provide hands-on exposure to the realities of business, finance, and entrepreneurship activities

• Build the business, leadership, and financial management skills of young women to prepare them to be business-owners and contribute to broader economic gains for the region

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Program Summary

Between 2007 and 2009, the Legal and Business Fellowship Program (LBFP) brought nearly 90 young Arab professional women to the United States for a combination of executive education at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and Law School and fellowships at top-tier law firms and leading companies across the United States. The program, which was funded by the U.S. Department of State’s Middle East Partnership Initiative, enabled them to improve their professional skills and gain valuable experience working in the U.S. business and legal environment.