Every year Startup Grind hosts SG Women’s Month, proudly recognizing the accomplishments of female leaders around the world. Throughout the month of May, we’re hosting local and global events with the goal of bringing together female entrepreneurs and investors who are leading, shaping, and funding the future – female first.

Meet our speakers: 

Luma Fawaz, CEO of Oasis500:

Luma Fawaz is one of the Middle East’s most influential leaders in early-stage business acceleration, investment, and fund management. For the last two years, she was named by Forbes as one of the region’s Top 100 Power Businesswomen. She is the CEO of Oasis500, the pre-seed and seed fund investor and accelerator based in Amman, Jordan. The company has nurtured a wide range of technology and media companies from inception to investment readiness and beyond. Under her leadership, Oasis500 has been the most active investor and catalyst in building Jordan’s start-up ecosystem.

Luma brings two decades of experience investing in and mentoring high-potential entrepreneurs. She has overseen over 150 early-stage deals and worked with more than 2,500 entrepreneurs. Beyond pre-seed and seed funding, Oasis500’s signature acceleration process consists of helping startups develop products, sharpen business models, receive coaching and gain access to a growing network of experts spanning industries. Prior to her work at Oasis500, Luma served at Nuqul Group’s head office where she recommended investments and assessed risk. She served as a financial and investment advisor at advisory firm PanBuck Limited and as head of equity investments at Awraq Investments, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cairo Amman Bank. Luma holds a master’s degree in finance and a bachelor’s degree in political science and international relations from Boston University.

Rasha Manna, General Manager at Flat6Labs:

Rasha is the General Manager of Flat6Labs Amman, an early-stage venture fund and seed program manager. Rasha started her career in audit with Arthur Andersen. She then joined Hikma Pharma as part of the Initial Public Offering team that was responsible for the company’s listing on the London Stock Exchange. Following the IPO, her career shifted to investment banking, founding and heading the Equity Research department at Amwal Invest and then at JordInvest. Rasha then transitioned to the start-up world in the capacity of Managing Director of Endeavor Jordan. She then took on the role of Chief Growth Officer at Luminus Education, a fast-growing social enterprise working to address the societal challenge of youth unemployment through Vocational and Technical schools of excellence, and through fostering entrepreneurship via incubation and acceleration programs. Most recently Rasha was mandated by the UNDP in Jordan to design, implement and engage the public and private sectors in the SDG Impact initiative which looks to drive capital flows towards SDG-aligned investment opportunities. Rasha Manna completed her undergraduate degree at the London School of Economics and her Executive MBA at the American University of Beirut, is a Certified Public Accountant, Certified Internal Auditor, and an alumnus of the Thnk School of Creative Leadership.

We hope you’ll join us during our ninth year to celebrate the power of #SGWomen.

#SGWomen is brought to you by Silicon Valley Bank, and Comcast NBCUniversal LIFT Labs.