How have you impacted your community?

I am motivated by the lack of equity in Israeli society and its reticence to embrace diversity. Over 53 percent of Palestinian citizens of Israel live below the poverty line, the largest population group in the country with the highest poverty rate among OECD nations.

My goal is to foster longer-term, systemic economic development through affordable and accessible entrepreneurial and makers education.

In 2013, I dropped out of university to work as a software developer in Tel-Aviv. Inspired by the flourishing hi-tech ecosystem there and motivated by the lack of development of such fields in my society, I turned my parents’ basement into the first community-based hackerspace for Palestinians in Israel.

One year later, I founded Hasoub, a grassroots NGO that fosters tech-entrepreneurship and economic development among Palestinian society. Two years later, I founded Ibtekar, which provides affordable maker and entrepreneurial education to school pupils from underprivileged backgrounds.

My hope is to help empower them to pursue their passions and become knowledgeable, active citizens who create and innovate to positively impact the world.

For my work, I’ve been named to Forbes 30 Under 30 list of creative disrupters.