Biography:Leila Ben-Gacem

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Short description: Tunisian social entrepreneur
Leila Ben-Gacem
Arabic: ليلى بن قاسم
Stay Tunes - Leila Ben-Gacem.jpg
Born1969
NationalityTunisia
Alma materSocial Entrepreneur and municipal councillor
Known forEntrepreneurship

Leila Ben-Gacem (Arabic: ليلى بن قاسم) is a Tunisian social entrepreneur. She is the founder of Blue Fish company[1] and the initiator and founder of several initiatives in the Tunisian ecosystem and cultural scenes through Tunisian Civil Society.[2] Ben-Gacem is also an elected member of the municipal council of Beni Khalled since Tunisia's first decentralized municipal elections were held in 2018.[3]

Biography

Ben-Gacem studied biomedical engineering at Boston University. She worked in many companies such as IMM in Tunisia, Hewlett-Packard in Germany , Assada Medical in Libya.

In 2006, she started the social enterprise Blue Fish to help Tunisian artisans, particularly women, to export their works and develop their businesses.[4] In 2009, she initiated Sougha Est in the khalifa fund for enterprise development in Abu Dhabi in the UAE.[5] She occupied the position of Senior Manager at the Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development, helping Emirati women artisans in developing their local enterprises,[6][7] until 2013 when she decided to go back to Tunisia.

In 2013, Leila founded Dar Ben-Gacem, a boutique hotel and a social enterprise.[8][9][10] The guest house's main objective is to contribute to the development of the Medina of Tunis.[11] Ben-Gacem was elected, in the period of 2014-2016, as a board member of Edhiafa Association that deals with the network of boutique hotels in Tunisia. Before that, she was a board member in CJD (Centre des Jeunes Dirigeants) - Young CEO Centre until 2009.

Civic engagement and social change

Ben-Gacem is known as a socio-cultural catalyst.[12] She has been involved in many cultural initiatives to revive the Medina of Tunis and ensure its sustainable development.[13] In 2015, Leila and other civil society actors played a major role in reviving the Rachidia association in its 80th anniversary, then she joined other cultural initiatives such as Journal de la Médina, the national Wikipedia project MedinaPedia[12] and the first Light Festival in Africa Interference.[14]

In 2015 as well, she has led a national campaign to revive the industry and usage of the Chachia.[15] Leila occupied the position of President of the Association of Preservation of Beni Khalled from 2015 until 2018.[2] She is also a founding member of the Ultramarathon Association in Tunisia[16] since 2017, where they organised the first Ultramarathon, UltraMirage[17] in Nefta in the south of Tunisia.[2]

In 2017, Ben-Gacem founded the first co-working space in the Medina of Tunis, entitled Dar El Harka,[18] intended as a hub for creative industries.[15] Ben-Gacem joined Emna Mizouni in founding Digital Citizenship organization to advance the knowledge and skills of women entrepreneurs.

Ben-Gacem ran for civic office in the 2018 Tunisian municipal elections, as part of a list of independent candidates with the slogan "Ghodwa Khir - Tomorrow is better".[19] She was elected to the Beni Khalled municipality. Later, she was appointed the head of the finance committee.[3] She also joined the network of women municipal counsellors in the Maghreb region[20] along with Souad Abderrahim and other women municipal councillors.[21][3]

Recognition

Ben-Gacem received Fatma El Fehria Award in 2017.[22] In the same year, she received the Women Entrepreneur in Cultural Sector Award as well. Prior to that, in October 2016, she became an Ashoka Fellow.[23]

References

  1. ↑ Fondation BIAT pour la jeunesse (23 May 2016). "Spark Days - 2016 - Leyla Ben Gacem nous parle de son projet Dar Ben Gacem". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fm9kojDhRBk. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Leïla Ben Gacem : " Concilier business et impact social "". 11 September 2018. https://wia-initiative.com/parcourir/leila-ben-gacem-mag/. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Error: no |title= specified when using {{Cite web}}". https://www.pressreader.com/tunisia/le-manager/20170701/281642485195865. 
  4. ↑ 'Leila Ben Gacem: Ashoka Fellow'.
  5. ↑ The National (20 June 2010). "Western Region Weaving". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywNGhndnDs0. 
  6. ↑ GE Middle East, North Africa & Turkey (13 January 2013). "Leila Ben-Gacem on Unlocking Untapped Talents". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiqDXP25x4k. 
  7. ↑ "31 أسرة منتجة تشارك في ورشة تعريفية بخدمات صندوق خليفة للمشاريع". Al Ittihad. 20 September 2012. https://www.alittihad.ae/article/90941/2012/31-%D8%A3%D8%B3%D8%B1%D8%A9-%D9%85%D9%86%D8%AA%D8%AC%D8%A9-%D8%AA%D8%B4%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%83-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D9%88%D8%B1%D8%B4%D8%A9-%D8%AA%D8%B9%D8%B1%D9%8A%D9%81%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%A8%D8%AE%D8%AF%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%B5%D9%86%D8%AF%D9%88%D9%82-%D8%AE%D9%84%D9%8A%D9%81%D8%A9-%D9%84%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B4%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%B9. 
  8. ↑ "Accueil". http://www.darbengacem.com. 
  9. ↑ Monika Maier-Albang, 'Das getroffene Land; Seit den Terroranschlägen meiden Touristen das klassische Urlaubsziel Tunesien', Süddeutsche Zeitung (11 February 2016), p. 21.
  10. ↑ بولر, أليشا (11 June 2019). "النهوض بالموروث الثقافي التونسي". Al Bayan. https://alqabas.com/article/658565-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%86%D9%87%D9%88%D8%B6-%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%AB-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AB%D9%82%D8%A7%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA%D9%88%D9%86%D8%B3%D9%8A. 
  11. ↑ "Portrait: Leila ben Gacem: Une femme d'exception". http://tourism-view.com/2017/12/04/portrait-leila-ben-gacem-une-femme-dexception/. 
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 "How a new generation is reviving the old heart of Tunis". 22 May 2017. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/new-generation-reviving-old-heart-tunis. 
  13. ↑ "Meet the woman who fights extremism by creating job opportunities". 2 May 2016. https://womenintheworld.com/2016/05/02/meet-the-woman-fighting-extremism-in-tunisia-by-creating-job-opportunities/. 
  14. ↑ "INTERFERENCE". http://intunis.net/en/. 
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 webmasterwajjahni (19 January 2017). "Leila Ben Gacem : Entreprendre pour valoriser la Médina et le patrimoine". http://wajjahni.com/fr/leila-ben-gacem-entreprendre-pour-valoriser-la-m%C3%A9dina-et-le-patrimoine. 
  16. ↑ "Organisation - Tozeur - Ultra Mirage El Djerid". https://www.ultramirage.com/organisation-fr. 
  17. ↑ "Ultra Mirage el Djerid 100KM". https://www.runultra.co.uk/Events/Ultra-Mirage-El-Djerid-100km. 
  18. ↑ "Dar el Harka". http://www.darelharka.org. 
  19. ↑ "Elections municipales Tunisie 2018: Résultats préliminaires dans la circonscription de Nabeul II". 10 May 2018. https://directinfo.webmanagercenter.com/2018/05/10/elections-municipales-tunisie-2018-resultats-preliminaires-dans-la-circonscription-de-nabeul-ii/. 
  20. ↑ http://www.aimf.asso.fr/IMG/pdf/leadership.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  21. ↑ "Tunisie : Femme en politique, un combat de tous les jours". https://www.middleeasteye.net/reportages/tunisie-femme-en-politique-un-combat-de-tous-les-jours-1567382283. 
  22. ↑ "Les lauréats des prix "Fatima Fihriya" dévoilés". 30 April 2017. https://www.huffpostmaghreb.com/2017/04/30/story_n_16335774.html. 
  23. ↑ "Leila Ben Gacem". https://www.ashoka.org/fr/pionnier/leila-ben-gacem. 

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