Rana El Chemaitelly

Lebanon

Trip:

Charlotte, North Carolina

Mentored by:

Terri McCullough

Business

Founder, The Little Engineer®

With a background in mechanical engineering and management, Rana created The Little Engineer, an “edutainment” center for engaging young minds in science, technology, engineering and mathematics through hands-on learning activities to unleash their full potential in pre-engineering skills while highlighting robotics, renewable energies, aviation and space, working in parallel on youth leadership and presentation skills. The Little Engineer works with ministries of education in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region to integrate the program in school curricula.

For The Little Engineer initiative and business plan, Rana was recognized as one of MENA's most promising entrepreneurs in 2009 by Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She was awarded the “Coup de Coeur Femme” by Medventures for the Mediterranean in 2010. In 2011, she was selected for the U.S. State Department’s International Visitor Leadership Program and won the Cartier Women’s Initiative Award for the MENA region. In 2012 Rana won the Green Mind Award and in 2013, The Little Engineer signed a strategic partnership with Airbus Middle East to deliver regional workshops for youth. In 2016, she partnered with Airbus Foundation to expand her social programs at the global level starting in Africa. She is a VV GROW fellow, and was part of VV100 in 2016.

Rana is committed to being a voice of change in the Arab world by investing in young minds and preparing future leaders for the challenges.