Lina Al-Abdnouny

Jordanian tech entrepreneur empowering Arab women through coding education and startup incubation

Lina Al-Abdnouny is a pioneering Jordanian entrepreneur who founded TechGirls in 2016, a nonprofit organization dedicated to training Arab women in technology and entrepreneurship. Growing up in Amman during the Arab Spring era, she witnessed how gender disparities limited women's participation in tech sectors. TechGirls' flagship program provides free coding bootcamps, mentorship, and seed funding to women from conflict-affected regions across the Middle East.

Al-Abdnouny's initiative has graduated over 3,500 women developers and entrepreneurs, with 60% starting tech ventures post-program. Notable success stories include Palestinian startup Momental (a maternal health app) and Syrian co-founded Sahel Tech (agri-tech solutions). The program's 'Code for Change' curriculum emphasizes social impact projects, addressing issues like refugee education and environmental sustainability.

Recognized by the UN Women's Empowerment Principles in 2021, TechGirls operates in 9 countries through partnerships with local NGOs. Al-Abdnouny's TEDx talk 'Coding Our Future' (2019) has over 2M views, inspiring global interest in Arab women's tech leadership. Her work directly addresses UNESCO's gender parity goals in STEM fields, where Arab women represent only 12% of tech workers regionally.