Asma Mansour (Arabic: أسماء منصور) is a Tunisian entrepreneur and women's activist who in 2011 co-founded the Tunisian Center for Social Entrepreneurship.[1] As a result, she was selected as one of the BBC's 100 Women in 2014.[2] In June 2016, she was placed third among 42 African innovators selected by the online business magazine Ventures Africa.[3][4]
Biography
editBrought up in a traditional family, Mansour was subject to the strict rules of her parents. By the time she was 15, she had started to write about how difficult it was for her to accept the way women were treated in her family and more generally in the community as a whole. She nevertheless studied accounting at Manouba University's Higher Institute of Accounting and Business, graduating in 2010.[5]
While a student, she played a leading role in various organizations, including Junior Chamber International and AIESEC, where by arranging events she gained experience of issues such as environment, health care, education, human rights and social exclusion. She learnt how to manage a team, raise funds and negotiate partnerships. Recognizing her potential, the US Embassy gave her a scholarship to follow a business management course at Tunisia's Mediterranean School of Business which she completed in 2010. Thanks to a scholarship from the Ecole Supérieure de Commerce, she then went on to earn a master's degree at Marouba in 2013.[5]
While studying, Mansour founded the human rights organization, People's Movement for Human Rights Learning, which strove to integrate human rights into the daily lives of Tunisian citizens. After a visit to Japan where she was inspired by the potential of a social approach to entrepreneurship, in 2011, together with Hatem Mahbouli and Sarah Toumi, she founded the Tunisian Center for Social Entrepreneurship, dedicated to making social entrepreneurship a basis for the Tunisian economy.[6]
Tunisian Center for Social Entrepreneurship
editThe Tunisian Center for Social Entrepreneurship was created in 2011. Its primary mission is to seek sustainable and innovative solutions for Tunisia's social, environmental, and economic challenges while basing itself on the principles of social entrepreneurship which, for the team, is a generator of development opportunities for local communities.[7]
Social Innovation Station, one of the center's flagship projects, initiated in 2015, consists of four innovation spaces in Mahdia, Sidi Bouzid, Kasserine, and Tunis.[8] The role of these spaces is to provide suitable conditions for local communities to co-create innovative projects that will have an impact on society. In addition, through this project, the center seeks to decentralize and democratize access to information, opportunities, and networks of national and international experts through various programs.[8]
References
edit- ^ Mayard, Aline (14 December 2014). "Asma Mansour: Tunisia's social entrepreneurship pioneer". Wamda. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
- ^ "Who are the 100 Women 2014?". BBC. 26 October 2014. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
- ^ Okoroafor, Cynthia (2016). "42 African Innovators To Watch". Ventures Africa. Archived from the original on 12 October 2018. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
- ^ "Une jeune tunisienne dans le top 3 des meilleurs innovateurs africains". Radio Tunis Chaîne Internationale. 7 June 2016. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
- ^ a b "Asma Mansour". Ashoka. Archived from the original on 14 May 2019. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
- ^ "Who We Are". Tunisian Center for Social Entrepreneurship. Archived from the original on 29 November 2016.
- ^ "Tunisian Center for Social Entrepreneurship lance un appel à candidature". Jamaity. 21 February 2016. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
- ^ a b "Un nouvel espace pou l'innovation et l'entrepreneuriat social à Beb Souika". Tekiano. 26 March 2018. Retrieved 16 December 2022.