I just came back from two weeks in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where we launched an amazing cross-cultural venture. The US-Saudi Women’s Forum on Social Entrepreneurship is a collaboration of Babson’s Center for Women’s Leadership, Wellesley Centers for Women, Dar Al-Hekma College in Jeddah, and ICF International. Over 90 undergraduate women from four schools in Jeddah attended the four-day program which introduced them to the foundations of social entrepreneurship and began tapping into their passions and talents for creating sustainable ventures. Thirty of them were selected to attend a two-week advanced program here at Babson, this July 10-25.

I had fully intended to blog while I was there. But the truth is that my mind was so busy processing everything I was seeing and hearing and learning that I simply couldn’t find the words to talk about it. I’m still not sure that I can. This was my first trip to the Middle East, and it was 14 days of sheer wonder—and total cognitive dissonance!  

So many of the things I thought I “knew” about that part of the world turned out to be either totally outdated, just plain myths, or often very Western interpretations of the reality. For example, yes, it is true that right now women cannot drive in Saudi Arabia. But it was fascinating to learn about the formal and informal groups (led by both women and men) who are working within the legal system and challenging the social systems to change that.  Not, mind you, because women are desperate to drive; the traffic there is a nightmare! But because the real issue isn’t about driving per se; it’s about women’s access to any kind of autonomy and transportation.  With the lack of public transportation (there isn’t any—for anyone), coupled with norms regulating who women can ride with, (taxis are generally not acceptable) women’s access to education, to jobs, and to healthcare has become severely restricted–as is their access to commercial establishments where they, like their Western counterparts, have major buying power. For me, all of this was nearly incomprehensible.

Women have no role in Saudi civil society or in business? Well, I got to learn about the women, wearing abayas and head coverings—or not— who are taking their places on the local councils, which have both elected and appointed members, the women who are growing the ranks of non-segregated employees in major businesses, and the women who are blossoming and thriving as breathtaking for-profit entrepreneurs and social entrepreneurs. 

Getting to actually meet and talk with some of these amazing women left me in awe of their wisdom, their courage, and their unflagging optimism. The Senior Director of Corporate Social Responsibility for one of the largest Saudi holding companies is also the mother of an autistic son. She has started a social enterprise venture to help other parents of autistic children. A mother and daughter have merged their talents, significant connections, and bottomless passion to launch a women’s awareness center with a special emphasis on educating women about breastfeeding.  The executive director of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce Khadijah Bint Khowalid Business Women’s Center is a savvy political force and a tireless advocate for women. On the one hand, these conversations were utterly familiar, but at the same time, completely alien.  The stories were joyous and heartbreaking.  My reactions ranged from wonder to infuriation. But bottom line, it was women doing what we do around the world–making a difference.

And then there were the wonderful faculty at Dar Al Hekma College, who became real colleagues, and the smart, eager, thoroughly delightful young women who, underneath those abayas, look just like our women students here at Babson. I’ll write about that the next time.

Submitted by: Janelle Shubert, Director, The Center for Women’s Leadership at Babson