Mona Itani is an engineer,, educator,, and social entrepreneur . She worked as a professional in multinational telecommunications companies from 2006 until 2011.. After earning her Masters in Engineering Mana gement degree,, she joined the Engineering Management program and the Olayan School of Business at the American University of Beirut where she served as a lecturer and researcher since 2011.. She is a published author on entrepreneurship,, women,, ethics,, and engineering education.. She is the chair of IEEE Women in Engineering Affinity G roup Lebanon Section and has co – founded several social initiatives that aim to promote women in technology such as She Develops Hackathon and Girls got IT which hosted more than 14 00 girls so far from all over Lebanon . She also acts as a mentor for young entrepreneurs and as a consultant on entrepreneur ship educatio n,, and social entrepreneurship and is often invited as a mentor in hackathons and student competitions all over Lebanon.. She won the Inspiring IEEE Women in Engineering Member of the year honorable mention award in 2016,, IEEE Lebanon section most active memb er award for 2015,, and was a finalist in the McKinsey Next Generation Women Leaders award for 2015.. She is the F ounder and CEO of Riyada (AArabic for entrepreneurship)) for Social Innovation , a social enterprise that aims to provide the youth with practice – b ased online social entrepreneurship education to develop solutions for real problems with the creation of technology.. She is expecting to complete her PhD degree from the University of Leicester’s School of Management,, UK in 2018.. Her thesis topic is about women entrepreneurs in the technology domain in Lebanon..