Our alumnus of the month for July is a Medical doctor and social entrepreneur, Dr. Sami Hourani. Dr. Hourani earned a medical degree in Medicine from the University of Jordan (UJ) in 2010. Afterwards, he went on to earn a MA degree in Social Innovation and Technology at Lund University, Lund, Sweden, and received his degree in 2015.
He also obtained a certificate in Community Organization from Harvard University and another in Persuasive Communication from Delaware University in the U.S.
Hourani is the founder and CEO of the educational platform for9a.com and Souq Fann (souqfann.com), MENA’s number one e-commerce portal for handicrafts and local art products.
The entrepreneur doctor is the founder and the executive director of the regional youth organization 'Leaders of Tomorrow' and its two creative initiatives 'FADFED' which collects and analyzes public opinion through an innovative methodology to aid the decision-making process in Jordan, and 'Diwanieh' Debates, Jordan’s biggest public political debates reinforcing social accountability, freedom of expression and youth participation.
Sami was lately appointed on the board of directors of the National Center for Human Rights. He serves as well on the board of the Jordanian National Commission for Women, the advisory committee of King Hussein Foundation and the steering committee of Amman 100 resilient cities initiative and was the national coordinator for Jordan Youth Strategy 2017-2025.
He is a fellow at 'Ashoka', the largest hub for social innovators worldwide. He was awarded the World Government Summit First Award for youth solutions on “SouqFann” in 2019, and was honored with the Takreem prestigious Award for the “Young Entrepreneur” category in 2018, King Abdullah II “Demoqrati” award in 2014 and EUROMED youth award in 2013. He was also elected as the Jordanian Role Model of 2011 and received the Jordanian title “Knight of Change” in 2008.