Samah Abuoun Hamad holds a Doctor in Business Administration from the University of Northampton with a focus on the Middle East and North Africa Tech Entrepreneurship and Venture Capitalists’ valuation for the startups’ human capital factors and an MBA from the University of Liverpool in the UK. Dr. Abuoun Hamad is an engineer who graduated from the University of Technology in Baghdad.
From 2008 until recently, she led the Paltel Group Foundation and realized numerous outstanding programs covering educational and socio-economic development, youth empowerment, entrepreneurship, and innovation. Dr. Abuoun Hamad is a dedicated, passionate executive operation leader with expertise in leading Palestinian socio-economic development institutions and designing and implementing many impactful programs such as the Code for Palestine, which aims at empowering young Palestinians in coding and design thinking in cooperation with students from Stanford University in California. She was responsible for the establishment of Paltel Innovation Center (Fikra), Gaza Hope Fund, Paltel Scholarship Program and many others. During her career, she worked with the Municipal Development and Lending Fund as the Capacity building director. She served as an advisor for the Minster of Local Government from 2003 until 2008, in which she helped implement the first Local Government Elections and the implementation of the World Bank Danish Trust Fund.
Samah engages with various corporates and professional organizations.
- Member of the Board of Trustees of the Arab American University of Palestine.
- Board member at Ammar Group, the investment arm of the Palestinian Investment Fund.
- Board Member at Massader, a Palestinian Investment Fund Company.
- Board vice-chairwoman of the Business Women Forum.
- Member of the board of trustees at Rawabi English Academy and BiT Academy.
Dr. Abuoun Hamad co-founded Peer to Peer for Technology and Education, an EdTech Palestinian startup registered in Delaware as Hessa Edu. Inc., and an angel investor at Khibraty Solutions, a Jordanian online application which connects professional experts with projects owners. She has a track record in research and academic work through the involvement and publishing of many research papers in engineering, management, Corporate Social Responsibility, Philanthropy and entrepreneurship. Currently, she is focusing on creating further impact in the entrepreneurship ecosystem and youth empowerment through promoting different initiatives such as the establishment of the first Palestinian Angel Investors network and plays the role of a senior advisor to international and local organizations.