Tamara Abdel

“At the beginning, everyone around me was scared about what I was doing. Women can be somewhat shielded here. They tend to move around in all-female environments. Very few get involved in IT or business consulting. I really encourage women to look at opportunities in such fields. This is where they can grow.”

Tamara Abdel-Jaber runs one of the fastest-growing IT companies in the Middle East. It’s a company she co-founded 15 years ago – Palma Consulting. Back then, being an Arab woman in the tech industry was exceptionally rare. Tamara defied expectations because she wanted to be more than a small cog in a big machine. Every day, she navigates the political and social challenges that come with being a woman business owner in a male-dominated field.

Eager to bring more women and girls into technology, Tamara helped launch the Jordanian chapter of Girls in Tech. She’s now a board member for the nonprofit organization, which engages and educates young women around the world on entrepreneurship and innovation.