Majd Zkiyah is a man on a mission. Having studied and worked in three different countries, and left his homeland of Syria at 17, he knows firsthand the challenges of building a career in societies where most people equate “Syrian” with a word like “victim.” Majd’s mission is to change that perception, and lift up the image of skilled, qualified, professional Syrians across the globe. He launched Syrpronet, a global network for Syrian professionals, in September 2019 to promote this vision.
As many of my readers may know, Salam is the Arabic word for peace. Salam Al-Nukta, the Damascene Cofounder and CEO of ChangeMakers Syria, highlighted this point right at the beginning of our discussion. In preparing this post, I found a John F. Kennedy quote about peace that I felt poignantly described the journey that Salam had shared with me: “Peace is a daily, weekly, monthly process, gradually changing opinions, slowly eroding old barriers, quietly building new structures.”
There are some people you talk with that have such palpable energy and passion for a subject that, by the end of the conversation, you yourself are a total convert to their cause. Doing all the interviews virtually makes it all the more impressive that I could feel Anas’ excitement for his work with refugee founders, and his love for the Middle East, practically from his first word through our Zoom call. Read on for my full interview with him!
StartMENAUp 