Abdel Fattah Nada first stepped foot in the marginalized, underserved community of Izbet Khairalla to volunteer at a local development organization in 2014. It never crossed his mind that his life’s calling for the next decade would be intertwined with the social empowerment of its people. “I have been engaged in voluntary work in the neighborhood for almost a decade,” Nada, the managing director of ButtonUp, tells Egyptian Streets. “I participated in children’s education and women’s empowerment programs.” Five years later, Nada, along with Salah Ghanem, Mohsen Atef, and Taghreed Ramadan, would go on to co-found ButtonUp, an Egyptian social enterprise converging entrepreneurship and community development at Izbet Khairallah. A Social Enterprise “I’d walk the entire neighborhood on foot, covering every corner, meeting with the people of Al-Izba: the residents and workshop owners. I got to know them well, but what has touched me most was the extent to which the women persevered,” says Nada. “Most of the children we worked with came from families without fathers, and the mothers were responsible for everything.” The 31-year-old entrepreneur saw an incredible amount of energy, determination, and giving spirits in these women,…
Empowering the Women of Izbet Khairallah: ButtonUp, a True Egyptian Success Story
August 14, 2023
