As the 2020 holiday season approaches, despite the sadness and frustration of the past few months, we still believe this time of year can be as joyful as ever! For some, spreading joy starts with finding friends and family just the right gift. And when it comes to gifts, we love to support female-founded and MENA-owned businesses! However, we know holiday shopping this year can bring a number of challenges on its own, from tighter budgets to limited in-store shopping. To help you get started, Women Of MENA In Technology found 20 wonderful gifts so you can start ticking each person off your list.
ROYBI ROBOT
Named by TIME Magazine as one of The Best Inventions in Education, Roybi Robot is an AI-powered educational smart toy robot for children 3+ in language learning & basic STEM. It comes with over 500 lessons, 70 categories & topics as well as over 70,000 vocabularies. Topics range from math, science, space, tech, habitats, geography, and many more.
JOON HAIRCARE
Many of Joon’s ingredients were inspired by founders', Shiva and Kayvon Tavakoli, Persian roots. The idea behind Joon came from early summers spent eating from their grandmother’s kitchen table, while their grandfather ran a spice trading company. The mixture of smells and flavors inspired bright plant-based infusions in the new line with products featuring saffron, rose, fig, pomegranate and other naturally inspired pairings. What resulted was a combination of kitchen and science, and ancient to cutting edge.
Women of MENA In Technology Membership
Give the gift that keeps giving!
Through this membership you can give anyone on your list access to WoMENAIT’s network, resources, programs and events. The perfect gift for your significant other, daughter, friend, co-worker or employee.
NakedPoppy
NakedPoppy is your home for the safest, cleanest, and most luxuriously crafted makeup and skincare — curated for you.
After taking your 3-minute beauty assessment, every product is rated just for you - and Perfect Picks are placed in your personalized boutique. This lets you shop for products that will look amazing without wasting time on the stuff that's not for you.
Every product is obsessively screened for both safety and gorgeousness-factor – and our intelligent assessment makes shopping simple by putting your perfect picks into a personalized boutique. No guesswork, no compromises. So you can get your best face on and get back to your busy, brilliant life.
Girl Decoded
A scientist’s quest to reclaim our humanity by bringing emotional intelligence to technology.
In a captivating memoir, an Egyptian-American visionary and scientist provides an intimate view of her personal transformation as she follows her calling – to humanize our technology and how we connect with one another.
Rana el Kaliouby is a rarity in both the tech world and her native Middle East: a Muslim leader and CEO, a woman in charge in a field that is still overwhelmingly white and male. Growing up in Egypt and Kuwait, el Kaliouby was raised by a conservative father who valued tradition – yet also had high expectations for his daughters – and a mother who was one of the first female computer programmers in the Middle East. Even before el Kaliouby broke ground as a scientist, she broke the rules of what it meant to be an obedient daughter and, later, an obedient wife to pursue her own daring dream.
Instorya
Preserve your cherished memories with this customizable photo book. This is a gift that will never be forgotten. Instorya is all about looking back at all your memories and sharing them with others. All you have to do is download the app, select the photos and size, and the rest is taken care of!
Order up to 105 pages of a softcover photobook on their website!
Zibatreats
Building architect by training. Cake architect at heart. Founder, Hosna created Zibatreats while searching for the perfect low sugar dessert recipes.
Zibatreats makes modern, organic, and low-sugar tiramisu cakes. Their cakes are not only beautiful but also have the right amount of sweetness. Each slice has around 20 grams of added sugar which is less than the amount of daily added sugar we’re allowed to have in a healthy diet.
You have the option to order or get the Bake-At-Home Kit to create your own master piece.
By Noussou
Give the gift of an everlasting glow with this cleanser, toner, and serum combo. Trust us when we say that the Army of Youth Serum is out of this world! By Noussou is founded by UAE-based sisters on a journey to provide a range of all-natural, vegan and chemical-free skincare products so that women can safely pursue clearer skin.
Rozgol’s
A full time software engineer, Roza loves her job, but always felt something was missing. She wanted to provide a personal service and have human interaction. Particularly, Roza missed having to use her taste and creativity at work. In the mids of the pandemic and while staying home Roza started making flower arrangements for her friends to share the color and joy flowers bring to her life with them. When her friends gave her heartwarming compliments on the arrangements and encouraged her to turn this into something everyone can enjoy, Roza started Rozgol’s.
ALANGOO
ALANGOO is the answer to independently designed and made unique pieces by indie designers and artisans with backgrounds in exotic corners of the globe. ALANGOO.com is proud to be the final destination for Persian diaspora to find Persian inspired wearable and non-wearable items.
Maloos Design
Maloos Design was born out of love for architectural patterns and motifs the founder Maloos found in historical places.
The mission of Maloos Design is to bring more Beauty to every-day life. While modern art emphasizes asymmetrical compositions, the ancient art revolves around symmetrical ideas and patterns.
Our Place
Our Place, founded by Shiza Shahid, is famous for their Always Pan, which serves eight cooking functions: steamer & strainer, sautee pan, sauce pan, skillet, fry pan, non-stick pan, and spoon rest.
This would be a perfect gift for a new foodie, or someone living on their own for the first time. The products are designed in LA, and produced in an ethical, female-owned factory in China that pays above living-wage and benefits.
littleBits
littleBits, "an award-winning platform of easy-to-use electronic building blocks that is empowering kids everywhere to create inventions, founded by CEO & Founder Ayah Bdeir, a Lebanese engineer and interactive artist.
Karen Wazen
By Karen Wazen is a lifestyle boutique brand originating in the Middle East, bringing out the latest trends. Its eyewear collection was developed by Karen Wazen herself to complement every look, every occasion, and above all to feel confident.
Banu Magnifique
Bânu [buh-noo] means lady in Farsi and Magnifique [ma-ni-fik] means magnificent in French. Based in Vancouver Canada, Bânu Magnifique is an artisan clothing store that transforms original artworks into high quality everyday fashion by collaborating with artists and integrating their work with trending styles.
Folks & Tales
We create home goods that will infuse your interior with the authentic and diverse beauty of ancestral craftsmanship. Each product tells a specific story through its unique design and the hands of the artisan who patiently crafted it. By blending traditional shapes, patterns and materials with modern aesthetics and colors, we create authentic yet trendy pieces that will bring that coveted twist to your space.
Sarah’s Bag
Sarah’s Bag is a Lebanese fashion house and social enterprise that creates one-of-a-kind luxury hand crafted bags and accessories that empower both the women who make them and the women who wear them.
Sarah’s Bag handbags combine a colourful and sophisticated aesthetic with luxurious, meticulous craftsmanship. Each collection is both an exploration of new materials and techniques, and a revival and reinterpretation of traditional crafts such as hand beading, embroidery, sequinning, crocheting and fabric manipulation.
Mint Basil Market
Easy. Healthy. Delivered.
Welcome to Mint Basil Market! We host a wide range of healthy, natural products and have them delivered straight to your door. We make it easier for our health-conscious customers to find all the brands they love and discover new ones.
My Lily Box
My Lily Box is a subscription box that allows women to design and personally put together their very own feminine hygiene and self-care products to be delivered to them every two months.