Shareefa Albanna is a proud mother, and an entrepreneur-led economic development specialist. She has worked with community leaders across the United States as a key strategy consultant in workforce and business leadership development.
She is a proud Yemeni-American humanitarian. Shareefa has been an advocate for economically disadvantaged women and children abroad. She has supported initiatives in the Middle-East for over a decade. Her efforts include sponsoring orphan welfare in Yemen; with a focus on supporting the projects of building temporary homes for single mothers and their children, and supporting entrepreneurial empowerment initiatives for men and women in coffee farming, construction, and textile manufacturing.
She has been widely recognized for her extensive legacy of work in the USA, including supporting historically underrepresented startup founders, such as WBE’s (Women-Owned Businesses and Enterprises) and BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) access the necessary mentoring and funding to develop high-growth startups and economic wealth.
She currently serves as a board member for the Arab America Foundation (AAF), and the Advisory Board Chairman for the United Humanitarian Foundation (UHF) Relief among others. Through the work of these nonprofit organizations, Arab Americans will have greater representation in the USA and have restored hope in places like Yemen, after being called home to the worst humanitarian crises in modern history for over a decade.
FWM: You have worked with community leaders across the United States as a key strategy consultant in workforce and business leadership development. Tell us about what led to your work.
I began my professional work in Human Resources and Labor Relations. Members of the Yemeni community of Southeast Michigan heard that there was a Yemeni-American woman in business that spoke Arabic. They would come to my office with their ideas of opening businesses and I would consult them on strategic business development. I started helping so many people that keeping a 9-5 job seemed virtually impossible. I soon invested in my own agency and supported many small businesses to grow and thrive. Once I saw the positive economic impact of my labor, I knew my passion was in helping others across the world create economic prosperity.
I later decided to take my passion to the city I was born and raised in, Buffalo, NY. I gained licensure in New York State as an insurance agent, broker, and general consultant. I established my own agency there and sustained my own company while establishing a client base there. Within one year, I established my second company in early 2020.
As you can assume, running two essential businesses during a global pandemic is not for the faint of heart. Especially for a single mother.
I made the tough decision to sell both companies after two years of business. While I did not lose my initial investments, I did not strike gold either.
I then sat with myself and reflected on my journey as a serial entrepreneur and realized that I made a better consultant than I did an entrepreneur. The most significant benefit of my journey was my failures.
Fortunately, I am one of those people that perceives adversity as character building; this makes perfect for a venture coach.
I was told about a newly developed position within the University at Buffalo [Economic Development] Business and Entrepreneur Partnerships. The role was as a Startup Ventures Success Manager, a client mentor and manager role that would offer tremendous experience and opportunity for me. Our founders were mostly women, BIPOC and/or from other historically underrepresented populations.
Coincidently, members of my community in Western New York heard of my work and I was flooded with consulting meetings with community leaders across the USA.
Since then, I have returned to Southeast Michigan to broaden my scope of work, influence, and impact.
In all my work, I arrived at a place in life where embracing failure is celebrated. A place where my clients would eventually create millions of dollars in economic development and create thousands of workforce and labor opportunities. A place where passion meets purpose. In my opinion, this defines the success in my success story.
FWM; Tell us about your initiatives in the Middle East.
I began humanitarian work in 2011, while inspired by a capstone project in my undergraduate economics course. My professor at the time told us about the work that his nonprofit organization was doing in the poorest nation in the world-Niger, Africa. We all donated what we could, and I donated $50 to what he described as empowerment initiatives. At the time, I was not too sure what that meant but I donated anyway. At the end of the semester, my professor had his nonprofit organization Skype our class and we were able to virtually meet the women we supported. My heart was overwhelmed with how happy these women were with the packets of gardening seeds, the cows, the water wells, etc. My $50 donation contributed to economic opportunities that these women would not have known if not for these nonprofit organizations and their amazing work.
From then, I promised myself I would donate much more once I had an income. Fortunately, I made good on my promise to myself and have been able to consistently contribute thousands of dollars annually to nonprofit organizations.
I now serve as the Advisory Board Chair for the United Humanitarian Foundation. A nonprofit organization that contributes 100% of donations to building homes in Yemen, which became home to the worst humanitarian crisis of modern history. Additionally, the UHF built a bakery, freshwater system, and empowerment center to sustain thousands of residents living in the poorest regions of Yemen. These humanitarian projects have created substantial workforce opportunities, employing over 1,000 people in less than four years. We have very ambitious goals to continue our work in redeveloping Yemen and other countries such as Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, etc.
I also support national Yemeni coffee commerce and international coffee farming initiatives in Yemen as a primary source of workforce and economic development in farmland-rich regions across Yemen.
FWM: What do you want people in the US to know about Arab Americans?
I want all people to know that Arab Americans are innovative and ambitious people. We are generous and benevolent people. We want change, we want respect, and we want visibility- just like any other population would want for their future generations.
FWM: On a global scale, share your vision for change.
I am a global citizen. My vision for the future includes collaborations between many resourceful communities to reach strategic objectives for impoverished global regions. In addition to the UHF, I support and applaud UNICEF, Save the Children, Mercy Bakery & Kitchen, Humanity Relief & Development, and Promise Relief among others.
FWM: You are a board member for the Arab America Foundation (AAF), what are they doing to empower Arab American communities across the USA?
I currently serve as a board member on The Arab America Foundation. It is a non-profit educational and cultural organization with a mission to Promote the Arab heritage and empower Arab Americans; Educate Americans about the Arab identity and culture, and to connect Arab Americans to each other and to other communities.
The AAF founded the National Arab American Heritage Month initiative in 2017. This year, President Joe Biden proclaimed April 2023 as National Arab American Heritage Month for the first time in US History. California, Michigan, Illinois, and other states have permanently enacted April as National Arab American Heritage Month. I am blessed to be part of an organization that propelled such a historic movement in equitable representation for Arab Americans.
FWM: What is next for you?
I am currently focusing on the scalability and succession of my work by legacy building and developing digital platforms to train and develop others in global citizenship and the creation of social and economic impact.
All while continuing to raise my wonderful daughter, travel to my last remaining countries on my bucket list, and maintain a healthy work-life balance.
FWM: Please share your social media.
While I have built an amazing network, I actually built my network the traditional way, which is word of mouth. I do have a LinkedIn page and am working on building my website for directly booking public speaking engagements and global training seminars. So connect with me on LinkedIn and stay tuned…
