
Meet Rana Shanawani
Rana’s favorite aspect of coaching with Own The Room is watching even the grumpiest skeptic transform into an engaged participant, learning life-changing skills within a matter of minutes and having fun while doing it. Her own experience as a speaker has taken her across the world, from Hong Kong to England, Argentina, and Lebanon.
Rana spent 12 years in Syria as a micro-entrepreneurship expert. After working with several United Nations programs (including UNICEF and UNDP), she was selected to become CEO of Syria’s chapter of Youth Business International (YBI), the global micro-entrepreneurship foundation headed by Prince Charles. Her work with YBI led her to meet with global leaders, from the Prince of Wales to Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. More recently, she has provided management consulting to major U.S. nonprofits such as the Global Health Equity Foundation and the Syrian American Medical Society. Currently, she serves as the Executive Director of the Women’s Center for Entrepreneurship.
Rana holds a Master’s from Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health and a Bachelor’s from Cornell University. She ran the New York City Marathon in 2013. She is fluent in Arabic.