DEARBORN — The Arab American Women’s Business Council (AAWBC), a nonprofit organization that addresses the needs of Arab American women professionals and business owners, held a Women of Wisdom event at Mint 29 in west Dearborn on August 22.

The AAWBC, which was founded in 2007 in Dearborn, also helps cater to the needs of young Arab American women seeking professional careers within Michigan and across the United States. It assists members by providing mentorship, internships, scholarships and professional development programs.

The event was introduced with a warm welcome from AAWBC President Jameleh Haidous, who is also business relationship manager at JP Morgan Chase & Co., and Najwa Abouhassan, senior engineer at DTE Energy.

The event included a true or false questionnaire about women in the workforce, keynote speakers and refreshments.

“Our mission is to help women advance professionally through networking and professional development,” Haidous told The AANews. “We wanted to do a small get-together, something fun and light to help women meet other women in other professional industries.”

Nabelah Ghareeb, a former AAWBC president, spoke of Global Ties Detroit and an entrepreneurial education program involving 40 Palestinian professionals from Palestine Polytechnic University that will be in Michigan on August 31.

Through Global Ties Detroit’s partnership with the University of Michigan and AAWBC, the group of 40 students, along with five professors, will explore Metro Detroit’s extensive entrepreneurial ecosystem and work with partnerships through a shadowing experience.

Another key focus of the get-together was a raffle of four tickets to the 12th annual Networking Breakfast at Byblos Banquet Center on November 1, featuring Lori Blaker, president/CEO of TTi Global, as keynote speaker.  Zaman International CEO Najah Bazzy, who is also the Arab American businesswoman of the year, will be honored and AAWBC scholarship recipients will be awarded.

The overall purpose of the many get-togethers is to give women of the same background the opportunity to network with women in different professions. Taharah Saad, AAWBC vice president and radio quality engineer at Ford Motor Company, expressed the importance of networking in the professional world for women, spreading the message of having collaboration over competition.

“We are the only organization for Arab American women in the country,” Saad said. “We are trying to branch out and do more networking and see how we can help women be uplifted in any possible way. It is good to meet people who are professional, but it is even better to know people of the same backgrounds and interests.”

“We just want people to understand each other and to know more than ever that it is important for women to support each other and help move each other forward in their careers,” Haidous added.