MEET AHMAD SUFIAN BAYRAM.
Ahmad is a social entrepreneur and focusses on and supports entrepreneurship in the MEA region and refugee entrepreneurs in Europe. He has become an expert on the drive behind start-ups and entrepreneurship in Syria and the challenges of those moving outside of this region and has recently published two open access books on this matter. His full-time job, however, is as a region manager for Techstars, through which he has supported many businesses and entrepreneurs in their development and growth within the named regions and beyond. According to Ahmad, a successful approach is not just about a good idea, but about the use of and access to supportive ecosystems.
Having grown up in a family of business and entrepreneurship, he always knew that he would start his own business one day. He did so with a start-up for customised gifts called ‘Joymakers’. As the business started to take shape, the beginning of the Syrian conflict marked the end of an era in which gift-giving might be considered a priority. Despite the unfortunate end to his company, Ahmad remained an entrepreneur at heart which is why he continued to pursue his dreams elsewhere.
Fast forward nine years, Ahmad found himself on a daily basis, helping those taking a course similar to his. Being in contact with entrepreneurial ecosystems around the world, from Silicon Valley to Berlin, and from Cape Town to Dubai, he came to realise that entrepreneurship cannot be isolated from a support ecosystem.
One thing I learned is that start-up success has much more to do with finding a supportive environment than simply having a brilliant idea.
Through his work, he supports over a hundred Syrian businesses that are tech-enabled; these companies make use of technological means but are not necessarily focused on technology as a solution. With their work being facilitated through technology and mostly existing online, these businesses – both for-profit and non-profit – are easy to scale and/or move other countries or cities. The start-ups do not rely on staff working in one particular place but can connect online to work together. The programme provides training, mentorships, access to learning, as well as financial and legal advice. With his work, Ahmad helps those that are still in Syria and surrounding regions thrive.
“Most refugees believe that the problems they have are for them to solve.”
The heavy responsibility of conflict and the problems of access and discrimination in a new country, however, cannot be solely left up to the ones that flee their countries nor to the ones that choose to stay. Through his work and through the books he has written, Ahmad shares narratives that show a different side of Syria than the one portrayed in media and politics. Following his approach, challenging the prominent narratives around migration and migrants should start with fact-checking: what is really going on in conflict zones and what do people bring to their new countries of residence?
Ahmad Sufian Bayram has his own website on which you can find out more about his activities and projects.
The Changemakers for Migration network invites changemakers with a migrant perspective to become part of the conversation about how we can collaboratively challenge narratives, how we can work together to change the way migration and migrants are addressed, especially by large organisations and those working in the field; with the ambition to transform the conversation on a larger scale.
You can submit your nomination here
