This week I will be sharing the story of Mouna Elmi of Stichting SOMI platform.
SOMI was founded in 2020 by a group young Somali-Dutch diaspora in Eindhoven. The main focus has been on physical and online events that bring together the Somalian Diaspora and support and inspire them with their projects and business ideas.
Mouna: I have been engaged with the SOMI platform since the beginning of this year. Before that I was part of another group called Somali entrepreneurs. But we joined SOMNI. My motivation lies in knowing that the work we do has a direct impact on the Somalian community. We have a WhatsApp network community where we continuously ask each other questions and share personal networks. We also have a big group of entrepreneurs that connect within the group and inspire each other.
Mouna: Another aspect of our work that motivates me is our project ‘Ondernemen in Wadanka’. We essentially want to remove as many obstacles as possible for an entrepreneur based here in The Netherlands wanting to do something back home. This can be by providing access to our research studies or simply connecting them to a useful person within our network.
Mouna: During the year we organize different events. Last weekend we organized an event called ¨Somalian Entrepreneurs in the Netherlands¨. We showed a documentary with inspiring stories of the entrepreneurs highlighting their journey and impact. The documentary contains contributions from Qays Qeyser (a famous YouTuber from Hargeisa-Somalia) and leading entrepreneurs. With this event and documentary, we want to inspire and bring together the Somali diaspora in the Netherlands and community in Somalia.
More information about Somi: www.somalimillennials.com
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