By day, Nouf Aburas works as a technology strategist. In the evenings, she is a social entrepreneur. Often, though, she finds herself balancing both these roles all day long.
Growing up, she was heavily influenced by her family, especially her grandmother, Anna Mona, who was a very strong woman, an extraordinary giver and a doer who never accepted that some jobs or tasks could only be done by men. As a result Aburas’s father is also a supporter of empowerment for women.
Aburas graduated in 2013 from Northeastern University in Boston with a degree in civil and environmental engineering. During her time there, she had a chance to work with some very inspiring individuals, exposing her to a full spectrum of innovative possibilities to sustainably tackle social issues around the world.
After graduating she worked as a negotiator with the Saudi Delegation to the UN Convention on Climate Change, then as a policy analyst, and as an environmental engineer at Saudi Aramco. In 2016, she became a technology strategist, assessing and predicting global technology advances.
Along the way, Aburas founded @kurtstore in 2013. It is a social enterprise that supports local, disadvantaged women and teaches them tailoring so that they can produce colored abayas as a sustainable means to fight poverty.
In 2018 she co-founded Jonnah, another social enterprise, this time based in Al-Azraq Refugee Camp in Jordan. It supports refugees and helps them to regain their confidence and independence by giving them the opportunity to produce basic clothing that can be sold around the world.
When not working, Aburas enjoys woodworking and carpet making, as well as spending time with her beautiful dogs, Bliss and Boston.
“Lifting the disadvantaged is a moral obligation,” she said. “I believe in contributing to something larger than myself. I believe in impacting people, touching people and lifting people, whether as a policymaker, an engineer, a strategist or just as a citizen of this world.”
