Suli Innovation House

Ravin founded Suli Innovation House as a result of her experiences as a women engineer in a male-dominated field. The organisation supports women and young people in developing tech and other practical skills, while providing a co-working space for entrepreneurs and innovators. Suli Innovation House’s work includes the Leading Women programme - focused on women’s empowerment in the tech sector, product design and market research, job placement training tailored to the particularities of the Iraqi job market, internship opportunities, and hackathons.

Ravin attended the One Young World Summit in Manchester, 2022, and credits her experience surrounded by like-minded young leaders as inspiring and motivational. Conversations with a fellow Ambassador from Egypt inspired Ravin to implement her Leading Woman programme.

Suli Innovation House has impacted 1,500 people over its different projects so far. It has trained 600 women in tech skills to help them break into the tech sector, providing weekly workshops and discussion sessions with successful women in STEM. The organisation’s product-to-market initiative has supported 30 people in product development and conducting market research in key areas like agritech and the environment. Suli Innovation House has since partnered with the Kurdistan region of Iraq’s government, and other non-governmental organisations to implement versions of this programme in other cities across Iraq. Additionally, 150 people have participated in its job placement skills programme, with over 55% of participants finding employment post-programme. Suli Innovation House’s hackathons have focused on climate solutions and waste, with participants developing promising prototypes and some going on to receive funding.

“One Young World came at a perfect time for me. When I applied, I was starting to build Suli Innovation House, and it was very motivational for me to survive. Being there surrounded by all those like-minded people and talking with them about my journey, all of them were supportive and offered collaboration opportunities. One example is a friend from Egypt, who inspired me with the work that she’s done for women to create my programme for women.”