Omar is a first generation Palestinian-American and a native of Washington, DC. He spent extensive time working in the Middle East with organizations focused on human rights, youth entrepreneurship, and small business development. During this time, he came across Zaytoun, a social enterprise that provides small-scale Palestinian farmers with access to global markets. He was exhilarated by how the model enabled sustainable, locally-driven approaches to empower communities. It inspired him to explore and design social enterprise models that alleviate poverty among the most marginalized and vulnerable groups of people. Omar is excited to advance this goal by learning from and supporting Kiva's field partners in Palestine, Jordan and Egypt.