As an immigrant from Egypt lacking access to professional experiences or resources, Basant Shenouda found herself up against a pile of job rejections upon graduating from college in Ireland. But Shenouda shared the story of her professional struggles across social media platforms. Her story caught the eye of a recruiter at LinkedIn, and she soon found a position as an implementation consultant at the platform. In the process, Shenouda developed a following of over 100,000 on LinkedIn, becoming the largest social media career content creator from the Middle East.
Shenouda was determined to share her knowledge with other underprivileged individuals in similar situations. Thus, she created Basant Blast in 2020, a nonprofit devoted to fostering career education and mentorship to all, regardless of socioeconomic status or background. Within the past year, the nonprofit has provided over 150,000 individuals with free resources and reached over 20 million job seekers through social media. Now a graduate student in Management at Harvard University, she hopes to amplify her impact. “It is how we bypass difficult circumstances that really showcase who we are,” says Shenouda. “If you are building strong relationships based on being a giver to the world, the world will give you so much back.”
