I would be very curious to hear how and if investors like Endeavor are able to find women entrepreneurs in Middle Eastern countries to support in this way.
Hey Alice, very good point! You might have seen it already, but the World Bank’s Enterprise Surveys have some data on the gender breakdown of business owners/partners in Jordan and other countries in the region. A year ago I did some research by surveying entrepreneurs in Jordan and there was a pretty large gender gap. Big topic that needs a lot of discussion!
POSTED ON BEHALF OF: Dr. Muhyieddeen Touq, General Manager of CADER
I am writing on behalf of ChangeAgent for Arab Development and Education Reform (CADER) regarding the Stanford Social Innovation Review winter 2013 article, “Investing in Arab Entrepreneurs”, written by Jamil Wyne. This article covered the story of CADER’s previous CEO, Mr. Amin. We were extremely surprised and saddened to read this story in such a prestigious publication because much of the story is false. Unfortunately, neither the author nor the publication contacted CADER to fact-check Mr. Amin’s story. It is also surprising to find a renowned network like Endeavor and its Jordanian office adopt a one sided opinion or story. This article harmed CADER’s good name in an apparent attempt to distance Amin’s public persona from his past actions.
In the article you wrote “His primary investor threatened to take over his company, ChangeAgent for Arab Development and Education Reform (CADER).” The truth of the matter is that when Amin was awarded the Social Entrepreneur award for 2009 on behalf of the company, he told Endeavor Jordan and its CEO his story and requested that the company be evaluated at an inflated value with the expressed desire to sell his share back to the primary investor and exit the company. CADER has official emails between Endeavor and Amin in regards to this matter. As a result, the principal owner bought Amin’s share for a hefty amount of money.
Conflict between the company and Amin is in no way related to the story he is telling. On the contrary, it is due to his desire for a larger ownership stake in the company and a more lucrative financial package that he began to sour towards CADER. Again, we have official documents and emails detailing communications between Amin and CADER’s board. In an attempt to strong arm the board of directors and stop it from hiring a new CEO, Amin had some partners give him control of their voting stock in order to pressure CADER’s primary investor to buy him out.
While still serving as CADER’s CEO, Amin registered his own company “ASK for Human Capacity Building”. He also directly and indirectly began an intensive recruitment campaign amongst CADER’s employees for his new company, while employed by CADER. He even had them sign their new contracts at CADER’s offices these actions as you know are gross examples of conflict of interest. CADER found many irregularities in the company after Amin left. The company lawyer considered these irregularities as enough evidence to file a lawsuit against him. As a result of this CADER filed a lawsuit against Amin in the Jordanian courts. The legal deliberations started in January 2013. For more information regarding the lawsuit kindly contact our law firm Jardaneh Law Firm at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
As much as you believed in Amin and his story, so did the primary investor who initially invested $1,000,000 in Amin’s idea and gave him unlimited authority as the CEO. However, contrary to what your story states, the company was never Amin’s. The company and its success are due to the diligent staff who worked day and night to make it a success story. CADER appreciates Amin’s vision as well as the belief and financial support of our primary investor. But Amin’s actions have gone against the ideas of education reform and social entrepreneurship.
COMMENTS
BY Alice Yitian Wang
ON January 27, 2013 09:58 PM
I would be very curious to hear how and if investors like Endeavor are able to find women entrepreneurs in Middle Eastern countries to support in this way.
BY Jamil Wyne
ON January 28, 2013 11:04 PM
Hey Alice, very good point! You might have seen it already, but the World Bank’s Enterprise Surveys have some data on the gender breakdown of business owners/partners in Jordan and other countries in the region. A year ago I did some research by surveying entrepreneurs in Jordan and there was a pretty large gender gap. Big topic that needs a lot of discussion!
BY Nicole C
ON February 25, 2013 04:40 PM
POSTED ON BEHALF OF: Dr. Muhyieddeen Touq, General Manager of CADER
I am writing on behalf of ChangeAgent for Arab Development and Education Reform (CADER) regarding the Stanford Social Innovation Review winter 2013 article, “Investing in Arab Entrepreneurs”, written by Jamil Wyne. This article covered the story of CADER’s previous CEO, Mr. Amin. We were extremely surprised and saddened to read this story in such a prestigious publication because much of the story is false. Unfortunately, neither the author nor the publication contacted CADER to fact-check Mr. Amin’s story. It is also surprising to find a renowned network like Endeavor and its Jordanian office adopt a one sided opinion or story. This article harmed CADER’s good name in an apparent attempt to distance Amin’s public persona from his past actions.
In the article you wrote “His primary investor threatened to take over his company, ChangeAgent for Arab Development and Education Reform (CADER).” The truth of the matter is that when Amin was awarded the Social Entrepreneur award for 2009 on behalf of the company, he told Endeavor Jordan and its CEO his story and requested that the company be evaluated at an inflated value with the expressed desire to sell his share back to the primary investor and exit the company. CADER has official emails between Endeavor and Amin in regards to this matter. As a result, the principal owner bought Amin’s share for a hefty amount of money.
Conflict between the company and Amin is in no way related to the story he is telling. On the contrary, it is due to his desire for a larger ownership stake in the company and a more lucrative financial package that he began to sour towards CADER. Again, we have official documents and emails detailing communications between Amin and CADER’s board. In an attempt to strong arm the board of directors and stop it from hiring a new CEO, Amin had some partners give him control of their voting stock in order to pressure CADER’s primary investor to buy him out.
While still serving as CADER’s CEO, Amin registered his own company “ASK for Human Capacity Building”. He also directly and indirectly began an intensive recruitment campaign amongst CADER’s employees for his new company, while employed by CADER. He even had them sign their new contracts at CADER’s offices these actions as you know are gross examples of conflict of interest. CADER found many irregularities in the company after Amin left. The company lawyer considered these irregularities as enough evidence to file a lawsuit against him. As a result of this CADER filed a lawsuit against Amin in the Jordanian courts. The legal deliberations started in January 2013. For more information regarding the lawsuit kindly contact our law firm Jardaneh Law Firm at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
As much as you believed in Amin and his story, so did the primary investor who initially invested $1,000,000 in Amin’s idea and gave him unlimited authority as the CEO. However, contrary to what your story states, the company was never Amin’s. The company and its success are due to the diligent staff who worked day and night to make it a success story. CADER appreciates Amin’s vision as well as the belief and financial support of our primary investor. But Amin’s actions have gone against the ideas of education reform and social entrepreneurship.