Lamia Makkar is an award-winning social entrepreneur and ecosystem builder, with over 10 years impacting communities in emerging markets. She launched her first venture, Haiti: Hands On, at the age of 13, focused on strengthening vulnerable Haitian communities through innovative education opportunities. She went on to co-found a community tech platform in 2018 and now continues to enable social innovation in emerging markets through various projects. 

Her work spans the Middle East, Africa & the Caribbean. Lamia most recently worked on developing JaDijital, an accessible digital resource hub for Haitian innovators and entrepreneurs and working as a Systems Change Fellow for Catalyst 2030, a global movement of social entrepreneurs and social innovators. She is an alumna of Draper University and graduated with a degree in Computer Science and Sociology/Anthropology from Swarthmore College.