Wael Ghonim وائل غنيم |
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Ghonim in 2014
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Born |
Cairo, Egypt |
23 December 1980
Residence | San Francisco, California, U.S. |
Nationality | Egyptian |
Alma mater |
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Occupation | Group Product Manager |
Employer | Quora |
Known for | Playing a prominent role in sparking the Egyptian Revolution in 2011 |
Awards | JFK Profile in Courage Award (2011) |
Wael Ghonim (Arabic: وائل غنيم. born 23 December 1980) is an Internet activist and computer engineer with an interest in social entrepreneurship.
In 2011, he became an international figure and energized pro-democracy demonstrations in Egypt after his emotional interview. following 11 days of secret incarceration by Egyptian police—during which he was interrogated regarding his work as one of two administrators of the Facebook page, "We are all Khaled Saeed", which helped spark the revolution. In 2011, He was nominated for Nobel Peace Prize.Time magazine included him in its "Time 100" list of 100 most influential people of 2011, and the World Economic Forum have selected him as one of the Young Global Leaders in 2012.
Wael is the author of "Revolution 2.0: The power of people is greater than the people in power". In 2012, he founded Tahrir Academy, a technology focused NGO that aims at fostering education in Egypt. In 2015, Ghonim co-founded Parlio, a social media platform that was acquired by Quora in March 2016. He is currently a non-resident senior fellow at Harvard's Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation.
Wael Ghonim was born to a middle-class family on 23 December 1980 in Cairo, Egypt, and grew up in Abha, Saudi Arabia, until he was 13 years old. He then moved back to live in Cairo.
He earned a BS in computer engineering from Cairo University in 2004 and an MBA, with honors, in marketing and finance from the American University in Cairo in 2007.