Manal Elattir was born in a small Berber town in Morocco in 1983. She pursued her education at Gustavus Adolphus College, in St. Peter, Minnesota. In June 2005, she graduated with Phi Betta Kappa honors, earning a Bachelor of Arts in International Management with a minor in Chemistry. She was also selected to participate in the Washington Semester program in International Business and Trade in 2005. After working with Marketing Group Agency in Virginia and the Moroccan American Center in Washington, DC, Manal decided to return to her native country and continue in the field of development. For the past three years, she has worked as the country coordinator for the MEPI (Middle East Partnership Initiative) Alumni Network. Furthermore, she is a regional consultant as well as a researcher and lecturer on civil society issues, women empowerment, and youth development. As a civil society actor, Manal is the founder and president of IMDAD for social entrepreneurship, the first NGO in Morocco to tackle social entrepreneurship and introduce it as an essential tool towards social development. She is also the founding member of Junior Chamber International (JCI) and is currently serving as the president of JCI-Rabat.
