Soufiene Chahbani has four years of experience in the nonprofit sector and earned a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science Engineering from the University of El Manar in Tunisia. He is currently preparing for his Master’s degree in IoT. Soufiene served as a Project Manager at Wasabi, a communications company dedicated to creating platforms for open expression. As a member of Wasabi, he helped in establishing a reliable entrepreneurship ecosystem through Afkar Incubator, the first idea stage incubator in Tunisia. He was also responsible for the logistics of the incubator, which includes event planning and communications support production. Moreover, Soufiene established the incubator’s sourcing and recruitment process and helped with monitoring and evaluating entrepreneurs. Previously, Soufiene was the Project Manager of ‘3alli Soutek’, Arabic for “raise your voice”, a civic engagement project that aims to empower young Tunisians to be active in civic life for the betterment of their communities. Soufiene worked on TEDxCarthage as a Volunteer Coordinator and as a Post-Production Manager. Soufiene is also the organizer of TEDxDjerba, the first TEDx in the south of Tunisia, where he was able to contribute to inspiring the Tunisian youth. Back in 2014, Soufiene served as a volunteer in the Media Center of the Independent High Authority for Elections and ensured the media center ran smoothly. Through these experiences, he developed strong project management, communications, and capacity building skills. Soufiene enjoys focusing on the topics of entrepreneurship and media and has a passion for youth development and civic engagement.
Host Organization: IBM
Role at Host Organization: At IBM, Soufiene will serve as the DevZ Experience Fellow – Z + VS Code: supporting youth engagement in preparing for the future of work through digital skill-building, professional development training, and building entrepreneurial spirit with youth around the world who have not been exposed to computer science or are new to IBM Z technology.