About Maya Rahal

Maya has been in leadership positions within entities supporting and enabling entrepreneurs for the past 12 years, establishing her expertise in media management, digital transformation and program strategy and delivery.

Journalist at heart, she dedicated her career to supporting innovation and tech entrepreneurs in the Arab region since 2009, after experiencing the struggles of being an entrepreneur herself.

As a former Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief, Maya has a well-rounded background in leading digital media outlets, region wide communications and marketing campaigns, in addition to project management, fundraising, partner management and strategic planning.

Maya is currently the Communication and Outreach Director of Berytech, in charge of the overall corporate image and exposure of Berytech to the outside world. She designs, plans and develops strategic corporate communication and outreach for Berytech as well as its community of startups and SMEs. She interfaces with entrepreneurs, innovators, international funders and donors.

Before joining Berytech, Maya served as the Managing Director of the MIT enterprise Forum Pan Arab for four years, where she took multiple initiatives to drive growth within the organization, designing and launching new products, programs and partnerships. She increased brand visibility at local, regional and global industry events, while leading region wide business development efforts and overseeing the operations and implementation of large programs.

Since she started out her career as a journalist and evolved into a digital media expert, she established in 2019 her own media agency and currently consults for private and public sector entities across the Arab region.

She was previously the Editor-in-Chief of Wamda Ventures for six years, where she co-founded the media arm, managed the full cycle of content production and led on media partnerships with large corporations such as General Electric, Expo 2020 and Kuwait National fund.

Maya co-founded Altcity.me, a media, tech and startups space in Beirut, where she handled communications and programs. And was Managing Director of Hibr.me a youth led monthly print magazine, focusing on critical thinking and delivering media literacy training across Lebanon.

After finishing her MA in Digital Media Production from the University of Toulon, France, she came back to Beirut and worked with international non-government entities such as Greenpeace Lebanon and the UNDP, and for four years was a digital media instructor at the Lebanese American University in Beirut and the Academie Libanaise des Beaux Arts (ALBA).

Maya is a strong believer in the impact of entrepreneurship and the power of media within societies and wants to remain an active element contributing to the growth and success of Arab startups.