Webinar 1 – January 21, 2026

Presented by Professor Katerina Nicolopoulou and Nasreen Hasan Ashkanani

On Wednesday, 21st January 2026, MENAGEN hosted a webinar titled Strengthening and Promoting Gender and Entrepreneurship Research Collaboration in the Arab World through the MENAGEN Aggregator Platform at 3:00 pm KSA time (12:00 pm UK time).

We were delighted that Professor Katerina Nicolopoulou and Nasreen Hasan Ashkanani presented this session. The webinar was highly relevant to many of us seeking to enhance gender and entrepreneurship research collaboration within the Arab world.

The event introduced the MENAGEN Research Aggregator Platform, a collaborative digital hub that brings together research, events, and scholarly conversations focused on gender and entrepreneurship in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. It will serve as a space for connecting researchers and practitioners, amplifying emerging scholarship, and fostering inclusive, cross-regional dialogue on gendered entrepreneurial ecosystems and practices.

In addition, Nasreen Hasan Ashkanani shared her work on JBVI Storytelling, an outreach and knowledge-translation initiative of the Journal of Business Venturing Insights. This initiative translates peer-reviewed entrepreneurship research into engaging stories that highlight key insights, societal relevance, and practical implications beyond academia.

Webinar 2 – March 26 2026

Presented by Dr. Rana Zayadin

On Thursday, 26th March 2026, MENAGEN hosted a webinar titled Social Entrepreneurship Under Constraint: Negotiating Institutions in Jordan at 3:00 pm KSA time (12:00 pm UK time).

We were delighted that Dr. Rana Zayadin presented this webinar. Rana’s research topic was very interesting and highly relevant to many of us, and the session offered valuable insights into social entrepreneurship in constrained institutional environments.

The study examined how social entrepreneurs in Jordan operate within a context characterised by fragmented governance, strong donor presence, and contested civic space, using the lens of Strong Structuration Theory. Rather than depicting entrepreneurs as either heroic change agents or passive recipients of constraint, the analysis demonstrated how agency is exercised through calibration, delay, refusal, selective engagement, and interpretive labour. By placing the agent‑in‑situ at the centre of analysis, the study extended Strong Structuration Theory by showing how visibility, misrecognition, and non‑scaling function as structuring outcomes. It contributed to social entrepreneurship research by challenging scale‑centric and ecosystem‑optimistic accounts and offering a practice‑based explanation of how entrepreneurial action is recursively shaped within constrained institutional environments.

Webinar 3 – May 13, 2026

Presented by Dr. Ramzi Fathallah

On Wednesday, 13th May 2026, MENAGEN hosted a webinar titled Precarious Hope and Emancipation in Refugee Entrepreneurship at 4:00 pm KSA time (2:00 pm UK time). We were delighted that Dr. Ramzi Fathallah presented this session, drawing on his research in Lebanon to explore the theme of precarious hope and emancipation among refugee entrepreneurs.

In addition, Dr. Fathallah shared details of the Fourth Northeastern Qualitative Research Conference on Organizational Sciences, a free online conference held later the same day, immediately following the MENAGEN webinar. The conference focused on abduction in qualitative research and transparency in the age of AI.

Webinar 4 – June 22, 2026

Presented by Dr. Lorna Treanor

On Monday, 22nd June 2026, MENAGEN co-hosted a special collaborative event with the ISBE Gender and Enterprise Network (GEN) and the International Small Business Journal (ISBJ) at 2:00 pm KSA time (12:00 pm UK time) via Microsoft Teams. This interactive Meet the Editor session offered a behind-the-scenes look at academic publishing, designed to demystify the submission and review process for the ISBJ — a leading, peer-reviewed outlet for cutting-edge entrepreneurship research that brings together global perspectives to explore how small firms start, grow, and impact economies and societies.

ISBJ Editor Dr. Lorna Treanor shared insights into what the journal looks for from gender and entrepreneurship scholars, what authors can expect from the ISBJ review process, and how researchers could get involved as a reviewer or join the editorial board.