The Lotus Story…
Lotus is an NGO founded by Maisa Elsheikh, an Orthodox Druze woman, who wanted to change the lives of her peers.
Maisa recognised that there are hundreds of young religious Druze women, living in the Israeli periphery, who are highly ambitious, devoted and capable, however, due to cultural and religious traditions, are not allowed to drive or to work outside of the village boundaries, in a mixed-gender environment. The heavy restrictions perpetuate a reality in which hundreds of talented women lack the opportunity to even dream about fulfilling their futures. For many of them, their day to day reality, even after graduating high school with high marks, is working in a grocery store or other small business in the village, earning a salary significantly below minimum wage. Lotus was founded to change this reality and bring them front of the stage: the Israeli Hi-tech sector, with a starting gross salary of 11,000 NIS/month (after completing Lotus’s training). Broadly, for the first time in the history of the Druze culture, Druze Orthodox women are being given the opportunity to dream and truly provide for themselves and their families.
Lotus initiated a yearlong program, in which women with a high potential to succeed in Hi-tech positions are trained to become Full-stack Developers, including; a training program with over 500 hours of professional coding classes and additional “soft” skills training. After the completion of the course, the women are hired by the firms and physically work in the Lotus Hub in Daliyat-el-carmel.