INSIGHTS
Mona Mijthab


PnL TALK (3.3.2021)

Mona-Portrait small

Mona is a social entrepreneur, international speaker and designer with a passion for circular product and service design and social innovation. Mona is the founder of Mosan, a social enterprise that improves lives in low-income communities with access to safe and modern sanitation. Mosan currently offers its services in Mayan communities in Guatemala. Her background in industrial design allows her to find unconventional solutions to complex issues. She enjoys working closely with people, combining creativity and strategic design with social and cultural expertise.

Mona has more than 6 years of experience teaching and facilitating large and multidisciplinary groups. She is a lecturer of MAS Strategic Design at ZHdK, where she develops and leads several courses, curricula and university partnerships. Since 2014, Mona has been a member of the IDIN network at MIT D-Lab, where she contributes to research projects and facilitates workshops and innovation processes around the world (e.g., in Kenya, Tanzania, Morocco, Colombia, and Guatemala).

Focus topic: From human-centered to planet-centered Design
Mona Mijthab on LinkedIn

MONA'S FAVORITES

BOOK

Dare to lead (Brene Brown)
"...because leadership is feminine when we finally listen to ourselves and break out of old (and male) patterns. Our society still follows predominantly male structures. So it seems that women are disadvantaged or can't keep up. I claim the opposite is the case, women can."

ENTRPRENEURIAL LEADER

Paul Polak (Founder and CEO of Windhorse International)
"...because he has shown that business and social added value can be ethically combined and do not contradict each other. With his innovative solutions, he has also shown that business does NOT mean that the few enrich themselves, but that business should serve to make things better for the many. From him comes the quote: "If you don't understand the problem you've set out to solve from your customers' perspective; if your product or service won't dramatically increase their income; and if you can't sell 100 million of [your products], don't bother." (Paul Polak)"

MOVIE

Little Miss Sunshine
"The film that teaches you EVERYTHING about life with so much wit and charm. About fears, self-confidence and why you shouldn't listen to the critics when realizing your dreams, about failure and getting back up, about growing up and about dying. This is by far my favorite movie. I come from a crazy family myself. Over the years you learn to laugh about it 😉"

TED TALK

Inspiring a life of immersion (Jacqueline Novogratz)
"Jacqueline does a wonderful job of mastering storytelling in her talk. I myself enjoy storytelling and inspiring people. What we should all keep in mind is that innovation and change do not fail because of a lack of resources, but always because of the ingenuity and genius of the person behind it. Inspiring people can therefore be a very powerful tool."

KONTAKT

INSTITUT FÜR INNOVATION UND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
ZHAW SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT AND LAW
THEATERSTRASSE 17
8400 WINTERTHUR
T: +41 (0)58 934 65 00
M: entrepreneurship@zhaw.ch
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