Hasoub CEO Maissa Ballout Shamshoum Named Entrepreneur of the Year at Influencer Magazine Awards 2026

Maissa Ballout Shamshoum, CEO of the Israeli non-profit Hasoub, won Entrepreneur of the Year at the Influencer Magazine Awards 2026, EIN Presswire announced on October 31, 2026. Hasoub works to advance Arab participation in technology, entrepreneurship, venture creation and innovation.

Maissa Ballout Shamshoum's Work at Hasoub

Based in Nazareth, Shamshoum leads a non-profit tech ecosystem and community for Arab society that builds a path from talent to founders, from campuses and community to accelerators, angel investment, policy and global connections. She orchestrates collaborations across governments, corporations, investors, academia and founders to build sustainable pathways from talent to globally scalable companies.

Shamshoum said of the recognition: "This award is deeply meaningful because it reflects a belief I have carried throughout my career, that investment and impact are two sides of the same mission. I have spent my career connecting people, capital, ideas and ecosystems, and to have that work recognised on a global stage is profoundly humbling."

She is an International Partner of the World Business Angels Investment Forum and an Advisory Board Member at Falcon Innovation Fund, a global deep tech investment fund based in Abu Dhabi, where she focuses on investments in Artificial Intelligence, Deep Tech, Physical AI and Frontier Engineering across sectors including infrastructure, energy, logistics, medtech, healthcare and advanced manufacturing. Before leading Hasoub, she served as VP Finance, Procurement and IT and as a Board Member at Dollar Shave Club, a Unilever and Nexus LP owned company. She founded Lumena Capital Group, which supports startups as a strategic director, advisor and strategic connector. She is a Certified Public Accountant and holds an Executive MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Other Influencer Magazine Awards 2026 Winners

EIN Presswire reported that Enrique Acosta Gonzalez won Podcaster of the Year at the Influencer Magazine Awards on October 25, 2026. Dr. Sindhu Bhaskar, Chairman of EST Group, won Social Impact Champion at the same awards on October 25, 2026. Bronwen Sciortino won Author of the Year at the awards on October 25, 2026.

Social Impact Recognition Across the Sector

EIN Presswire reported that Assam entrepreneur Jahnabi Phookan, founder of Lahé Looms, was named among the global Meaningful Business 100 winners on October 21, 2026, selected from over 900 nominations for a farm-to-fashion model that supports women artisans. Machine Maker reported that Blackbaud announced the winners of its first India Social Good Startup Program on October 23, 2026, a 12-week challenge with T-Hub in which seven startups completed the programme, with CredResolve, CogniSwitch and VyaptIX named winners and Aczen and DOMDOG as runners-up.

Blackbaud's bbcon 2026 Plans

Machine Maker reported that the Blackbaud programme winners will present at bbcon 2026, and that Blackbaud plans future cohorts.