photo by: Iann Ivy  –  Ika Aliyeva, originally from Azerbaijan, is the founder of Femigrants, based in Silicon Valley 

 

Why This Facebook Data Contractor Launched ‘Femigrants’ To Help Female Immigrant Entrepreneurs

by Nina Roberts , CONTRIBUTOR cover all aspects of immigrant entrepreneurship.  Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.
Femigrants is a network of nearly 3,000 female immigrant entrepreneurs and business leaders, based in Silicon Valley. Its founder, Ika Aliyeva is originally from the small city of Lankaran, Azerbaijan and now lives in the Bay Area. Femigrants—a mash-up of “female” and “immigrants”—was launched one year ago.

Although she has a contract Data Integrity Specialist position at Instagram/Facebook, Aliyeva was compelled to create Femigrants in order to help female immigrant entrepreneurs and leaders.   Femigrants’s first forum, Femigrants of Silicon Valley, will take place on March 22, 2018, in San Francisco.

Nina Roberts: First, how and why did you settle in the US from Azerbaijan?

 

Ika Aliyeva: I arrived in 2011 to get a graduate degree in social media and communications from Middle Tennessee State University. I was 30 years old, I  gave up a well-paying job at an oil company to study in the US.

NR: Why?

IA: I grew up in a city where female leadership was not accepted; girls were supposed to get married by the age of 16. Fortunately, my parents wanted me to become a successful leader and supported me throughout my education, both in Azerbaijan and the US.

I wanted to study how social media platforms have impacted our lives, from finding a life partner to supporting revolutions. In fact, I wrote a paper on Facebook and Twitter’s role in the revolution in the Middle East in graduate school.

Prior to settling in the US for good, I had visited the US four times through exchange programs of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, funded by the US Department of State.

NR: How did you end up in San Francisco working for Facebook? And why launch Femigrants?

After Middle Tennessee State University, I got an internship at New America Media in San Francisco; my husband got an internship at the City and County of San Francisco. Although there are professional opportunities in San Francisco, looking for a job with no network was a challenging experience.

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