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The Business of Freedom
Mentorship as a Path to Growth and Sustainability

3.3 Minutes
Gloria Al-Khalasa is a Communications Officer at the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF) in Jordan. With a degree in Languages and Translation, she has experience in NGOs . She is multilingual, fluent in Ukrainian, Russian, English and Italian, and also has a keen interest in photography and composing articles.
  Gloria Halasa
Mentorship as a Path to Growth and Sustainability

Success is rarely built overnight. It begins with an idea, grows through persistence, and takes shape through guidance that transforms potential into practice. For two young entrepreneurs in Jordan, this transformation became reality through the MiniSTEPNAU mentorship programme, an initiative by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF) Jordan.

As one of the most successful initiatives under the Jordan Refugee Desk, MiniSTEPNAU reflects the Foundation’s belief that freedom is inseparable from self-reliance and opportunity. It empowers youth and refugees to strengthen their ideas, develop business structures, and secure a place in the economy on their own terms. Among those who benefited from this mentorship are Majdi Salem, founder of WeLearn, and Maysa, founder of Maysaa Advertising — two very different stories united by one goal: sustainable growth.

From Classroom to Sustainability: The Story of WeLearn

In a world where technology reshapes every profession, WeLearn was created to prepare youth for what comes next. Founded by Majdi Salem, the platform provides online courses in artificial intelligence for school students and young adults, giving them access to digital tools that open doors to future employment and entrepreneurship.

To help him turn this vision into a sustainable venture, Majdi joined the financial mentorship track of MiniSTEPNAU in September 2025. Under the guidance of Omar Alazzam, a mentor specialised in finance and sustainability, Majdi began to refine every aspect of his project — from cost analysis and pricing models to financial forecasting and investor readiness.

Step by step, the sessions introduced him to methods that transformed uncertainty into structure. He learnt how to classify expenses, estimate revenue, and design a practical plan for financial monitoring. The mentorship also introduced green finance principles, which encouraged him to consider environmental aspects in business planning and to explore new funding opportunities in the green economy.

By the end of the programme, WeLearn had evolved from an educational platform into a financially stable and environmentally responsible enterprise. What began as a small idea now stood as a model of sustainable innovation — one that reflects the spirit of freedom FNF seeks to promote.

Majdi

Reframing the Offer: The Journey of Maysaa Advertising

While Majdi’s path revolved around financial structure, Maysa’s story was one of creative direction. Her company, Maysaa Advertising, had already earned recognition for its artistic flair, but it lacked the clear framework that every growing business needs.

Through the MiniSTEPNAU mentorship, Maysa examined the foundations of her work and rebuilt them with clarity and purpose. Together with her mentor, she redefined her company’s main services, established consistent pricing, and created a professional catalogue that displayed her past projects in an organized and attractive format.

She also received guidance on client communication, contracts, and proposal templates — practical tools that turned informal exchanges into formal business processes. The mentorship extended to her digital presence, where Maysa learned to approach her online platforms as strategic spaces for outreach, not only as creative showcases.

By the conclusion of the mentorship, Maysaa Advertising had become more than a creative studio. It had grown into a structured enterprise with a clear identity, professional systems, and a confident approach to the market — all without losing the creativity that made it unique.

Freedom in Practice

For both Majdi and Maysa, mentorship was not about instruction; it was about transformation. It provided the tools to convert passion into performance and independence into opportunity.

Through MiniSTEPNAU, the Jordan Refugee Desk continues to demonstrate that economic empowerment begins with access to knowledge and guidance. When structure supports creativity, and when freedom is backed by opportunity, small enterprises evolve into sustainable success stories — stories that speak not only of growth, but of dignity, perseverance, and the will to shape one’s own future.