# Iliana Montauk

> Iliana Montauk is the Co-Founder and CEO of Manara, a social-impact edtech platform that connects software engineers from the Middle East and North Africa with global tech jobs at companies like Google, Meta, and Amazon. A Harvard grad and Fulbright Fellow who speaks five languages, she built Gaza's first startup accelerator before co-founding Manara with Laila Abudahi in 2020. Backed by Y Combinator, Stripe, Reid Hoffman, and Paul Graham, Manara has trained engineers who achieve 86% job placement within five months, and in 2025 inked a $3.6M AWS partnership to upskill 2,500 engineers in cloud and AI — on a mission to reach 1 million learners by 2027.

- **Role:** Co-Founder and CEO at Manara
- **Organizations:** Manara, Gaza Sky Geeks, Y Combinator (W21 alumni), World Economic Forum (Agenda Contributor)
- **From:** Poland
- **Nationality:** American (Polish-born)
- **Education:** BA, History and Literature of France and the Middle East (summa cum laude), Harvard University, Fulbright Fellowship (Jordan, focused on startups in the Middle East), Fulbright Program
- **Known for:** Co-founded Gaza Sky Geeks, the first startup accelerator in Gaza, backed by Paul Graham, Marc Benioff, and other Silicon Valley investors, Featured in TechCrunch, Wired, the New York Times, and Fortune for Gaza Sky Geeks and Manara, Led Manara through Y Combinator W21

## Career timeline

- **2006** — Graduated summa cum laude from Harvard University
- **2006-2011** — Worked at Google (first job out of college); also worked at Wamda and a microfinance nonprofit
- **2012** — Fulbright Fellowship in Jordan, focused on startups in the Middle East
- **2013** — Arrived in Gaza in October; witnessed startups pitching while warplanes flew overhead
- **2013-2020** — Director at Gaza Sky Geeks, Gaza's first startup accelerator (launched by Mercy Corps); raised funds from Paul Graham, Marc Benioff, and others
- **2018-2020** — Senior Product Manager at Upwork, the world's largest talent marketplace
- **2020** — Co-founded Manara with Laila Abudahi (July 2020)
- **2021** — Manara accepted into Y Combinator W21 batch
- **2022** — Raised $3M pre-seed led by Stripe, with Reid Hoffman, Paul Graham, Eric Ries, and Mudassir Sheikha
- **2023** — Continued supporting ~70 Gazan engineers through the October 2023 conflict, conducting weekly check-ins
- **2025** — Announced $3.6M partnership with AWS to train 2,500 MENA engineers in cloud and AI; community grew to 150,000+ engineers

## Achievements

- Co-founded Gaza Sky Geeks, the first startup accelerator in Gaza, backed by Paul Graham, Marc Benioff, and other Silicon Valley investors
- Featured in TechCrunch, Wired, the New York Times, and Fortune for Gaza Sky Geeks and Manara
- Led Manara through Y Combinator W21
- Raised $3M pre-seed led by Stripe with star-studded investor list including Reid Hoffman and Paul Graham
- Signed $3.6M AWS partnership (2025) to train 2,500 engineers in cloud and AI across MENA
- Built Manara community to 150,000+ engineers
- Achieved 90% AWS certification pass rate for Manara learners
- 86% of Manara's trained engineers receive job offers within five months
- Placed engineers at Google, Meta, Amazon, Qualtrics, and Zalando — 71% hire rate for Google referrals
- Contributed articles to the World Economic Forum as an Agenda Contributor
- Speaks five languages including Arabic

## Latest updates

- **2025-04** — Manara announced a $3.6M partnership with AWS to train 2,500 MENA software engineers in cloud and AI skills over two years.
- **2025-04** — Manara's community of engineers grew to over 150,000, with a 90% AWS certification pass rate among program graduates.
- **2023-12** — Fortune covered Manara's efforts supporting ~70 Gazan engineers during the October 2023 Israel-Hamas conflict.
- **2022-05** — Manara raised $3M in pre-seed funding led by Stripe, with Reid Hoffman, Paul Graham, Eric Ries, and others participating.

## Links

- Website: https://manara.tech
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/ilianamontauk
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/TeamManara
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/imontauk/

---

Profile page: https://yespress.io/iliana-montauk
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-12