Janette Habashi photo taken by Niveen Manarios
Janette Habashi, a Human Relations professor in the College of Arts and Sciences, was recognized in Forbes Middle East for her leadership and service in her nonprofit, Child’s Cup Full. Habashi was featured in a recent issue among the list of “Women Behind Middle Eastern Brands.”
Habashi started Child’s Cup Full in 2009 with the help of several graduate students. After traveling to a conference in Bethlehem and realizing the need of the students on the West Bank, Habashi and her students set out to raise funds so they would be able to provide supplies.
“My students and I started fundraising through every way we knew how,” said Habashi. “I had students teaching yoga and ballroom dancing and students baking cookies. We would host an annual dinner that people could purchase tickets to. Eventually, OU got involved and they helped connect us with the Tulsa Council for Humanity who was able to set up an account for our funds. Everyday our little fundraising project was becoming more and more official.”
Habashi explained that eventually the mothers of the children they were helping began reaching out to her.
“These mothers needed and wanted jobs,” said Habashi. “They wanted a form of income so that they could provide for themselves and their families. They wanted economic freedom, which is something I think we often take for granted.”
At this time, no one involved had any background in business, so Habashi turned to the subject that most of her educational background was in, Educational Psychology.
Photo credit Barbara Johnston
“We started designing prototypes of educational children’s toys that the mothers could help us make,” said Habashi. “We contacted the United Nations and they ended up providing us with a three-month stipend to help support these mothers. From this endeavor, Zeki Learning was formed. This is a brand that specializes in soft, tactile learning tools for children aged 0-7. All of the toys are handmade by the mothers in the West Bank. At the same time, I reached out to the Ronnie K. Irani Center for the Creation of Economic Wealth. I started working with Jeff Moore and explaining my ideas to him. Jeff suggested that I start taking business classes so that I would have a better foundation of skills. The CCEW takes about 10 projects each year to help fund, and we were really hoping that they would select our project, however, we knew that at this time we were not ready.”
Habashi enrolled in business classes and by the end of the summer, the CCEW had selected Habashi’s project as one of the projects that they wanted to fund.
“This was a transformative step for us” said Habashi. “I think Jeff and the CCEW realized that we needed their help and that we were on our way to success. They hired five paid graduate students and they started to help me get a grasp on what I was doing. From that point, we felt like we had so many more possibilities.”
Soon after partnering with CCEW, Habashi traveled to Chicago for a work conference. It was here that she was able to secure the first big contract for Zeki Learning after being introduced to the co-founder of a company called Threadies. Threadies worked with the women in the West Bank to design a prototype of a teddy bear that the women would be producing. In the first year, the women produced 5,000 bears.
This initiative connected her with a program called Business on the Frontline at Notre Dame, which agreed to adopt Habashi’s nonprofit for six months. Notre Dame provided funding for six students to travel to the West Bank in 2018, and they are currently in the process of sending six more students.
After partnering with Notre Dame and the realization that more and more women were wanting jobs, Habashi and her team created another brand, Darzah. Darzah is a fashion brand that creates hand-embroidered items, including shoes, purses and pillows.
Currently, Habashi and her team of graduate students are working on keeping up with the large demand of women asking for jobs. Six women are employed full time, while there are 22 part-time workers. Habashi is still handling a full teaching course load and she continues publishing. In 2017, she published her youth political socialization: A case of Palestinian Youth. This is in addition of running the organization from her home. She hopes that one day Child’s Cup Full can turn into a full-time organization with full-time employees and a shipping warehouse.
Child’s Cup Full aims to provide women with a source of income to sustain their family’s economic growth. They recognize the importance of paying a fair wage and providing generous benefits to their employees. By teaching women the necessary skills to create, Habashi has helped countless numbers of women lift themselves out of poverty while also insuring the skills needed for future endeavors. To donate or purchase the products made by the women in the West Bank, please visit https://www.childscupfull.org.
