Qualified Accountant and Financial Advisor, Founder and Board Member of the Association for Protection of the Environment, which she chaired for twelve years, Mrs. Loza Sawiris serves on many Egyptian boards: the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood, the National Council of Women, the Social Fund for Development, and the Cairo Municipality, and she is a member of the Board for the Egyptian Water and Wastewater Regulatory Agency. Mrs. Loza Sawiris is also the Founder and President of the Egyptian Organization for Street Children, Founder and President of the Egypt Liver Care Society and a Founding Member of the Cleveland Clinic International Leadership Board. Mrs. Loza Sawiris holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Cairo University as well as an MBA from the American University in Cairo. She is an alumna of several of Harvard University's Executive Education Programs (1998-2010) and has received a number of awards such as the Global Women's Leadership Award in Cairo in 2006. Mrs. Loza Sawiris is dedicated to the improvement of the livelihoods of the garbage collector communities.

Building Expertise and Creating Infrastructure

Working as one of the founders of Association of the Protection of the Environment (APE), in 1984 Mrs. Loza Sawiris adopted the garbage collectors in the area of Mokattam (later called Manshiet Nasser). Complete care was given in the areas of health, education, and income generation. In 1998, Mrs. Loza Sawiris added another area, Tora, which became a model of excellence - the garbage collectors now live in concrete homes, collect the garbage from the nearby town of Máadi and transfer it to another area, Kattamia. Thus, a triangle was created in Kattamia: one location where garbage collectors live; another where they transfer the garbage; and another where the machinery recycles the garbage into commercially viable products. It is notable that the complete small units of transfer stations are rented by each of the garbage collectors who previously brought the garbage into their homes. Kattamia was developed in 1999 as the location for the major activities for resale, recycling, and reuse of the garbage collected: thus only 5% is dumped.

Initial Application of Expertise and Equipment

No More Landfill with Zero Waste: located 22 kilometers north of Hurgada on the Red Sea, The Tourist Resort of El Gouna has recycled all garbage with no landfill and zero waste since 1991. Here, the experience and machines developed at Mokattam, Tora, and Kattamia were successfully applied in an enterprise which simultaneously provides labor intensive employment and income generation for garbage collectors. Moreover, this project ensures that unlike the guests of the thirteen hotels, the marina and the golf-course at El Gouna, the garbage never stays overnight.