The architecture of a dream

Fatima arrived in Italy with a simple yet enormous dream: to guarantee her four children a better future than her own. However, the labor market quickly proved to be a wall. “It is not designed for women, and even less so for a Black woman like me,” she says. After years of unsuccessful interviews and precarious odd jobs, she realized that the only possible path was to become her own employer. The turning point came in 2022 when, thanks to the “Resto al Sud” grant, she managed to open Digital Company, a business that merges technology, creativity, and inclusion. Fatima, who in the meantime earned a technical-IT diploma by studying at night for years, developed Apprezzoo, an innovative app that helps families save on groceries and reduce waste. It is not just a digital service: it is a way to restore dignity to those who, like her, had to reinvent themselves starting from scratch.  

Today, she also works as a cultural mediator at the Integrated Social Hub of Syracuse and AccoglieRete onlus, accompanying other women as they learn to navigate and interpret a complex system. Digital Company has become a haven for those seeking an opportunity and refusing to give up: young people, women, and individuals who need someone to believe in their talent. In her office, among computers, papers, and colorful notes, hangs the photo of the diploma she earned in 2019: it is a symbol of the courage that Fatima cherishes and shares with others. Her business is not just about technology: it is a testament to redemption, a bridge between necessity and possibility, a place where people are never judged for what they lack, but valued for what they can become.