Nureen Khadr
Social entrepreneurs are not only their idea, but their network. A network is not only the people you know, but the people you build relationships with. Nurture those relationships and you end up with a support system as you navigate the ups and downs of executing that idea into a sustainable business.
We began THE IMPACT, our 5-day Social Entrepreneurship boot camp, with this support system in mind. And if we may say so ourselves, our Dubai boot camp was a huge success. Over the course of the week, we had the likes of Carla Hassan, PepsiCo’s CMO, to Caroline Faraj, VP Arabic Services at CNN and Mazen Hayek, Official Spokesman & Group Director of PR at MBC, speaking to our eighteen participants. The diversity of the group, coming from all walks of life and 8 different countries, only added value to the purpose of the week.
Below is a wonderful video put together by Jineesh Illath, Senior Designer, Silatech. Join us in celebrating the bright minds that came together in these five days!
After an unforgettable week, we asked some of our participants and facilitators about what they thought of the workshops and here is what they said:
Mohamed Farid, The Youth Company in Qatar: “ATC was a life changing experience, and the training was a really enriching experience… We were one family that came together. We were a group of entrepreneurs and now we are one family. This is what social entrepreneurship is all about: the social element.”
Salma El Hady, Nawaya: “I’m very happy to see people that actually care about social impact, because I’ve been with many incubators that only say cliches…and are risk-averse people. Thank you for doing this [bootcamp].”
Adam Molyneux-Barry, icecairo: “This is honestly one of the best workshops that I’ve had the pleasure of being a part of. The level of comfort and safety of the participants really allowed them to explore the uncomfortable parts of entrepreneurship… This was a massive learning experience, which is not something I say often. I myself will revisit aspects of my own business…”
Dubai bootcamp participants ahead of “the curve”.
Thank you to all who participated in the boot camp and pitch night and made it what it was: memorable! Hopefully we will see some of our readers at the future boot camps we are planning in Lebanon, Jordan, and KSA.
Nureen Khadr
Nureen Khadr is currently ATC’s Content and Strategy Development Intern for the summer of 2015. She is pursuing a B.A. in International Studies (Peace & Conflict Studies) and a double minor in Entrepreneurship & Innovation and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of San Francisco (USF) and expects to graduate in 2016. She is also the Editor in Chief of the San Francisco Foghorn, USF’s only student newspaper. Nureen is a proud, intersectional feminist and is extremely passionate about transparency, inclusive economies, and cultural and civic dialogue.
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