Tag: programme

Synergos Middle East & North Africa Social Innovators Program

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SynergosIn October 2007 Synergos launched the Middle East and North Africa Social Innovators Program, with funding from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and other donors. The three-year initiative seeks to identify and support twenty individuals from Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco and Palestine who are implementing successful social projects.

In order to be considered for selection, a candidate must be implementing an idea that has demonstrated positive social change and impact at a local level with the potential for replication in other communities and expansion to a national level. Social innovations will be considered which have as a focus one or more of the following fields; economic, social, or sustainable development; health; education; and culture.

The Program will invest in these Social Innovators through professional development and financial support to better enable participants to transform their small-scale projects into sustainable programs and organizations.

The selected Social Innovators will have access to training, mentoring and peer learning through a network of professionals and social entrepreneurs to help build financial and organizational sustainability for your innovation; as well as facilitation of connections to business, government, philanthropic and other civil society leaders in the area and across the world to leverage their innovation and make a greater impact. Financial awards of up to $17,000 per year, for two years, are also offered to help develop the winner’s social ventures.

The application period for the Social Innovators program began in early May 2008 and goes on until mid-September.

For more details about the program and project submission, check out the official program website: Synergos Social Innovators Program.

MBR Foundation Center For Entrepreneurship and Innovation In American University Of Beirut

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Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum FoundationThe Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation today announced plans to establish a new center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the Olayan School of Business, American University of Beirut (AUB), Lebanon, as part of its continuous efforts to instill the spirit of entrepreneurship in the Arab world.

The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, aiming to serve as a regional nucleus for entrepreneurship research and knowledge dissemination in the Arab world, will be established in collaboration with AUB with an endowment of AED18.3 million (nearly US$5 million).

Under the agreement, the Foundation and AUB’s Olayan School of Business will combine forces to support and develop entrepreneurship-related research, training material and expertise in the Arab world. Through the new centre, the Foundation and AUB will also work towards enhancing regional business capabilities, leading to a better understanding of current and future entrepreneurial activity and challenges in the region.

The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation will develop and provide research and training materials fostering entrepreneurship and innovation in the Arab World, thereby contributing to creating conditions conducive to furthering employment and supporting economic activity across the region. Additionally, it will conduct regional entrepreneurship studies to identify barriers to entrepreneurship that individuals, business leaders, corporations and governments can help alleviate.

The center will also serve as a knowledge center for e-students, entrepreneurs and policy-makers by providing entrepreneurship sector analysis, country analysis, profiling and policy recommendations, regular data surveys, as well as relevant business case studies.

Operating as an open source institution for its published output, the centre will offer access to its resources to eligible entrepreneurs, researchers and relevant stakeholders as determined through mutually agreed criteria set by the Foundation and the AUB.

Aimed at promoting job growth and business creation in the region, the Foundation seeks to develop entrepreneurship programmes that facilitate business mentorship, expertise and services among successful and aspiring entrepreneurs. In developing a series of related programmes that support young businesses, the Foundation aims to assist emerging entrepreneurs to explore, identify and seize potential business opportunities across the Arab world.

As part of its efforts to support regional centres dedicated to advancing business education and supporting young enterprises, the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation recently signed key partnership agreements with a number of leading organisations and educational bodies across the Arab world including the Dubai-based Young Arab Leaders (YAL), Al Akhawayan University in Morocco, and the Palestine Information and Communications Technology Incubator (PICTI) in Palestine.

# More: Zawya

Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation Launches ‘Sawaed’ Challenge Fund Programme

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Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum FoundationThe Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation announced recently the launch of ‘Sawaed’, a new programme that aims to challenge the private sector to develop innovative business concepts to drive the development of the Arab world.

Operating as a ‘challenge fund’, ‘Sawaed’ will encourage businesses to compete for funding in response to a specific regional development goal. Each year, the programme will promote a regional challenge and invite businesses to submit competitive project concepts dedicated to addressing the challenge.

A memorandum of understanding was signed between the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation and the Young Arab Leaders (YAL).

According to the signed MoU, YAL, an independent, not-for-profit organization with a strong membership base across the Arab region, will leverage the experience of 30 active members who will serve as mentors and support eligible businesses across the region throughout the process of applying to the fund.

As the first initiative under the Foundation’s Entrepreneurship and Employment sector, ‘Sawaed’ seeks to promote business excellence, empower young Arabs to innovate, while facilitating job creation in the region. The program will award non-refundable grants of between AED100,000 to AED1 million (US$27,000 to US$270,000) to projects implemented by private sector entities that aim to increase the amount of high quality Arabic online content, develop and improve access to education, knowledge, and information on ICT platforms to promote Arab capabilities.

Application for Sawaed programme will open on the website starting September 1st, 2008. Interested applicants can download and fill electronic forms of “Concept Note Proposals” and submit them online before October 12th, 2008. Winners will be announced towards the end of March 2009.

Launched with an endowment of AED37 billion (US$10 billion), the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation aims to develop future leaders and create a knowledge-based society in the Arab world through the key components of knowledge creation, culture, as well as entrepreneurship and employment generation.

# Sawaed