Enabling minorities and women in Palestine and Israel to develop quality STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math),entrepreneurship and leadership skills to create lasting, meaningful change in their communities.
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OUTPUT
Today, MEET reaches 120 students per new cohort. In their first summer, the first-year students created more than 35 group projects based on computer science and entrepreneurship skills.
OUTCOME
MEET's alumni community counts more than 810 leaders in the region, significant success in social entrepreneurship.
HIGHLIGHT
The project ensures equal representation per cohort: 50% Palestinians, 50% Israelis, 50% young women, 50% young men, joining youth from the periphery of Israel and the West Bank with those from the centre.
MEET introduced me to the worlds of technology, entrepreneurship and business that are at the core of what I do today. But most importantly, in MEET I had the first real chat with a Jewish-Israeli person, a first Jewish-Israeli friend, and it was the first time I worked with Jewish-Israelis on projects I genuinely cared about
While Israel is called a 'start-up nation', its minorities are significantly underrepresented in the knowledge industry.
Palestinians, women and Arab population in Israel lack access to quality STEM education and professional networks, perpetuating segregation, fear and distrust in the region.
The Julius Baer Foundation supports MEET in introducing tools addressing the problematic wealth divide in the Middle East. By adapting its recruitment strategy, MEET ensures a 50% representation for teenagers from disadvantaged communities and an equal number of students from higher socioeconomic strata to forge diverse networks of friendships across the wealth divide. Further, a newly designed tech ethics curriculum centres on the power of technology to bridge the gaps and counter uneven access to opportunities.
Every year, 120 students living in segretation start their three-year educational programme acquiring a mutual set of skills, values and capacity for technological innovation in a binational context.
Quick facts
- Israel and Palestine, nationwide
- Project support: 2022-2024
- Grant amount: CHF 150,000 per year
- Linking Palestinian and Israeli youth (ages 15 to 17)
MEET (Middle East Entrepreneurs of Tomorrow) reduces wealth inequality between Israeli and Palestinian youth while inspiring them to find common ground.
Since 2004, MEET has partnered with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to teach computer science, entrepreneurialism and leadership to Israeli and Palestinian high schoolers in integrated classrooms. Participants develop personal and professional connections, shared skill sets, values and a capacity for tech innovation.
Language, culture and geography separate Arab/Palestinians in Israel and the West Bank from their more prosperous neighbours in central areas.
STEM education and career opportunities are limited in marginalised communities, which has led to a near absence of Palestinians in tech and entrepreneurialism and a growing wealth gap.
Mutual distrust, an absence of intercultural familiarity, and political strife are common.
In the past, MEET’s focus for recruiting was on the gender and ethnic backgrounds of the students. With the support of the Julius Baer Foundation, MEET will add a third axis in its recruitment strategy to address the gap between students from opposite geographical and socio-economic backgrounds.
Expected outcomes include:
- 50% of MEET’s student body consists of teenagers hailing from underserved communities and peripheral areas
- All graduates design tech-innovative projects and solutions that strive to reduce inequalities
- Over 85% of participants express interest in working with people from diverse cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds
- Over 85% of participants report increased confidence, knowledge in computer science and entrepreneurship
From being segregated...
Youth from marginalised communities have limited STEM education and career opportunities, leading to near absences of Palestinians and women in tech and entrepreneurialism while widening the wealth divide.
... to being a tight-knit skilled cadre.
Young women and men gain skills in computer science and business practices while working together in diverse and bi-national environments. networking with key persons from the local hi-tech and business world.
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