2013 Partners for a New Beginning Summit
The PNB Turkey Local Chapter and the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) hosted the Partners for a New Beginning Summit, a convening of government, business, civil society, and PNB local leaders from the United States, Turkey, and across our PNB network. The event featured former Secretary of State and PNB Chair Madeleine Albright and TOBB President and PNB Turkey Chair M. Rifat Hisarciklioğlu, among others.
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The global event promoted the exchange and development of ideas between chapters and other involved constituents and invited the examination of best practices for building sustainable partnerships that provide mutual benefit to all parties. Below are highlights from the agenda, followed by announcements that were made.
Welcome and Keynote
-M. Rifat Hisarciklioğlu, President, TOBB & Chair, PNB Turkey
-Madeleine K. Albright, Chair, PNB & Chair, Albright Stonebridge Group
-S/R Andrew O’Brien, Office of the Global Partnerships Initiative, US Department of State
-Video presentation from US Secretary of State John F. Kerry
-HE Ali Babacan, Deputy Prime Minister of Economic Affairs, Republic of Turkey
Fostering Entrepreneurship: Innovative Approaches to Training & Mentorship
With today’s limited job market, youth are eager to forge their own path and create opportunity for their generation. Despite the nascent entrepreneurial ecosystems in the MENA region, growing efforts to support mentorship and entrepreneurship training are starting to create impact, especially in making local startups globally competitive. Panelists will discuss the importance of mentorship and opportunities to scale up existing platforms to maximize impact.
-Göktekin Dinçerler, Chairman, TOBB Venture Capital Industry Council
-Emile Cubeisy, Managing Partner, Silicon Badia & Managing Director, IV Holdings
-Mohamed Bridaa, Country Manager, Microsoft
-Patricia P. McDougall-Covin, Director, Institute for International Business, Indiana University
-Ferruh Gurtas, Director, Corporate Affairs MENA, Turkey & Africa, Intel
-Melek Pulatkonak, Founder & Curator, TurkishWIN
Maximizing Return on Investment: The Role of Women and Youth
Investment in women and youth is essential to a sustainable and growing economy. In the Middle East and North Africa region, women remain a largely untapped talent pool, although efforts to encourage female entrepreneurship and leadership are starting to take root. Experts at this panel will discuss initiatives to engage and include women and youth, and the impact of that investment on their respective economies.
-Galya Molinas, President of Turkey, Caucasus & Central Asia Business Unit, The Coca-Cola Company
-Sabri Saidam, Co-Founder & Board Member, PNB Palestine Chapter
-Shereen Allam, Vice-Chair, PNB Egypt & President, Association for Women’s Total Advancement & Development
-Zeynep Dagli, CEO & Founder, Momento & WEF Global Shaper
-Halit Develioglu, CEO, Reysas Technology Inc. & Winner, 2013 TOBB-TEPAV Turkey 100 competition
Unlocking Opportunity: New Models to Fund Startups and SMEs
Practitioners and experts will discuss the financial challenges facing entrepreneurs in PNB countries and the opportunities for investors to support the development and growth of start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
-Habib Haddad, CEO, Wamda
-Hossam Allam, Founder, Cairo Angels
-Rudi Dökmecioğlu, Founder & CEO, Tmob Mobile Technology & WEF Global Shaper
-Hala Fadel, Chair, MIT Enterprise Forum for the Pan Arab Region
-Ali Karabey, Managing Director, 212
-Ussal Sahbaz, Coordinator of Entrepreneurship Programs, TEPAV
Human Capacity Building for the Global Economy: Focus on Employability
Innovative practices in higher education will better prepare graduates for employment. The panel will explore the important role private companies, educational institutions and other organizations play in the development of professional skills in growth industries such as hospitality and tourism, among others.
-Mehdi Bendimerad, CEO, SPS-Système Panneaux Sandwichs
-Tamim Baiou, Co-founder & President, AlRakiza Training
-Soraya Salti, Senior Vice President MENA, Injaz Al Arab
-Raouf Mhenni, General Manager Iberia, Middle East & Africa, HR Access Solutions
-Sofiane Chaib, CEO, IN-Tuition
-Mehmet Yavuz Coşkun, Gaziantep University
-Armin Zerunyan, General Manager, Hilton
-Deniz Sungurlu, Corporate Social Responsibility Manager for Turkey, Corporate Affairs, Cisco
Supporting a Vibrant Palestinian Economy
This discussion will focus on the enabling environment required for implementing the Palestinian Economic Initiative and its eight focus sectors, operationalizing an industrial zone in Jenin, and developing a leading center of entrepreneurship in the West Bank. Participants will engage in a discussion on the opportunities for investment and job creation in Palestine.
-Sireen Sabi, Founder, Click & Pick & WEF Global Shaper
-Kito de Boer, Director, Public Sector Practice, McKinsey & Co.
-Madeleine K. Albright, Chair, PNB & Chair, Albright Stonebridge Group
-Güven Sak, Director, The Economic Policy Research Foundation of Turkey (TEPAV)
-Zahi Khouri, Chair, Palestine for a New Beginning (PNB)
-Mark Singleton, Deputy Head of Mission, Office of the Quartet Representative
Special PNB-NAPEO Meeting On Libya
-Madeleine K. Albright, Chair, PNB & Chair, Albright Stonebridge Group (for the first hour)
-Ambassador Deborah Jones, US Ambassador to Libya, US Department of State
-S/R Andrew O’Brien, Office of the Global Partnerships Initiative, US Department of State
Best Practices for High-Growth Entrepreneurs
As part of the broader Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW), this roundtable discussion will target young entrepreneurs and offer them a unique opportunity to engage with successful role models who will offer advice on best practices for growing a company, as well as overcoming common obstacles faced by high-growth entrepreneurs. The presentations will be followed by Q&A with entrepreneurs and conference participants.
-Didem Altop, Managing Director, Endeavor Turkey
-Nevzat Aydin, Co-founder, Yemeksepeti
-Emile Cubeisy, Managing Partner, Silicon Badia & Managing Director, IV Holdings
-Nabeel Qadeer, Program Manager, Plan9
The following announcements were made at the PNB Summit:
Vocational Training and Community College Delegation to North Africa (February 1st-8th, 2014)
From February 2nd-8th, 2014 The Aspen Institute PNB-NAPEO Secretariat will host several vocational training institutes and community colleges to explore partnerships with local higher education institutions to establish partnerships and share best practices on training for employment in key sectors such as hospitality and tourism, renewable energy, healthcare, businesses and English language training.
Entrepreneurship Delegation to Palestine (March 17th-23rd, 2014)
From March 17th-23rd, The Aspen Institute PNB Secretariat in partnership with the Telos Group will host a delegation of US entrepreneurs and investors to the West Bank to meet with the finalists and winners of PNB Palestine’s Celebration of Innovation (COI). Delegates will lead seminars, workshops, and conduct one on one mentorship sessions and listen to entrepreneurs pitch their businesses.
Mentorship Initiative
To support our PNB local chapters, the PNB Secretariat will work with local PNB chapters that need US mentors for young entrepreneurs in-country. Entrepreneurs will be vetted by local chapter members.
Entrepreneurship Delegation to Jordan (Q2 2014)
The top 7 entrepreneurs from Oasis 500 will visit the US to meet with investors and showcase investment opportunities in the region as well as receive mentorship on growing their business startups.
Global Entrepreneurship Week-Algeria
Global Entrepreneurship Week Algeria has grown from impacting 80 people in 3 cities to 1,000 people in 25 cities. In 2013 they have expanded to have 250 partner organizations throughout the country and have a formal partnership with the Ministry of Industry. As a result, In 2013 they have expand to impact and train 25,000 number of youth.
Creative Cup Competition-Algeria
Creative Cup-Algeria is a global competition for entrepreneurs in the creative industries. PNB-NAPEO Algeria is the host of the first competition in Algeria. They are currently training 6 entrepreneurs to prepare business plans. One winner will be selected and sent to Denmark for the global competition.
Ibn Khaldoun Maghreb Exchange (Algeria)
Ibn Khaldoun is a regional exchange program training university students in business and entrepreneurship skills. Ibn Khaldoun will enter its 3rd year and will aim to impact 50 youth from Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Mauritania, and expand to include Libya in Summer 2014. Ibn Khaldoun has trained and mentored 55 university students from 2012-2013.
Smart Center (Tunisia)
During the June 2012 Higher Education Delegation, the PNB-NAPEO Tunisia local chapter launched an entrepreneurship center within the Tunis Business School (TBS) to offer entrepreneurship training and resources to university students in Tunis. PNB-NAPEO Tunisia and TBS have partnered with HR Access and Intel Corporation to implement two successful entrepreneurship workshops impacting almost 100 students thus far.
FICRA (Tunisia)
FICRA’s goal is to create standardized entrepreneurship curriculum by creating a module students can choose in their final year of study. FICRA launched a partnership with Intel Corporation and trained 40 professors from 10 universities on the “Idea-ation” entrepreneurship curriculum, which they could take back to their universities thus training up to 1200 students.
Launching PNB NAPEO in Libya
The PNB Secretariat has led the formation of a core group of Libyans to stand up a chapter in Libya that would support entrepreneurship and strengthen education in Libya. Notwithstanding the political and security environment in Libya, PNB would like to continue to implement small-scale projects that impact entrepreneurs, women and youth. The Libya meeting at the PNB Summit will facilitate the formation of this chapter in Libya.
Global Entrepreneurship Week (Libya)
For the first time in 2013, Global Entrepreneurship Week took place in Libya. PNB partnered with GEW Libya on virtual mentorship sessions delivered by PNB mentors based in Silicon Valley to a group of Libyan entrepreneurs and tech professionals in Benghazi. The mentoring session focused on how to start and scale a business. In 2014, PNB looks forward to partnering on a training session for both investors and entrepreneurs.
Virtual Mentorship Program (Egypt)
Launch of mentorship program with Cisco and AWTAD to mentor Egyptian professionals and entrepreneurs in key fields identified by PNB’s local partners in Egypt.
Angel Investing Seminars (Egypt & Jordan)
Launch of new seminars focused on Angel Investing in the Middle East. The first panel will be featured in today’s conference and we will be hosting angel investors in DC in future seminars. The objective is to bring together angel investors from the region and the US to discuss best practices in investing as well as engage the Egyptian diaspora community in the US through angel investing opportunities.
• First convening: PNB Summit in Istanbul – Nov. 23 & 24, 2013
• Second convening: Presenting Cairo Angels, Washington DC – December 2nd, 2014
• Third convening: February 2013 – TBD
• Fourth Convening: April 2013, to coincide with delegation from the Middle East to the US
Virtual mentorship for COI winners and finalists (Palestine)
To support continued mentorship of COI winners and finalists after the November 24th competition, the Aspen institute will identify mentors, especially within the diaspora, to provide a 12-week mentorship program that helps COI entrepreneurs take their business to the next level. The virtual mentorship will be followed by the delegation where mentors will be able to officially meet their entrepreneurs in the West Bank.
Celebration of Innovation 2012-2013 (Palestine)
The Celebration of Innovation is an annual business plan competition hosted by PNB-Palestine that picks 10-15 entrepreneurs whose businesses are innovatively solving a local community problem. These entrepreneurs go through training with Indiana University before presenting their businesses to a panel of judges. The winners receive local and international mentors, start-up funding and local incubation in a private company.
Center of Entrepreneurship Excellence (Palestine)
Indiana University’s (IU) Kelley School of Business (KSB), in collaboration with Partners for a New Beginning (PNB) Palestine and Global Communities (GC), proposes the development of the West Bank/Gaza Entrepreneurship Center of Excellence (ECE). The ECE activities will improve lives through enabling opportunities, fostering economic growth, and building the capacity in the West Bank and Gaza to support market-led development and a robust private sector.
Angel Investment Delegation to Jordan (November 2012)
A delegation of 20 angel and venture capital investors went to Jordan to explore the entrepreneurship eco-system and connect directly with Jordan’s top entrepreneurs. The delegation impacted almost 600 entrepreneurs through various events and mentorship sessions. 15 mentorship relationships formed as a result and 6 entrepreneurs secured funding from US and European investors.
PNB-Silicon Badia
Oasis 500 partnership on pitching event in New York: 7 Oasis 500 entrepreneurs pitched their businesses to 50 US-based entrepreneurs in New York. This was an event meant to introduce both the investor as well as the diaspora community to investment opportunities from the region.
Turkey 100 Business Meet-up (Turkey)
AllWorld Network identifies the 100 fastest growing companies in Turkey. To celebrate the Turkey 100 and to expand opportunities for partnership, collaboration and business between the US and Turkey, the PNB Secretariat at the Aspen Institute hosted a day of business-to-business networking and panel discussions on the opportunities for Turkish and US investment.
Promoting Entrepreneurship Among Youth (Turkey)
A partnership between Intel, TOBB, and the Turkish NGO, Habitat, aims to promote and strengthen technology-sponsored entrepreneurship in high schools and universities. The program trained 224 Habitat volunteers to deliver Intel’s “Learn Technology Entrepreneurship” training to 2,480 young people, including 980 women, across 39 cities throughout Turkey. Additionally, TOBB supported the training of youth to establish entrepreneurship clubs; university-level entrepreneurship clubs have been established with the involvement of students from 60 universities.
SPARK for Women Webinars (Turkey)
The PNB Secretariat is working with Cisco and PNB Turkey to hold international webinars utilizing Cisco technology to connect US business leaders with female university students in Turkey. The scope of these conversations will explore the challenges women face in the Turkish job market, the importance of women’s economic empowerment in knowledge-based economic sectors, and the advantages of careers in the IT sector for women, as well as encourage young women, in Turkey and the US, to explore careers in IT as they leave university.
Empowering Women through Micro-Finance (Pakistan)
The Coca-Cola Company has partnered with the Kashf Foundation since 2011 to provide entrepreneurial support and micro-finance loans to 1150+ women entrepreneurs from low-income households.
The Citizen’s Foundation (Pakistan)
Coca-Cola Pakistan and The Citizen’s Foundation have partnered to build a school in the flood ravaged area of Muzaffargarh, Punjab to provide quality education to poor and underserved children. The school currently enrolls 128 children and will grow to impact 350 children.
Empowering Women through Micro-Finance (Pakistan)
The Coca-Cola Company renewed their partnership with the Kashf Foundation in 2013 at Rs 9.8bn for microloans to women. According to projections, over 2,600 women entrepreneurs will have been supported by this partnership by 2016. Over a period of two years, women will see an increase in income by 10% per annum.
Heartfile Health Financing Partnership with APPNA (Pakistan)
The PNB Secretariat connected Dr. Sania Nishtar, a PNB Pakistan Board member, with the Association of Physicians of Pakistani Decent of North American to develop a partnership to support Heartfile’s expansion. Heartfile Health Financing is an innovative mHealth-enabled health financing program, aimed at protecting the poor from catastrophic expenditures on healthcare.
Education for Everyone (Indonesia)
ExxonMobile made a $1 million grant to build-up school infrastructure, conduct teacher trainings and share best practices in three lesser developed regions of Indonesia. Intel and Indonesian NGO Dompet Dhuafa are partners.
The PNB Turkey Local Chapter and the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) hosted the Partners for a New Beginning Summit, a convening of government, business, civil society, and PNB local leaders from the United States, Turkey, and across our PNB network.