The Journey of a Social Entrepreneur

With a mission to empower youth to lead impactful change in their communities, DOT Lebanon develops and delivers training programs in Social Entrepreneurship that allow participants to develop innovations that aim to resolve social challenges around them. The training consists of multiple layers including, design thinking, basic project landscaping, market assessments, pitch preparation and field study research.

In 2018, DOT Lebanon partnered with the United Nations Development Program in Lebanon (UNDP Lebanon) to implement this training during its 4th edition of the Youth Leadership Program (YLP 4) which aims at focusing the creative thinking skills of young women and men towards developing ideas that serve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

“We’re proud to say that the youth within DOT Lebanon’s training program were able to make it to the regional stage and participate in the global YLP forum that took place at ECOSOC, New York in April earlier this year” – Nada Sweidan, UNDP, Programme Officer and  Youth Focal Point.

The youth’s success during DOT Lebanon’s program in YLP 4 resulted in an extension of the partnership until 2019 where DOT Lebanon will be giving another Social Entrepreneurship training program in the 5th Edition of the Youth Leadership Program (YLP 5). Which will target talented youth from all over Lebanon, especially students from the Lebanese International University (LIU) to implement new ideas. Shortlisted candidates will be trained to develop their social entrepreneurship mindset and skills.

“We help attendees improve their know-how, their mindset, but most importantly their self-confidence” mentioned Marwa Harb, DOT Lebanon Social Entrepreneurship Trainer.

Looking back at the YLP 4, the participants were actively involved in DOT Lebanon’s workshops and excited to share their thoughts and alternatives to contribute in the SDGs. And with the help of DOT Lebanon trainers they were ready to transform conceptual ideas into real tangible projects.

“Within a six-month period, and through the social entrepreneurship training provided by DOT Lebanon and UNDP I was able to implement my project!” said Daniel, one of two Lebanese finalists in YLP 4.

2 YLP Finalists from Lebanon all the way to the ECOSOC, NY

Daniel & Martina, both participants from DOT Lebanon’s training program during the YLP4 headed out to participate in the YLP International Forum at ECOSOC, NY. Throughout their journey they had the chance to meet successful entrepreneurs at an international level and share knowledge with their fellows. It was also their place to participate in global discussions and plenary sessions where they shared their opinions, dreams and recommendations related to the challenges facing the youth in the Arab region.

The projects launched by the two youth were directly linked to SDGs. They tackled social issues such as women empowerment and education. E-scola, founded by Daniel Abi Fadel, is a new educational platform that aims at optimizing knowledge transfer between teachers and students. Whereas Jar Thuraya, implemented by Martina Zaarour, aims to empower women and help them generate their own income independently from their families by reviewing and selling their local and homemade products through a mobile application.

DOT Lebanon believes that achieving the sustainable development goals by 2030 is vital, and to achieve that it has developed and implemented a Social Entrepreneurship training which helps participants align their content and invest in every opportunity serving this purpose.

If you’re excited as much as we are about social entrepreneurship, join us live on DOT Lebanon’s Facebook this Friday May 24 at 3:00 PM from the Lebanese International University (LIU) with Marwa Harb, DOT Lebanon Social Entrepreneurship Trainer and the youth from the YLP 5.