the middle east entrepreneurs of tomorrow

Impact report 2015

Peter Drucker

“The best way to predict the future is to create it.”

2015 challenged us at to live up to our values amidst a backdrop of violence and polarization. Some students struggled with whether to stay in the program. Many alumni stepped into leadership roles in an effort to lead by example. We are very proud of our team, students, alumni and supporters for their commitment to teamwork and a vision of positive change.t a background of ongoing conflict, we are committed to continue to , while keeping our students’ safety first and foremost.

Shared values, shared vision

“Getting to know Palestinians and… working with them showed me that it's possible to do [so] in the future as well, that we are linked as societies and that in order for peace to come from the government, it needs to come from the people first.” (Eden, Israeli graduate)

“We have the same goal after all that we have gone through together… knowing that the person in front of you talks to you and tries to understand you and you try to understand him in return just makes it a lot easier to do things together” (Tibah, Palestinian graduate)

Alumni help train the next generation of

indicators of impact

Valued and resilient connections

89% of students feel more positive about students from the other nationality

60% of alumni are significantly involved in the Alumni Program or Venture Lab, despite social, political and time pressures

75% of new graduates want to give back to the team and younger students through volunteer work

Tackling real-world problems

11 new graduation projects created by bi-national teams, focused on civic activism, multiculturalism, media bias, and health

6 new alumni ventures that tackle local environmental problems like e-waste, trash burning and collection, and more

2 alumni initiatives already making a difference

Joint skills, values and motivations

Over 400 young leaders who embody values in their school, military and professional communities

High retention and demand: 80% retention and 70 students accepted out of 800 applicants

6 shared values: strive for excellence, treat everyone with respect and equality, think big, embrace teamwork, act with integrity, lead by example.

Alumni program Leading by Example

6 joint ventures launched

20 mentor-mentee pairs

60% of alumni actively engaged with and each other

4 conferences and workshops organized by alumni

100+ attended alumni conferences

2 alumni initiatives already making a difference in the real world meet ’s impact will ultimately be measured

through our alumni. meet provides alumni with a platform for continued interaction and supports members in their academic, professional, and social endeavors, through the Venture Lab, 3 Day Startup events, conferences, workshops, the Mentoring Program, and more.

Despite time and work pressures, they volunteer as TAs for the Student Program, serve as meet ambassadors, and, increasingly, they are taking the lead in organizing alumni events. Two of our alumni have joined the Program staff as coordinators.

Spotlight on alumni: Embracing teamwork

In November 2015, welcomed two new Alumni Program Coordinators, Cilina Mukarker (right) and Naomi Goldman (left), both graduates of our Student Program dedicated to ‘s mission.

“I wanted to give back to the program. I realized that I wanted… to get more alumni involved. If we want to make something together, create projects, we have to strengthen the connections within the alumni network, and that has to come from alumni themselves. This is how I see our new role. Working with Naomi is like working with my best friend!”

-- Cilina

Alumni Program: Challenges

’s alumni face one of the most complex and contentious conflicts in the world. The political is personal. After they deal with growing isolation from each other’s communities as they enter university or the army. They also have increasing demands on their time, and permits from the West Bank are getting harder to secure.

Add to this the challenge of any alumni program to ensure enough alumni are involved in a meaningful way to build those bonds, and for to create programming in concert with the alumni board that meets the unique interests and capabilities of their varied stages of life.

Student Program

‘s students enjoy a cutting-edge curriculum of computer science and entrepreneurship studies, which also emphasizes deeper understanding of one another on a personal, communal and political level. The inventive and exciting social projects they created in bi-national teams, including:

80% retention from Year1 to Year3

1st new summer structure

30% returning MIT instructors from previous years

30 new students in Nazareth hub

Strive for excellence

>70% of Googlers attending Y2 presentations rated them as highly professional

185 student participants

• Volunteam, matching Palestinians and Israelis who wish to contribute to the community by volunteering together

• Groupic, enabling instant uploading of photos related to polarizing events and sharing different perspectives on them

• SideGuide, showcasing the daily life of the “other” through stories, cultural events, music and visualizations

• The Way I See It (TWISI), teaching young children the values of open-mindedness and acceptance of different cultures through drawing in a fun app.

Student program: challenges

The current wave of violence in Jerusalem, Israel and Palestine has posed a serious challenge for the ongoing 2015-2016 afterschool program. However, more than 90% of the students are committed to the program and show up every week. We are committed to continue to , while keeping our students’ and staff’s safety first and foremost.

Funding by type

Financials

has an organizational budget of $1.3M; student participation is fully-funded and merit based.

Costs by program

Funding by region

our instructors ’s instructors and volunteer alumni are a special breed. Despite prestigious offers for internships and jobs, they chose to invest in educating the next generation of Palestinian and Israeli youth to make pragmatic change. We would like to send heartfelt thanks to the instructors who volunteered their time and expertise in 2015.

Thank you to our instructors

Josh Blum Sean Bonawitz Lorenzo Brown George Chen Ted Golfinopoulos Carlos Henriquez

Amin Mann’a* Yoni Mindel Uri Mestechkin Michele Pratusevich Or Rikon Liraz Sharabani

Sadek Jabr* Ryan Jung Hazar Kamar Noah Klein Nabil Laoudji Kathy Lin

Stephanie Wang Ramesh Sridharan Abdul Syed

* alumni

our partners

is proud to partner with world-class leaders in education, technology and social innovation. Partners provide curricular guidance, in-kind support, mentors, volunteers, funding and matching gift programs, and more.

Year 2 students at

in Tel-Aviv

Thank you to our investors Contributors of $100,000+ US Agency for International Development (USAID) Contributors of $50,000+ Google RISE Mercy Corps Joseph and Harvey Meyerhoff Family Charitable Funds Righteous Persons Foundation United States Institute for Peace

Contributors of $20,000+ Anonymous Izhar Armony Jacob and Hilda Blaustein Foundation James Currier Asaf Danziger Ori Eisen Embassy of Norway The Hebrew University of Jerusalem** MIT International Science and Technology Initiatives (MISTI)

Sainsbury Family Charitable Trusts Sobell Foundation Andrew and Ann Tisch Foundation Tmura Fund Lynn Holstein and Stef Wertheimer** Contributors of $10,000+ Bezeq Telecommunications Anat Binur Embassy of Finland Joe and Paula Gantz & Seth and Elaine Berman Assaf and Shelli Harlap Eva and Ofir Kedar Gigi Levy Weiss Yanki Margalit David and Katherine Moore Family Foundation Adam Mosseri Alison and Mark Pincus **In-kind donations

Contributors of $5,000+ Muki and Dudi Aharoni Oren Ariel Judi and Larry Bohn Herman Dana Trust Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco Nechama and Yaakov Karpol-Borek Playtika Ltd. Prof. Ed Roberts Prof. Nir Shavit Prof. Louise Silverstein Winograd-Hunter Family Fund

Contributors of $1,000+ Anonymous Indiegogo campaign donors Elah Alkalay Eli and Yotam Alroy Dror Berman Gordon Burnes and Family Zohar Gilon Jay and Marianne Goldman Ron Guttman Ituran Location And Control, Ltd. Charles Kremer Charles Libicki Roi More Wael Salloum Natan Sachs Jim Scheinman Louise Silverstein Soluto

One donation of $6,000 Provides a full-year scholarship for a student

our team

More than ever, we are profoundly appreciative of the people behind : our bi-national staff and board. Our team models the values we teach, from acting with integrity, to embracing teamwork, to striving for excellence and more. Thank you to each of the team who made 2015 possible.

Staff Haim Erlich, CEO Noa Epstein, Former Co-CEO Ala Sader, Former Co-CEO Mustafa Hussein, Student Program Manager Dana Moss, Alumni Program Manager Eva Vander Giessen, Former Creative Director Ada Harverd, Administration and Development Roni Kipnis, Jerusalem Program Coordinator Rafat Nasser-Alden, Jerusalem Program Coordinator

Roga Koren, Nazareth Program Coordinator Jana Boulus, Nazareth Program Coordinator Manal Shehade, Former Nazareth Program Coordinator Rakheli Hever, Compliance and RD Officer Naomi Goldman, Alumni Coordinator Cilina Mukarker , Alumni Coordinator Liraz Sharabani, Yearlong Instructor and Instructors Coordinator Elena Glassman, MIT-meet Student Group President Eric Timmons, CTO

Board of Directors Hani Alami Sandra Ashhab Anat Binur, Chairwoman Yaron Binur Assaf Harlap Abeer Hazboun Gigi Levy Weiss Rafiq Masri Abed Elharim Nashef

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our values

In their words: meet ’s 2015 graduates speak about what MEET’s six core values mean to them (click to watch)