Young Arab Leaders

YAL Internship Program
2021-06-24
We are proud to introduce the YAL Internship Program (YIP) that aims to provide the youth, students, and graduates the opportunities to gain relevant skills and experiences in their chosen fields through a wide range of placements with selected organizations and companies within the YAL network. YIP connects employers with interns who will have a direct opportunity to be trained and developed for increased chances of employability.

In My Shoes Series
2021-06-01
We are proud to introduce our new project!
In My Shoes is an original IGTV Series by Young Arab Leaders that will serve as a platform for YAL speakers to talk
about their challenges, lessons, and experiences during uncertain times. In My Shoes will feature inspirational stories
about remarkable startups in the UAE and how their positivity and determination brought them to succeed in their
businesses and to lead fulfilling lives.
1st Edition
Session 1 – YAL Speaker Ehtesham Puthur, Co-Founder & CEO of Junkbot

CEO & Co-Founder of Junkbot Robotics. Ehtesham led a team to transform Junkbot from an idea to a community of 50,000
makers around the world. Junkbot kits are used by 500+ schools in MENA region. Ehtesham and Junkbot team have launched
their B2C platform skillplay.co to help MENA region prepare for the future skills. Junkbot is a DIY robotic kit that
transforms household objects into unique robots that can be programmed for a variety of functions. Ehtesham shared the
story of Junkbot, the challenges faced during the pandemic and the lessons learned. Full interview
Session 2 – YAL Speaker Majed Halawi, Vice-President of Pure Harvest Smart Farms

Majed Halawi is responsible for managing Pure Harvest’s expansion efforts including corporate development, technical
design, and construction/program management. He began his career in engineering and then turned to management consulting
at the Boston Consulting Group. Pure Harvest is a technology-enabled agribusiness focused on local, sustainable
cultivation of premium quality. Majed talks about how Pure Harvest has grown and managed to adapt to the challenges
brought by the Covid-19 pandemic. Full interview
Session 3 – YAL Speaker Abdallah Abu Sheikh, Co-Founder and CEO of Rizek

Abdallah Abu-Sheikh is a Jordanian entrepreneur and a visionary pioneer in inventing digital technologies for
cultivating human resources, connecting human skills, and enabling youth with numerous empowerment programs and
employment initiatives. Rizek is the first local super app for on-demand services. Abdallah talks about the challenges
Rizek faced, the lessons learned and more! Full interview
Session 4 – YAL Speaker Mona Ataya, Founder and CEO of Mumzworld

Mona has managed to grow Mumzworld from a business plan on paper to a leading an enviable brand reaching more than 2
million mothers across the region in 7 years. Founded in 2011, Mumzworld has pioneered a revolutionary and gold standard
e-commerce shopping experience for all things mother, baby and child in the ME region. . Mona talks about the growth of
Mumzworld during the pandemic and how they became the go-to destination for all things mother, baby and child. Full interview
2nd Edition
Session 1 – YAL Speaker Mohamed Marwan, Head of Strategic Initiatives at Almentor.net

Mohamed has over 19 years of experience as a cross-functional and business transformation leader. He succeeded in
building strong teams, effective processes, and morphing platforms that consistently sustained the test of time.
Almentor.net is a leading e-learning digital platform, Mohamed explains how they reached to this point and how their
content is strategized to understand the Arab world and it’s needs. Full interview
Session 2 – YAL Speaker Omar Farooqui, Founder and Executive Chairman at Coded Minds

Omar is an entrepreneur, investor and startup enthusiast. Wanting to disrupt the educational industry from the ground
up, not just through pedagogy but also price, through his vision of merging public and private education as one. With
this mission, he created Coded Minds in 2017. Omar’s previous ventures were Green Sands Equity out of San Francisco and
previously CapInvest (latterly CI Holdings), which was a joint initiative with the asset management arm of United
Overseas Bank of Singapore. Full interview
Session 3 – YAL Speaker Sallyann Della Casa, Chief Identity Hacker at GLEAC

Sallyann Della Casa is one of the 4% of women globally who has a patent pending method and
algorithm​(for measuring of tskills)a​s a sole inventor.Sallyann holds degrees and certifications in
Law, Organizational Behavior and Urban Planning. She speaks five languages and is a published author.
Her education spans the globe from Harvard University to Franklin College to University of
Toronto.Full interview

3rd Edition
Session 1 – YMP Graduates Startup, EFATE

Get to know more about EFATE, a specialized company in managing and collecting e-waste that aims to achieve
sustainability, as well as saving the environment by building a link between the e-waste consumers and the recyclers.
EFATE will support in placing the UAE as a leader in the field of recycling. In a 2019 four-week pilot campaign 1100kg
of e-waste was collected, and the 2020 target is to collect and process 100 tons of e-waste. Full interview
www.efateuae.com
Session 2 – YMP Graduates Startup, CyberHero

Find out all about Cyber Hero, a formal awareness program, aimed at training users of the potential threats to an
organization’s information and data, and how to avoid potential risks of losses. Its goals are to lower the
organization’s attack surface; empower users to take personal responsibility for protecting the organization’s
information, and to enforce the organization’s policies and procedures of the organization to protect the data. Full interview
www.thecyberhero.com
Session 3 – YMP Graduates Startup, Washing Space

Get to know more about Washing Space, an online laundry marketplace that provides quick service, fast delivery,
reasonable price and traceability within a defined area. Using this technology, the marketplace will aggregate laundry
service providers allowing customers to choose from a range of service-rated laundry businesses. Full interview
www.washingspace.com
4th Edition
Session 1 – YAL Speaker Hanan Chaaibi, Managing Director at The Green Spoon Management Consultancies

For the 4th edition of In My Shoes, we had the pleasure of having Hanan Chaaibi, Managing Director at The Green Spoon
Management Consultancies, in a sit-down interview where she was able to share the ever-growing story of an initiative
committed to raising awareness about and challenging ESG (environmental, social, governance) and sustainability issues
of complex global systems. Full interview
https://thegreenspoon.org/

Session 2 – YAL Speaker Namrata Budhraja, Co-Founder at Shift Eco

With sustainability being at the forefront of the conversation, we had the pleasure of interviewing Namrata Budhraja,
Co-Founder at Shift Eco, a platform that curates impactful eco-friendly products. Full interview
www.shifteco.ae

4th Ibtikar Competition
2021-04-27
We are pleased to announce our partnership with HCT for another successful Ibtikar Competition. With a total of 15 competing teams, the Ibtikar panelof judges was fully represented by 5 YAL members! Ibtikar is a challengingbusiness innovation competition that allows students from all divisions toleverage the tools they have learned in the innovation and entrepreneurshipcourse in order to come up with innovative ideas that solve real-lifeproblems. Congratulations to the winners!

About the Judges
YAL Board Member Saad Al Rubaiaan
Saad is a Kuwaiti professional who has served previously for both privateand government sectors in Dubai and is now running his boutique agency,CYLKA, which specializes in government communications and CSR advisory. Heserved as a coach and judge at several regional awards, including KAFOinitiative by Al Diwan Al Amiri in Kuwait, UNDP-World Bank’s Hackathon,Sharjah Chamber’s Entreprenovaion award and the International Association ofBusiness Communicators.

YAL Member Alanood Alfeel
Alanood is a seasoned Marketing and Communications professional that hastaken on roles across global agencies, namely Edelman and Ogilvy andgovernment entities (PR consultant for Mubadala, ADEK, OBAD and Head of Marketing at KHDA). She was a driving force in launching landmark hotels(Marina Bay Sands), international events (Strata, Mubdala World Tennis Championships, FIFA Club World Cup, and Formula 1 Abu Dhabi) and TV shows(Coke Studio).

YAL Member Helal Lootah
Helal Lootah is a New York Qualified Attorney and the Co-founder of Lune Technologies Ltd, a DIFC based Fintech startup focused on facilitatingalternative Social Savings and peer-to-peer transfer solutions. Before Lune,Helal served as a Case Manager in the Dubai Courts and was a member of itsYouth Council.

YAL Member Bassém Banna
Bassém Banna is the top performing executive with over 14 years ofexperience in several key functional areas including: Education Technology,Corporate Learning design, Enterprise Sales & Market penetration,Entrepreneurship & Youth Development programs. Bassém is acommercial and strategy leader with an entrepreneurial mindset and passionfor customer excellence.

YAL Member Imad Atwi
Imad Atwi is a strategist and execution leader with 14+ years of experienceacross MENA, SEA, and Europe. He has been involved in some of the leadingmega projects and company launches in the region, advising governments,technology/telecom companies, and startups on national digital agendas,innovation strategies, ICT policies, launch management, emergingtechnologies, due diligence, partnerships, and operating models.
