INJAZ–Junior Achievement Wins Global Social Entrepreneurship Award
June 10, 2009
Dynamic impact of JA operations in Middle East-North Africa region earns $765,000 Skoll Foundation grant.
Colorado Springs, Colo. – June 10, 2009 – JA Worldwide® is pleased to announce that INJAZ-al-Arab, under the innovative leadership of Soraya Salti, has been selected as one of the 2009 recipients of the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship for the positive impact that INJAZ/JA Worldwide has had on youth in the Middle East. Salti, the senior vice president of INJAZ-al-Arab Junior Achievement operations in the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA), accepted the award, which includes a three-year grant of $765,000, at the recent Skoll World Forum held at famed Oxford University in England.
This prestigious award, based on a competitive application process, is presented to organizations that are effectively addressing the world’s most critical social and economic challenges. The Skoll Foundation’s mission is to advance systemic social change by investing in successful social entrepreneurs. By identifying the organizations, programs and individuals already bringing positive changes to communities throughout the world, the Foundation empowers them to extend their reach, deepen their impact and fundamentally improve society.
Accordingly, it is not surprising that the Skoll Foundation commended Salti’s skilled leadership of INJAZ/JA Worldwide’s outreach efforts in providing “the only education program in the Arab world that teaches students business, entrepreneurship, and life skills as part of a regular school curriculum.” INJAZ/JA Worldwide instills Arab youth with a sense of self-motivation, confidence and empowerment while fostering among business leaders a responsibility for investing their resources in the future of the region’s youth. Its educational programs have reached more than 300,000 students and engaged 10,000 volunteers.
Salti will use the Skoll grant to motivate and support INJAZ/JA Worldwide’s capacity-building efforts in the MENA region over the next three years. In addition, the grant will help underwrite the “One Million Arab Youth” campaign’s goal to utilize INJAZ/JA Worldwide’s economic empowerment programs to reach 1 million Arab youth by 2018. Through this campaign, INJAZ/JA Worldwide aims to ensure that Arab youth are being prepared to contribute to the socio-economic development of their region as good citizens, innovators and entrepreneurial leaders in all sectors of society.
“We need to inspire and prepare young Arabs to succeed in a global economy,” said Salti. “Every person who has ‘made it’ owes it to the next generation to go back and lift them up with their skills. . . . It’s a coalition of the powerful—not for war—but for peace.” To access more of Salti’s remarks at the Skoll World Forum, click here.
The Skoll World Forum annually gathers a global community of outstanding practitioners and thought leaders in social entrepreneurship to set the future agenda for visionaries who want to transform society. The Forum is a joint venture of The Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship at the Saïd Business School at Oxford University and the Skoll Foundation, established in 1999 by Jeff Skoll, who was the first employee and first president of eBay.
About Junior Achievement® (JA)
Junior Achievement is the world’s largest organization dedicated to inspiring and preparing young people to succeed in a global economy. Through a dedicated volunteer network, Junior Achievement provides in-school and after-school programs for students which focus on three key content areas: work readiness, entrepreneurship, and financial literacy. Today, 137 individual area operations reach more than four million students in the United States, with an additional five million students served by operations in 123 other countries worldwide. For more information, visit www.ja.org.
