The Emirates Foundation for Youth Development: A Local Model for Supporting Young Entrepreneurs
A major factor in the success of any country is investing in youth
to ensure their economic, technological, scientific and social
development. In the United Arab Emirates, the Emirates Foundation
has lead the nation in doing exactly that.
Founded in 2005 by the government of Abu Dhabi, Emirates Foundation (EF)
launched with the basic goal of creating a channel for the private
sector to give back to the Emirati community. Serving as a model of
public-private sector partnership in the UAE, EF worked both to
give grants to civil society organizations and individuals, and to
incubate the initiatives of young Emiratis, in a wide range of
sectors.
Two years ago, however, the foundation redefined its scope to focus
more directly on youth. "We've done a lot of work with youth, so it
was very obvious to us [during the restructuring] that they should
be our new focus," says Khuloud Al Nuwais, Chief Sustainability
Officer at EF, who is herself a prominent example of a young
Emirati entrepreneur.
A more focused identity
After exploring the models of similar initiatives,
like the Shell
Foundation and Rockefeller Foundation,
the EF team decided to build a model in line with local needs. It
rebranded to become the Emirates Foundation for Youth Development,
an organization that now follows a venture philanthropy model and
makes social investments in youth, through six key programs:
- Takatof, a social program designed to create a
culture of volunteering throughout UAE.
- Kafa'at, a youth empowerment program that
trains in leadership and soft skills; granting young people access
to the private sector while raising awareness about its
opportunities.
-
Think Science, a competition that prepares
young people for a career in science, especially in sectors like
oil and gas, aerospace and new semi-conductors, which require
Emirati human capital.
- Sanid, an organization that provides
well-trained emergency response volunteers to assist local and
national authorities in the event of a crisis.
- The Financial Literacy program, a national
program that helps youth learn how to manage their personal
finances, especially their debt.
- Kayani, a program that develops sustainable social enterprises that provide employment for youth with disabilities.
Engaging the younger generation and the private sector
Thus far, the new initiatives have met with very positive
reactions from youth; Emirates Foundation is now comprised of 80%
youth and has a database of over 28,000 volunteers. Yet the
foundation is continuing to build capacity and improve so that it
can become “the voice” of the young, says Al Nuwais.
EF depends on contributions from and partnerships with the private
sector, but also receives government support to cover its
administrative costs. "A couple of years ago, fundraising was
difficult, because people did not understand the concepts of
sustainability and CSR,” Al Nuwais explains. “Now, it's
changing."
The Foundation engages with its partners through a series of
"Business
Breakfast Social Investment" forums, which gather private
sector, government and academic leaders to discuss youth-related
social issues and opportunities for public-private
collaborations.
It also helps youth become more aware of new opportunities,
including the possibility of creating a small business or applying
to a support organization like Khalifa
Fund.
The fact that the government sees the development of Emirati human
capital as a major priority helps the foundation’s cause, says Al
Nuwais. "The UAE has been achieving many successes across the
board, and now our sector is growing quickly," she asserts.