Alwaleed Philanthropies & Ashoka Arab World celebrate the graduates of the Innovation Factory program and the winners of the financial awards

Six months after launching the “Innovation Factory” Program in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which is one of the main activities under their partnership agreement, Alwaleed Philanthropies, chaired by HRH Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Al Saud, and Ashoka Arab World celebrated the graduation of the first cohort of social entrepreneurs by hosting the Closing Ceremony for the Social Entrepreneurship Capacity Building Program “The Innovation Factory”.
The ceremony marked the conclusion of this comprehensive program that has empowered 14 Saudi youth from Riyadh, 12 of them are women, to drive positive change through social entrepreneurship. From an ideation hackathon to curate innovative solutions to their communities’ most persistent social problems and through a series of online and in-person training and mentoring bootcamps, the program has nurtured the skills and vision of an ambitious cohort of Saudi youth dedicated to making a long-lasting impact on their local communities by means of their social ventures. The program was conducted by Al Mashtal Community House & Creative Incubator, the implementing partner.

The culmination of the transformative journey for this cohort has unfolded on June 2nd, 2024, as Alwaleed Philanthropies and Ashoka Arab World celebrated the successful completion of the program and announced the winners of the financial awards granted to the best social ventures.

This special occasion was honored with the presence of Her Royal Highness Princess Lamia Bint Majed AlSaud, Secretary General of Alwaleed Philanthropies, Princess Nora Bint Naief Alsaud, Founder of Al Mashtal Community House & Creative Incubator, and Dr. Iman Bibars, Vice-President of Ashoka Global and Regional Director of Ashoka Arab World.

The event casted a bright spotlight on the exceptional contributions of the 14 Saudi young social entrepreneurs who have demonstrated outstanding ambition, commitment, and eagerness to positively impact their local communities, as well as the dedication of the mentors and trainers who have accompanied them in this journey of learning, the significant contributions of the project team members in program conception, management, and deployment deserve recognition. Special mention goes to the inspirational Saudi women in high-level positions whose work has been particularly impactful.

The event held in Riyadh gathered around 70 representatives in Saudi Arabia: government officials, diplomatic missions, incubator representatives, CSOs members, and journalists. It presented a mixture of keynotes by the program partners, and the announcement of 9 outstanding pre-incubated projects that were selected by a jury of distinguished experts in the field of social entrepreneurship, in the competition held at the end of the training program. The 9 winners are granted financial awards and incubation services for the coming 6 months to help them scale up their ventures and expand their social impact.