Alwaleed Philanthropies and Ashoka Arab World celebrate the graduates and winners of the Innovation Factory program in Morocco
Alwaleed Philanthropies, chaired by HRH Prince Alwaleed bin Talal AlSaud, and Ashoka Arab World hosted “The Innovation Factory” Closing Ceremony for the Social Entrepreneurship Capacity Building Program for a cohort of young Moroccan social entrepreneurs from Fez-Meknes region on March 8th, 2024,
This momentous event coincided with International Women's Day, which added an extra layer of significance as we highlighted the impactful role of women in the social entrepreneurship field.
On this special day, Dr. Iman Bibars was present and also, Vice-President of Ashoka Global and Regional Director of Ashoka Arab World and Alwaleed Philanthropies team were all present to celebrate the graduation ceremony.
In alignment with this occasion, the event focused on the exceptional contributions of women participants who have demonstrated outstanding ambition, dedication and resilience in the realm of social entrepreneurship, as well as the learnings from inspirational women who have trained and mentored the participants, those who have had a significant impact in the program conception, management and deployment, with a special mention for women in high level positions and government bodies whose work continuously help frame the entrepreneurial landscape in Morocco. These women embody the spirit of empowerment and social innovation values.
The Closing Ceremony marked the conclusion of a comprehensive program, deployed in the Fez-Meknes region, that has empowered 15 participants 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 Moroccan youth dedicated to making a long-lasting impact on their local communities by means of their social ventures.
The event was held in Rabat and gathered around 150 actors in Morocco: government officials, diplomatic missions in Rabat, incubator representatives, CSOs members, fundraising leaders, and journalists. It will present 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 were granted financial awards and incubation services for the coming 6 months to help them scale up their ventures and expand their social impact.
