Pal-Think concludes “Youth Ambassadors for Liberty and Entrepreneurship” Training programme
July 6th, 2021 – Gaza, Palthink for Strategic Studies concludes the first phase of the Youth Ambassadors for Liberty and Entrepreneurship – YALE project funded by Atlas Network.
Omar Shaban, director and founder of Palthink, concluded the 10-day training course and stressed that “Education is significant to build up and contribute to the betterment of communities. Palthink always seeks, with its partners, to endow youth a chance to explore themselves, elevate their skills, and be active agents in their communities”.
In the first week, the trainer, Mohammad Alafifi – academic, business consultant, and certified trainer by Standford University, provided a prelude about the topics of the training, the expected results, the methodology used, the structure of the activities, and the importance of learning about entrepreneurship and business creation to be independent and free.
The topics, including opportunity recognition and assessment, developing business models, business plans, risk management of business plans, matched the participants’ interests. These milestones entailed providing knowledge about entrepreneurship and small businesses, ideation process and techniques, creative thinking skills, team building, and business opportunity assessment.
At the onset of the training, the trainer divided the participants into four groups based on the mutuality of the business ideas they proposed and team harmony. The business ideas of the groups focused on creating a digital content platform, a women-only long beach, a vegetarian restaurant, and an education business. The trainees liaised in teams to brainstorm, discuss, and improve their business ideas.
In the second week, the training incorporated topics about marketing techniques that the trainees need to use and what factors affect the market. They learned to market their business ideas through up-to-date strategies. “Learning about marketing is enjoyable. I believe that I will transfer the knowledge I will have learned by the end of the training to my peers.” Haneen Rabaa elaborated.
The teams exemplified excitement and commitment to learning about risk management, leadership, and financial assessment. Other approaches and concepts garnered the attention of the participants, such as the Golden Circle for Simon Sinek, the Ikigai concept, and the Pareto principle. “Dunning-Kruger Effect deepened my thought about the relationship between confidence and experience. The learning process is a journey I always feel zealous to go for.” Menna’s impression about the activities.
Upon completing the third week, the trainees started preparing to educate other target audiences through implementing 15 workshops. Our targeted participants will organize the workshops in partnership with community-based organizations, which will mobilize the youth target groups. These workshops aim to activate youth civic engagement in the community and strengthen their role in contributing to their local community.
“The teams are always excited about business development. They are looking forward to continuing implementing their small business projects when funding is available.” Mr. Mohammed Alafifi. He added, “A major challenge that youth groups face is funding. The ideas are stunning and can be lucrative businesses. However, investment in small businesses is not yet there. I hope these ideas are implemented one day.”
In conclusion, the trainees showed willingness and passion towards going to the community, meeting new target audiences to transfer their knowledge during the training. Many participants are also getting ready to visit Palthink’s office for consultation and advice on their small businesses as they intend to continue working on them. Other participants expressed their gratitude for this chance as it opened them new horizons and let them think of independently working on a small business idea to combat the dramatically increasing unemployment rates. This project promotes individual liberty, economic independence, business creation and removes financial barriers.
