For the second time, the King Abdullah II Fund for Development (KAFD) and the Mowgli Foundation have partnered to offer mentoring to the 10 selected social entrepreneur finalists taking part in the King Abdullah II Award for Youth Innovation and Achievement program (KAAYIA).

August, 20th 2015; Amman, Jordan: The 1-year KAAYIA-Mowgli Mentoring Experience program (MME) was kicked off with a 3-day Kickstart workshop at the Dead Sea. During this workshop 10 leaders, who were selected to be mentors, were trained and matched with the 10 KAAYIA finalists for their 12-month structured and facilitated mentoring relationships that aims to inspire and empower them to achieve their personal and business potential.

The 8 social entrepreneurs who participated in the first KAAYIA-Mowgli program in 2013 successfully created a total of 464 new full time and 214 part time jobs and safeguarded all 28 full time and 3 part time jobs. The achievement of one KAAYIA entrepreneur, Mazin Khalil the founder of SudaMed, resulted in the exceptionally high number of jobs created, and the remaining KAAYIA entrepreneurs taking part in the first KAAYIA-Mowgli program also matched Mowgli Entrepreneurs' average job creation impact of 3 jobs created per Entrepreneur during their mentoring year, providing results that are on par with, and can exceed, non-social entrepreneurs in the region.  Entrepreneurs on this program were also nominated for and won a number of awards including the AllWorld Arabia 500 2014, 7th MIT Enterprise Forum Arab Startup Competition, and the Social Entrepreneurs of the Year Award in Germany.

The King Abdullah II Fund for Development's Director, Sa'eb Al Hassan, commented: 

"Our partnership with Mowgli Foundation has established a solid base since 2013. Today, we are continuing this partnership in offering mentorship opportunities to a new wave of 10 Arab social innovators acknowledged by KAAYIA. Also, the partnership will bring real life cases, risk management approaches and team building skills to help the youth in overcoming the challenges".

Reflecting on the program, Mowgli Chief Executive Officer, Kathleen Bury, said: "We are pleased to support the KAAYIA program once again and we are looking forward to create a long term relationship with KAFD to achieve our mutual vision of the development of entrepreneurship, through mentorship, in the MENA region." 

About KAFD:
A Royal Decree was issued approving the act to establish the King Abdullah II Fund for Development in 2001.  As a constituent of this law, the Fund was initiated to operate as a non -governmental organization, which seeks to achieve development in the various governorates of the Kingdom and its regions.  The King Abdullah II Fund for Development seeks to achieve a fair distribution of development gains amongst governorates, through the establishment of pilot projects, companies, and to encourage innovation and excellence through partnerships with the public and private sectors, and civil society institutions. Programs and initiatives of the King Abdullah II Fund for Development are targeted towards individuals, groups, companies, and public and private institutions, focusing on scaling up the underlying potential and energy of citizens.

About KAAYIA:
The King Abdullah II Award for Youth Innovation and Achievement (KAAYIA) aims to support young men and women throughout the Arab region who have pioneered innovative solutions to urgent social, economic and environmental challenges. The award -which was launched by His Majesty King Abdullah II Ibn Al Hussein at the World Economic Forum in 2007- is designed to promote creative problem-solving and cross-border dialogue and cooperation among Arab youth. The KAAYIA is awarded to youth, ages 18 to 30 across the Arab region.

About Mowgli
The Mowgli Foundation is an award winning, UK-headquartered mentoring organisation, established in 2008, which has been pioneering and specializing in entrepreneurial mentoring and embedding leadership development through the philosophy of mentoring within MENA's governments, corporates, and entrepreneurship ecosystem.

Mowgli provides mentoring that inspires, connects and guides entrepreneurs and leaders to overcome life's personal and business challenges through:

· Interactive, experiential and transformational 'Kickstart' workshops

· A unique environment for accelerated relationship building, mentor training and matching

· Engagement within a learning and mentoring focused global alumni network

Mowgli has an alumni with over 1650 members and has matched over 700 entrepreneurs with trained mentors in 13 countries; Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Yemen and the UK. In December 2012, Mowgli was recognised with the Mohammed bin Rashid Award for Young Business Leaders Award for the 'Best Mentor Network in the Arab Region'. More information is available on Mowgli's website: www.mowgli.org.uk

© Press Release 2015