Youth from around the region kick-start their social enterprises

PepsiCo and Al Ahli Holding Group's CSR Division award young entrepreneurs

21^st March 2013

PepsiCo and Al Ahli Holding Group's CSR Division gathered nearly 200 youth interested in social entrepreneurship at Business4Change, a two-day conference aimed at inspiring, developing and supporting young social entrepreneurs looking to start businesses that also have a positive impact on their communities.

The event offered aspiring social entrepreneurs the opportunity to access thought leaders and mentors from organisations such as C3, Oxford University's Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship, Gradberry and Ahead of the Curve Consultancy. In learning about key areas of building a social enterprise, such as concept development, operations models, marketing and capitalisation, attendees of the Business4Change conference established a deeper understanding of how to create a sustainable business that drives social change.

"If we want a more sustainable future, it's crucial that we nurture young talent from the region," said Huw Gilbert, Vice President of Corporate Affairs, PepsiCo Asia, Middle East and Africa, the main host of the event. "Small and medium-sized enterprises play a large role in developing a country's economy - from creating opportunities and reducing unemployment, to having a positive social impact - and today, we're investing in the future by fostering ideas from youth, who will become tomorrow's leaders."

Attendees gained invaluable insight into how to make their social business ideas a success, with four participant groups awarded for their concepts. The PepsiCo "Performance with Purpose" awards recognised the most socially impactful, yet economically viable, ideas conceived at the Business4Change conference. The awards aimed to help the winners kick-start their social enterprises, with a prize of dedicated mentoring from Ahead of the Curve and development of a mobile website and app from KryptonWorx to support the marketing for each winning project, which PepsiCo hopes will enable the winners to reap long-term, sustainable benefits.

In addition, Al Ahli Holding Group's CSR Division awarded a $20,000 award to one team that has been incubated and trained for one-year as part of their program.

"We are ambassadors of social entrepreneurship and believe it's a key driver to social change," said Lina Hourani Director of Al Ahli Holding Group's CSR division. "There's so much young talent across the Arab countries, we believe conferences such as Business4Change inspire and empower youth to make a difference in the world."

Key Highlights of the Event:

·         Keynote speakers from successful social businesses and global companies who shared best practices on how to make a business successful

·         Speaker panels with social entrepreneurs who will share challenges and triumphs of starting a social enterprise

·         Hands-on workshops where delegates turned social ideas into sustainable business models

·         Mentorship programme where budding social entrepreneurs connected with seasoned professionals for real-world advice on how to build their business

·         Networking opportunities where youth met peers from other Arab countries to share ideas

-Ends-

Participant Quotes:
The concept of my social enterprise is to create a training centre for housekeepers, recruit talent from marginalised women and give them legal contracts, with rights, to regulate employment. I'm so pleased to have won and I'm really looking forward to building my project - the prize from PepsiCo will really help me achieve this. I know it's going to require a lot of time, effort and patience, but it will be worth it for the housekeeping community. Zinab Al Kheshen, Egyptian

I think social entrepreneurship is an exciting new wave of innovation when it comes to business. I'm particularly interested in how business can address the issue of climate change, and as a participant at Business4Change I want to develop a stronger understanding of what social entrepreneurship is, and how I can build a career in it. Fatima Mohammed, UAE National

Social entrepreneurship can only be a good thing and I'm here at Business4Change to network and meet people who feel the same. I'm hoping that at the end of this I will have a good understanding of how to set up my own social enterprise to help the people of the UAE tackle the challenges we face. Halima Osman, UAE National

About PepsiCo
PepsiCo is a global food and beverage leader with net revenues of more than $65 billion and a product portfolio that includes 22 brands that generate more than $1 billion each in annual retail sales. Our main businesses - Quaker, Tropicana, Gatorade, Frito-Lay and Pepsi-Cola - make hundreds of enjoyable foods and beverages that are loved throughout the world. PepsiCo's people are united by our unique commitment to sustainable growth by investing in a healthier future for people and our planet, which we believe also means a more successful future for PepsiCo. We call this commitment Performance with Purpose: PepsiCo's promise to provide a wide range of foods and beverages for local tastes; to find innovative ways to minimize our impact on the environment by conserving energy and water and reducing packaging volume; to provide a great workplace for our associates; and to respect, support and invest in the local communities where we operate.

About Al Ahli Holding Group
Al Ahli Holding Group is a leading multi-disciplined group of companies from UAE with a diverse portfolio of investments and strategic developments. AAHG strongly believes in the private sector's rule in contributing back to society and was one of the first organizations in the region to create a dedicated CSR Division concentrating on the development of Arab entrepreneurs.

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rima.armstrong@ketchum-raad.com
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© Press Release 2013