Dubai, UAE: INJAZ UAE, a member of Junior Achievement (JA) Worldwide, the world’s largest non-profit business education organisation, held the 11th edition of its highly successful ‘National Company Program Competition’ this week. The competition saw 100 ambitious students from across the United Arab Emirates come together virtually to compete for prestigious awards, including the much sought-after ‘Company of the Year’ title.

Developed in 2009, the INJAZ Company Program aims to ignite the ambitions of the country’s future aspiring business leaders. Designed with students at the core, the program provides students with the opportunity to showcase their creativity and innovation by learning how to start up their very own entrepreneurial companies. Classrooms are transformed to start-ups for 15 weeks and bespoke mentorship is offered to students from key experts within the business community. Students enrich their business skills by learning about the complexities of running a business, financial literacy and what it takes to be part of a team workforce.

This year’s ‘Company of the Year’ prize was awarded to ‘Shararah’ from the American University of Sharjah for the University Track and ‘AYDI’ from Dubai National School for the High School Track. While Shararah was formed to provide students with a platform to customise their own entrepreneurial journeys, AYDI was designed to help students and individuals find volunteering opportunities with ease. Other awards on the day were presented to Hessa Sulaiman of team ‘Mawaa’ for ‘CEO of the Year’, ‘My Counselor’ for ‘Product of the Year’ and ‘Mawaa’ for ‘Best Social Impact’.

Speaking at this year’s virtual competition, Razan Bashiti, Chief Executive Officer of INJAZ UAE said “At INJAZ UAE we strive to fuel the entrepreneurial spirits of the next generation. We are proud to continue to support students and show them the power of their potential. Through great initiatives such as these, we acknowledge and celebrate their success, even if it means doing so virtually this year. By continuing to partner with private sector leaders to provide business training and mentorship for young people, we are empowering the Emirati youth to become the business leaders and entrepreneurs of tomorrow.”

The competition was hosted with key collaborative partners such as Dubai Chamber, Citi and ExxonMobil. Through these powerful partnerships, INJAZ UAE have been able to create truly impactful programs that have inspired over 61,000 UAE students since its inception.

Speaking about the partnership, H.E. Hisham Al Shirawi, 2nd Vice Chairman of Dubai Chamber,  “We are honored to partner with INJAZ UAE to support their National Company Program and this year’s competition has been very impressive with some great ideas being sparked from the initiative. It is important that we pave the way for our youth by providing them with a positive atmosphere and the guidance they need to thrive and develop in their future careers. By showing them the fundamentals of how they can bring an initial business concept to a reality, we hope to inspire them to chase their dreams.” 

The winners were selected by expert panel of judges including Elissar Farah Antonios, Chief Executive Officer - UAE and Cluster Head for Levant & Iraq, Citibank; Essa Alzaabi, Head of Dubai Startup Hub; Christian Lenoble, President, ExxonMobil Abu Dhabi; Benjamin Ampen, Managing Director for Twitter MENA and Bashar AlKadhi, Chief Executive Officer for Hill + Knowlton Strategies in the Middle East, Turkey, India and Africa.

To discover more about INJAZ UAE’s Company Program or to apply to take part in next year’s program visit: https://www.injazalarab.org/. 

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