Giving Youth the Entrepreneurial Skills for a Better Future

These days many youth look at starting-up their own businesses as their alternative way to economic opportunity, and achieving prosperity for themselves and their communities. In order to succeed in this challenging journey, young people need the right tools to translate their ideas into successful and profitable businesses.

In 2016, Starbucks launched the largest CV writing workshop in the Middle East and North Africa in collaboration with bayt.com and EFE reaching nearly 1,000 youths across the region. This inspiring initiative, ‘Opportunity Café’, is part of Starbucks Global Month of Service which is carried out worldwide each year during the month of April to support the community where we operate.

This year, Starbucks takes ‘Opportunity Café’ a step further by organizing a coalition of experts with Bayt, EFE, Silatech and AMIDEAST to provide a wide range of professional advice for youth on the subjects of entrepreneurship and employment. The scale of this initiative spreads across 10 countries impacting youth across MENA.

In UAE Starbucks in association with experts from AMIDEAST is organizing the training workshop for youth on business start-up skills, supporting youth foster the right mind-set and entrepreneurship related skills. The workshop will take place on April 24 and will be organised simultaneously across 4 Starbucks stores.

Commenting on the occasion, Rana Shaheen, Regional Communications and CSR Manager for Starbucks MENA, said, “At Starbucks, we continue to support youth across the region to find opportunities and inspire them to reach their maximum potential. This year we have partnered with the experts in employment and entrepreneurship to form the largest coalition of experts giving local youth the opportunity to pick up valuable insights over a cup of Starbucks coffee and setting them on the path to success. We are proud to continue supporting our youth in the region with the necessary inspiration and guidance”

“AMIDEAST is proud to partner with Starbucks, a global company that leads not just in its core business but also in giving back to its communities around the world. As an NGO focused on expanding opportunities for youth throughout MENA, our vision and work align closely with Starbuck’s ‘Opportunity Café’ initiative.  By exposing Arab youth to the key skills needed to start their own businesses, we hope to inspire them to consider this career option and help them create their own future as well as create jobs for other Arab youth,” said Barbara Shahin Batlouni, Country Director of AMIDEAST/Lebanon.

In 2011, Starbucks declared April as its Global Month of Service, creating the opportunity for Starbucks partners (employees) and customers to connect and volunteer to serve their community. Since 2013, Starbucks MENA has contributed over 20,000 service hours to its local communities and brought together over 3,000 volunteers in 34 city-wide projects across 10 markets in the MENA region.