MEET - Middle East Entrepreneurs of Tomorrow

As the warm sun starts to sets on another unforgettable , we can't help but feel overwhelmed with gratitude for everyone who made this journey a remarkable success!
To our extraordinary students: You are the heart and soul of , and your passion for learning and determination to excel inspire us every day. We are immensely proud of your achievements and growth throughout this summer program!

To our dedicated staff, instructors, mentors, and TAs: Your unwavering commitment to guiding and nurturing our students' potential is what makes MEET summer so exceptional. Your support and expertise have ignited a flame of curiosity and ambition in our students, and we are truly grateful for your hard work and dedication!

🎓🌟 Celebrating the triumph of the MEET Class of 2023! 🌟🎓

Last night, we had the honor of witnessing a truly momentous occasion - the graduation of 91 incredible Year 3 students who are now officially part of our esteemed Alumni Network! Let's take a moment to congratulate them for their remarkable achievements! 🎉🌟

To the Year 3 team, and the countless coordinators, instructors, mentors, and TAs, thank you for your unwavering dedication and support in nurturing these bright minds throughout their journey at MEET. Your passion and guidance have undoubtedly shaped the leaders of tomorrow!

We're also immensely thankful of our wider MEET community, whose collective efforts have made this transformational experience possible for these graduates. Together, we've built a bridge of understanding and friendship that transcends borders and unites us as one.

A special shout-out to Anat, one of the MEET founders and board members, for delivering an inspiring speech that touched hearts and inspired minds. Your vision and leadership have been the driving force behind MEET's success, and we're grateful for the impact you've made!

Last night was particularly special as our auditorium was filled with both Palestinians and Israelis - a true bi-national celebration of unity, diversity, and friendship! Together, we break down barriers and show the world what's possible when we stand as one.

A heartfelt thanks to B8 Of Hope, especially Mehra Beit, for generously sponsoring this unforgettable event. Your support has made a significant difference, allowing us to empower these young minds and foster positive change in our communities.

As these graduates embark on new journeys, we know they carry with them the spirit of MEET - a spirit of empathy, innovation, and understanding. We can't wait to witness the positive impact they will create in the world!

Give it up for the ! 🥳

Hey MEET community. We're absolutely thrilled to share the incredible success of our Year 3 Demo Day! 🚀🎉

All nine of our Year 3 startups put their hearts and minds into presenting their innovative solutions to social issues to a panel of judges, making it an unforgettable event!

📢👏 A huge congratulations to the winners: Spectra, Acteen, and Swift Aid! 🥇🥈🥉 Your dedication and hard work have truly paid off! We are proud to witness your passion in action and your commitment to creating a positive impact on society. 🌟💡

A special shout-out and heartfelt thanks to AppsFlyer 💚💙 for being such gracious hosts for this remarkable event! We are immensely grateful to Noam and the entire AppsFlyer team for their support and encouragement. You played a significant role in making Demo Day a resounding success.

To all our young innovators and changemakers, remember that the journey doesn't end here. Your ideas have the potential to shape a better future for us all. Keep dreaming big, challenging norms, and driving positive change!

🌟🚀🙏

🌱 Celebrating a Year 2 Adventure for a Greener Tomorrow! 🌱

Last week we had an incredible experience during our Year 2 trip to Hiriya! Our students embarked on an eye-opening journey of discovery, exploring the technology behind cutting-edge, environmentally friendly, waste management ♻️ through a series of interactive and fun activities!

Hiriya is becoming a place of innovation and sustainability. The students got to witness firsthand how waste is transformed into valuable resources, paving the way towards a greener and cleaner future for our beautiful planet.

Our young learners actively engaged in various educational workshops, getting hands-on with recycling processes and learning about the importance of reducing, reusing, and recycling in their daily lives. They came away with a deeper understanding of their role in protecting the environment and the impact of their actions on the world around them.

Let's continue our journey towards a greener future and keep spreading awareness about the importance of environmental preservation! 🌿

🎭🌟 Celebrating a Spectacular Showcase of Talent at Talent Show! 🌟🎶

Last night was an evening filled with awe-inspiring performances and heartwarming camaraderie as all three cohorts came together to celebrate each other's incredible talents at the !

It was a joyous occasion, witnessing our students shine on the stage and witnessing the support and encouragement they offered to one another. This is what makes our so special - the spirit of collaboration, respect, and celebration of diversity.

🌟🚀 Celebrating an incredible night of and ! 🌍💡

Our was a true testament to the power of tech-innovation as a shared language for social change! Our Year 3 students showcased their Israeli-Palestinian social impact startups, and we couldn't be prouder of their remarkable achievements! 🌟

Throughout their three-year journey, our students have immersed themselves in the world of , , and critical thinking alongside their , honing their skills and developing their passions 💻🚀

We are immensely grateful to AppsFlyer for generously hosting us and providing the perfect platform for our students to shine! Special thanks to Lisa, Liron, and Noam for their invaluable hospitality and dedication to our

We would also like to extend a heartfelt thanks to all the professional guests who attended and shared their wisdom with our students. Your feedback and insights will undoubtedly propel these startups ahead of our

At MEET, we believe in nurturing young minds to become drivers of positive change, and this event was a shining example of the potential that lies within each one of our students. Together, let's continue making a difference and creating a more connected and harmonious world 🌍

🎉🌟 Welcome Class of 2025 to the ! 🌟🎉 We are thrilled to have you join us for an incredible journey at MEET, and what an inspiring first week we are having!

From the exciting Sports Day to the start of your and journey, you have already shown immense potential and enthusiasm 🚀💡 It's amazing to see how quickly you've bonded and become an integral part of our community.

Here at MEET, we believe in nurturing not just your skills but also your passion and drive. And we can already see the sparks of creativity and innovation in each one of you.

So, as you embark on this transformative adventure, remember to cherish every moment, forge lasting friendships, and embrace the challenges with determination and an open mind.

Together, let's make this unforgettable and lay the foundation for a bright and impactful future.

PRODUCT LAUNCH

Our Year 3 startups have launched their minimal viable products!

Last night each set up a booth, and invited our Year 2 students to join them for this exciting occasion. After lots of test runs, chats with the teams, and startup appropriate activities, the Year 2's provided valuable feedback, before leaving the Year3's to enjoy their 🥳

Our Year 3 students have been testing their minimal viable products (MVPs) on potential customers and users, who have given the startups feedback, which is currently being used to further develop their products before their MVP launch this evening 🥳

Make sure to register for our Expo Night on the 25th July to get a chance to see their solutions to social issues. RSVP: https://expo2023.splashthat.com/

The MEET class of 2025 have joined the 🎊

To help ease their transition into our intensive program we start their with a virtual week. The cohort have already started bonding while learning and developing together, but we won't lie, we are all very excited to MEET them in person next week!

The Year 2 students have just started their , and we are so glad to be reunited!

We find in our students, who despite all odds, continue to overcome challenges regardless of their differences.

MEET isn't just about and !

One of our key values is to embrace , which we exercise in numerous ways, and this week that teamwork was truly embraced during our outdoor training day.

Through various activities our Year 3 students proved once again that problem solving is best tackled .

Thanks to the Lemonade community, we will be receiving $4,632 in the Lemonade Giveback 2023! This will go towards bringing together Israeli and Palestinian leaders of tomorrow, and provide them with the tools to build a shared future

Yesterday, we held our first official MEET Summer event of the year, Professional Day, generously hosted by Meta! It provided an incredible opportunity for our talented Year 3 students to collaborate in bi-national groups and develop their nine unique social impact startups, all with the aim of improving the lives of diverse communities in our region.

The success of this event would not have been possible without the invaluable support of our dedicated mentors. These individuals generously shared their extensive professional experience, guiding our students on their journey and equipping them with the skills and knowledge necessary to address pressing challenges in our region. A special thank you goes to our inspirational panel of speakers, Guy Fletcher, Nazih Ahmed, and Khouloud Ayuti, for sharing their journey as founders and the challenges they overcame.

We would also like to express our immense gratitude to Meta, and in particular, Yarden Ganzi, for having us. It is always a pleasure to collaborate with you, and we truly appreciate your continued in fostering , , and .

again to all who contributed to making this event a tremendous success. Together, we are empowering the next generation of leaders to create meaningful social impact and drive positive change in our communities.

Considering the current climate of our region, we at MEET find hope in the coming together of our year 3 students who today were reunited with each other.

As we kick off our summer program in Jerusalem we are reminded of the value of the journey that our students embark on. Today our year 3 students began the final chapter of their MEET student journey. Over the past two years, they have explored various ways to use technology and entrepreneurship to tackle social issues in our region; these students are now using these skills in bi-national start-ups to address issues they are passionate about.

We are excited to see how the summer unfolds as they explore practical solutions to these issues, and could not be prouder of the work they have already achieved.

Watch this space.

A special CONGRATULATIONS to our alumni Leen Hasan, Shai Hazan, Hamed Hriesh, and Zidane Awad Awad for starting their summer META internship where, for 12 weeks, they get to be part of META teams working alongside their mentors, while getting valuable hands-on experience.

We extend our deepest appreciation to Adi Soffer Teeni, Dor Froind, and Atalya Daphna for their remarkable efforts in bringing this extraordinary opportunity to life.

We are thrilled to reveal the deserving recipients of this year's highly coveted Armony Scholarship for Higher Education! With great pleasure, we congratulate the exceptional individuals who have been selected to receive a life-changing sum of $100,000 each - Shir Somech and Dona Khalaily!

We extend our deepest appreciation to all the remarkable applicants who shared their stories and aspirations with us.

A special thank you to Izhar and Noni Armony for making this scholarship fund available to our amazing MEET alumni. Your commitment to MEET, education and supporting our aspiring alumni is truly commendable.

The is made all the brighter by our fantastic Teacher Assistants! Many of our return to to the program by serving as a TA, which not only means that the MEET staff have more time to focus on more detailed aspects of their roles, but also means that our students get the support of recent alumni who have gone through the program.

Before we jump into the , we want to take a moment to thank each and every one of the TAs who enriched MEET this yearlong - THANK YOU!!

CONGRATULATIONS to all Aleph participants from Palestinian Internship Program - PIP, 50:50 Startups, and MEET who have successfully completed the first level of the Lissan - ליסאן - لسان language exchange program!

It was our privilege to host this closing event in our Jerusalem Hub 🥳

A special thanks to Natasha Voloshin for overseeing the program and providing the educational content, and to all teachers Yehudit Mazal, Nasra Dahdal, and Natali maximova. Mohammed Atira and Veronica Morcos - you did a great job organizing this event - thank you!

to our MIT training in April, where our amazing team headed out to MIT to prepare our instructors and mentors for what we expect will be another remarkable .

How excited are you?

Hey MEET community 😊

Welcome to , our first quarterly report highlighting our efforts to expand and further deepen our impact in the region.

Find out more: https://mailchi.mp/meet/meet-in-action

Last night we officially began this year's Meta internship, with a kick-off event where the fabulous Meta staff spoke to our alumni about their summer internship exclusively for MEET alumni.

"This will open up doors - no doubt!"

Thank you to the Meta staff for welcoming us once again, and giving our alumni the opportunity to take the next step in their careers.

A special thanks to Adi Soffer Teeni, Dor Froind, and Atalya Daphna, who spoke so enthusiastically, and answered all questions! Atalya - it was especially lovely to see you back after your maternity leave, we missed you!

Good luck to all applicants! We hope you will take the opportunity to brush up your CV's in our Application workshop later today!

We're thrilled to celebrate the success of our annual , where our Year 2 students formed their final startup groups for the Year 3 Summer and began working on their projects to tackle social issues in the region.

Thanks to the generosity and support of our hosts at AppsFlyer, our students had the opportunity to collaborate in a dynamic and inspiring environment, leveraging cutting-edge technology and innovative ideas to drive real-world impact. A special thanks to Liron Yochai Or and Oren Kaniel for their inspirational talks, and of course Noam Yavin for hosting us so warmly, once again!

We're also deeply grateful to all the who generously volunteered their time and expertise to guide and support our students on their entrepreneurial journey.

At MEET, we believe in the power of education, innovation, and collaboration to create positive change and transform lives. We're excited to see the progress and achievements of our students as they continue to pursue their dreams and make a difference in their communities.

We look forward to sharing more updates and stories from our amazing students as they prepare for their final !

Meet Adan, A Young Activist Creating Impact From Nazareth To Capitol Hill

On 27th April The Alliance for Middle East Peace (ALLMEP) held its annual advocacy day where representatives from a variety of peace initiatives advocated for increased support on Capitol Hill towards programs promoting peace and conflict resolution in the Middle East. We were honored to be represented by MEET alum Adan Abunaaj, who at just 20 years old and in her first year at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), was welcomed to Capitol Hill to lobby for people-to-people peace initiatives she believes to be critical to improving the lives of those living in the region.

“I am a Palestinian from Nazareth, a MEET alum class of 2019, and I'm currently studying computer science at MIT. MEET has shaped my life, and every year MEET impacts hundreds of students just like me back home. It is important to tell my story today to donors, congressmen and senators on capitol hill so they too can understand why their support is so critical.”

After graduating from MEET in 2019 Adan received the Armony scholarship, recognizing her as a promising young leader and investing in her future as a change-maker. Adan went on to found a successful Nazareth initiative aimed at increasing female representation in positions of influence which still runs today. We are so proud to have her as an active member of the MEET community and know that her work in Washington DC is just the first of many big things to come.

Congratulations Adan!

We are pleased to announce that applications for the fourth round of The Armony Family Scholarship Fund are now open!

In line with MEET’s mission, this award is given to educate and empower tomorrow’s most promising Israeli and Palestinian leaders to take action towards creating positive social and political impact in the Middle East.

This scholarship is exclusively for MEET alumni who will study an undergraduate degree abroad.

For more information about the scholarship and the online application form, go to: https://meet-reg.formtitan.com/Armony-Scholarship #/

It's that time of year, where our talented students use their , , and skills, which they have gained over the past two years, to form

Right now, there are 21 startups that aim to the current and create in their .

We need your help to decide which ones will go to the final stage!

How it works:

1. Go to https://www.meet-kickstarter.com

2. Create an account by signing up using a valid email and phone number

3. Input your verification code received by text message.

4. Upon Signing up, each user receives 10,000 MEET coins to use for investing in the startups they most care about.

5. To invest in a startup click on it, then in the startup page scroll down and write the amount you'd like to invest in the startup (you can distribute your 10,000 MEET coins between as many startups as you like, however you like).

HAPPY EASTER from all of us at MEET!

HAPPY PASSOVER from all of us at MEET!

We had an amazing time catching up with the MEET class of 2022 at their reunion Iftar meal! Our alumni enjoyed games, delicious food, and most importantly, each other's company. We also took time to reflect on the current holidays of Ramadan, Passover, and Easter, and appreciated the unique traditions and values each one brings.

Thanks to everyone who made this event possible and helped us celebrate our !

Huge thanks to Alpha Omega for hosting us, and providing such a warm and welcoming space for our community to gather.

Ramadan Kareem from all of us at MEET!

THAT'S A WRAP!

Our Year 1 students have now completed their first year at MEET, and we are so proud of their journey!

We wrapped up their yearlong with our first event at حاسوب - Hasoub, where our talented students presented their final projects to a panel of industry judges. In bi-national teams, they came up with technological marketing strategies for various companies.

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This was a great event, which we're all still buzzing from, and there are so many people to thank:

Hasoub is a non profit, with similar values to MEET. Thank you for sharing your stunning new "garage" with us. Thank you for welcoming us so warmly!

We were honored to have a number of industry professionals join us to judge the presentations, and provide feedback on the students' hard work. Thank you for your time, and professionalism!

Well done to the whole team, for a truly memorable event!

Our Year 2 students have been working on their personal tracks (individual roles within their startups). Yesterday, each track was hosted by relevant companies, who ran workshops and tutorials that left our students prepared to step into their roles with confidence.

THANK YOU
OPEN for inspiring our designers
monday.com for empowering our product managers
Wix for developing our developers
LinkedIn for helping our user experience team

Each individual who facilitated, gave feedback, spoke, and welcomed us truly made an impact - thank you for helping us MEET!



Nitay Neeman

What a FABULOUS Spring we had! (Yes, climate change means that we can have a in February).

We focussed on projects, but of course also threw in a lot of fun!

A special shout out to Rotem for engaging our students, and giving an excellent workshop on presenting a pitch - thank you for helping us MEET!

When your is dedicatedly working towards your mission, it is important to take a step back, and focus on the team. That's exactly what the did last week.

We took two days out of our busy schedule to spend some quality time together; remind ourselves of our values and vision; and discuss how we can maximize our .

Now that we've been rejuvenated, we are more prepared to work together to and tomorrow’s most promising Palestinian and Israeli to take action towards creating positive social and political impact in the .

Thank you to Selina for providing us with the beautiful space to spend together!

Our IAP's from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have done it again - and have given an excellent hardware workshop to our Year 1 students!

Thank you Palo Alto Networks for hosting this event - what an honor it is to partner with you in giving the best start to our .

What an incredible thing the is - don't you agree?

And just like that, the Year 1's have completed this year's process!

Thank you Axonius for hosting this event where our students presented websites they built from scratch, which tackle social issues.

It really takes a to bring these events together. Thank you to all those involved, from MEET's student team, to the judges, speakers, and of course the fabulous students themselves.

CONGRATULATIONS Dana Ghoul for starting a new position as a Corporate Social Responsibility Intern at AppsFlyer!

"It is thanks to the MEET network that I was able to get this position, and it is thanks to my experience at MEET that I feel confident in my ability to perform well in this role."

Dana, we are so proud of you, and continue to support you as you continue to develop into the leader we know you are!

to numerous inspiring and engaging events at Google.

What are your favorite memories at a MEET event at Google?

Wonderful things happen when women lift each other up. No one knows this better than Meta's , and we are so lucky they wanted to establish with us the first ever cohort!

Yesterday we had the privilege of gathering together 11 of MEET's amazing alumnas along with 11 extremely accomplished women from all over the industry, who were paired up to embark together on a 6 month mentoring journey. We know this will be a life changing experience both for the mentees and mentors as we got a glimpse of it last night.

Thank you Khouloud Ayuti for being our inspiring guest speaker and thank you to Adi Soffer-Teeni, and Roni Bonzack for a fascinating fireside chat.

Thank you Adi, Naama Lahav, and Mor Baras for making this happen!