Generally, when one refers to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), what is meant is the money donated by a corporation to redeem some negative impact it had on society or to help promote the company via good works in the public eye. In the case of the BADER Young Entrepreneurs Program, however, the term means something different. Donation is part of the game, but in this case it is time and expertise that are changing hands. Thus, the unique element in this program is the bridging aspect between both the corporate world and civil society. The program works hard to provide three ingredients for talented young Lebanese looking to start up a business in their home country. “We look to support young entrepreneurs along three complementary levels: finance, education and networking,” said Antoine Abu Samra, managing director of the BADER Program.
In terms of finance, the program has hosted the MIT Arab Business Plan Competition, which provides funding for the top three business plans prepared by young Arabs across the MENA region. The competition is a joint initiative between BADER and the MIT Enterprise Forum. Open to any Arab national with a business idea, the competition received 1,652 applications from 16 countries in the most recent contest. Of those applications, 30 teams advanced to the second round of judging. The final round of oral presentations saw nine teams whittled down to three winners. First prize of $50,000 went to the Lebanon-based EduLab. The proposed company specializes in developing educational CDs that give students real time laboratory experiments through visual simulations.
The second prize of $5,000 also went to a Lebanese team. Batroun Biofuel Company pitched the idea of converting used cooking oil and other vegetable oils into biodiesel fuel. Finally, the third-placed Algerian team, Hatifou, took home $2,500 in prize money for their idea to ameliorate international call traffic in the country by providing VOIP services. The next competition will begin accepting business plans in October 2008.
Growing business skills
From the education angle, the BADER Program has conducted a mentorship course whereby business savvy youth get a chance to work one-on-one with established leaders in the community. “BADER members have started to promote entrepreneurs in academic institutions through their participation in courses and events related to entrepreneurs,” the program states. These goals are achieved in a variety of ways, including in person lectures by group members at local schools, like the American University of Beirut (AUB). The group also supports education financially in the form of the BADER scholarship of $36,000, which was awarded to a specially chosen AUB student. Finally, the program conducts an applied training center for young innovators. These elements of the BADER Young Entrepreneurs Program serve two purposes. Not only do they help to educate up-and-coming business students, but they also start to open doors in terms of networking, which is another stated goal of the program.
The BADER Program was established in late 2005 under the joint initiative of then Finance Minister Jihad Azour and 40 Lebanese business leaders. The names of those involved in the project read like a greatest hits of Lebanese businessmen including: Robert Fadel, Eli Khoury, Elie Saab and Michel Fattal, to name but a few. Despite a rough year in 2006, during which the program provided aid for victims of the July War, the BADER Program has had a strong start and looks set to continue with a more diverse array of opportunities to be presented in the near future.
