Common Purpose - Leadership News

The inaugural Itijah Venture, the latest in our Ventures series, was run in Abu Dhabi in April in partnership with the Emirates Foundation. An intense and stimulating event, it drew together 40 participants from 7 cities - Abu Dhabi, Alexandria, Amman, Benghazi, Budapest, Istanbul and Manchester - to explore the challenge: "What would it take to multiply the number of young people who create new businesses using ICT and social media?"

Throughout the four days the participants heard from speakers who ranged from young entrepreneurs starting out in business to established entrepreneurs sharing their learning on social media, enterprise and scale. We also had three 15-year old students joining us to give the group a youth perspective. Visits out in Abu Dhabi were to a range of organisations working in diverse areas of youth engagement, youth unemployment, entrepreneurship, ICT and social media.

The group came up with six fascinating models for solving the challenge. The next steps will be for the participants to refine, develop and then present their ideas to policy makers and leaders in the different cities.

Common Purpose Ventures connect future leaders, across the world, to tackle challenges which are common and compelling, and big (enough to be worth the effort) and small (enough to be grasped).

Some of the comments from participants:

"Itijah has not just met my expectations, it has gone way beyond them".

"An eye opener, a life changing experience, a push to start my own life journey, a chance to break your stereotypes".

"Itijah is an exceptional experience towards better future and youth in both Europe and the Arab World"

"You must attend this event"

If you'd like to know more about the Itijah Venture or are interested in getting involved please contact Itijah@commonpurpose.org or visit the website.

LONDON, 23 April 2012 - Forty emerging leaders from Arab and European cities will meet in Abu Dhabi this week to explore ways of creating and promoting entrepreneurship among unemployed youth in the two regions.

The inaugural Itijah Venture, a four-day leadership development course run by international organisation, Common Purpose in partnership with the Emirates Foundation, will take place at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Company from 23 to 26 April 2012.

Emerging leaders from seven cities which are Abu Dhabi, Budapest, Istanbul, Alexandria, Benghazi, Manchester and Amman are expected to attend to confront the challenge.

Unemployment has been a perennial problem for authorities in the Arab world and is a pressing challenge in Europe with over 5.5million young people unemployed in Europe and 24million in the Arab World.

During the four day Venture, participants will be set the challenge of boosting the number of young people who create new businesses using ICT (Information Communication Technology) and social media, a compelling task, common to both European and Arab regions.

Participants will explore the context of the before working up ideas (whether big or small) to feedback to the Itijah Advisory Group, which consists of experienced leaders from the participating cities.

"The Arab world has witnessed tremendous change over the past year and Common Purpose is excited to be expanding in the region during these important times" said Julia Middleton, Chief Executive and Founder, Common Purpose. "We are launching our latest Venture to bring together emerging leaders from Europe and the Arab world to work on a common challenge - youth unemployment - by looking at ways to promote entrepreneurship amongst young people. We are proud to hold the inaugural Itijah Venture in Abu Dhabi in partnership with the Emirates Foundation and believe that the will be a significant step forward for Common Purpose in the Arab world."

International sponsors supporting the leadership initiative include Cisco, Shell, Oracle, Newman's Own Foundation, PwC and DLA Piper. The local sponsor for the first Itijah Venture is Etihad Airways.

Commenting on the initiative, Maytha Al Habsi, Chief Programs Officer at Emirates Foundation, said: "This initiative highlights the Emirates Foundation's increased focus and commitment to the youth sector. We are pleased that Abu Dhabi will be the first Arab city to host Itijah. The event aspires to enhance cross cultural awareness, build new networks between young people and enable them to share and discuss ideas and visions to change the world around them."

Itijah, meaning 'direction' in Arabic, is part of a series of Ventures run by Common Purpose that will expand, enrich and energise relations between two or more locations.

Other Ventures Common Purpose is currently developing include Dishaa (India, UK), Dao Xiang (London, Shanghai), Pambili (South Africa, UK), Yon (Turkey, UK) Dou Heung (Hong Kong, Scotland) Kompas (Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania).