Injaz Celebrates Young Entrepreneurship
Injaz students competing in regional 'Best Company Competition'
Former Injaz graduate attending Petra III Conference

Kuwait – May 8, 2007: Injaz, an organization focusing on promoting Kuwaiti youth entrepreneurship, is proud to send four outstanding participants to the regional ‘Best Company Competition’ in Amman, Jordan. The event will take place under the patronage of Queen Rania of Jordan, the INJAZ ambassador in the MENA region from May 14th to 18th 2007.

The Kuwait finalists - Sara Al Refaei, Altaf Al Turkait, Sarah Al Shamali and Noor Al Nafisi – are all students at the Girls Campus of the American Creative Academy. The girls achieved first place in the ‘Best Company Competition’ Kuwait competition in 2006. They will participate in the regional competition against teams from around the Middle East and North Africa.

At the competition they will be presenting the company and business proposition they developed with the guidance of the Injaz Company Program as young Kuwaiti entrepreneurs, called Sweet Summer Company. This was a product-based company that offered unique and limited edition T-shirts and beach bags. Sweet Summer sold mainly to girls at their school, where most of the client base ranged from middle to high school students.  The company was successful in achieving its objective of offering high quality and competitively priced products, and by the end of the project they were able to liquidate the company with a net profit of approximately KD433.200.

 “In my opinion, which my students share with me, Sweet Summer’s greatest achievement was learning how to work together as a team and learning how to define specialized roles and execute tasks according to each girl’s role in the company,” stated Injaz volunteer and consultant, Danah Al Tourah from Global Investment House. “Clear definition and acceptance of roles and responsibilities really defined the success of Sweet Summer.  These factors were based on effective and respectful communication between all the girls, and I am very proud to say, they all made great and impressive progress in this respect in the course of the project.”

For the regional competition, judges will not be looking for a company that made the most profit but for evidence of innovation, successful exploitation of new ideas in all aspects of the mechanics of the company and an understanding of creativity and professionalism. They will also be looking for originality and enthusiasm at each stage of the judging process.

In addition to the regional contestants, Dalal M. Al Nemah, a former Injaz participant has been recognized as a young adult who made a considerable contribution to her community and is invited to attend Petra III in Jordan, where 40 Nobel laureates and other prominent figures will meet to discuss and find solutions to the challenges faced by young people in the Middle East including health, environment and economic issues under the patronage of King Abdullah. Moreover, Dalal will be participating in the World Economic Forum where over 1000 key figures from all over the world will be attending to discuss issues around issues in a diversified work place.

Dalal was nominated and invited based on her success while she was apart of Injaz. In her senior year at Mishref Girls High School, she presided over an Injaz Company program, Q8.com that headed a campaign called “Keep Kuwait Clean” with the support of her consultant, an Injaz Kuwait volunteer, Noha Al Mansour. This company was one of the first such entrepreneurial initiatives to be a part of Injaz – which also marked Kuwait’s first year as a member of JA Worldwide Company Program.

“We are very proud of all of these girls,” said Rana Kamshad, Executive Director of Injaz. “They have exemplified characteristics of hard work, dedication, team-effort, and great promise. These opportunities, for most of the young Kuwaitis, represent just the beginning of a bright future and everyone at Injaz is thrilled to be apart of their experience. Thank you to the volunteers, board members of the American Creative Academy, teachers and parents for creating and solidifying a partnership with Injaz in order to see these students grow and learn.”

“We would also like to extend our gratitude to our sponsors who made it possible for Injaz and Kuwait’s students. Alghanim Industries, Gulf Cable, Agility, Gulf Bank, MTC, Citi Bank, Exxon Mobil, IO Centers and Al Homaizi Limited are committed to invest in Kuwaiti youth. These sponsors have contributed to education in ways that enhance the capabilities of local youth which fosters success for Kuwait overall.”

“We are looking forward to the regional competition, not only to see how far we can advance but more importantly because we are honoured to represent Injaz Kuwait as an organization that brings together bright students and watches them succeed on all levels.”