Experts Convene to Discuss Social Entrepreneurship and Social Investment in the Middle East

On February 23, the Middle East Youth Initiative and the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Initiative at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government convened a group of over 40 policy makers, international donors, private sector and civil society leaders to discuss the state of social entrepreneurship and corporate social engagement in the Middle East. From the Middle East Youth Initiative, speakers included Samantha Constant, associate director, and Ehaab Abdou, advisor to the Initiative and leader of the Initiative’s forthcoming research on social entrepreneurship in the Middle East. From Harvard’s CSR Initiative, Jane Nelson, also nonresident senior fellow at the Global Economy and Development program at Brookings, presented a framework for corporate sector social engagement and ways for policy makers to encourage links between corporations and local social entrepreneurs.

As the Middle East Youth Initiative prepares to release a report on the state of social entrepreneurship and social investment in the region, the event provided the opportunity for key global stakeholders to provide feedback. Attendees represented organizations including the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the United States Department of State, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Ashoka, Skoll Foundation, Education for Employment (EFE) Foundation, Mercy Corps, the United States Department of Labor, the Aspen Institute, and others.

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