2021 was a special year for us as it marked Jusoor’s 10th anniversary, as well as many new achievements and beginnings across our programs, including reaching the incredible milestone of educating 10,000 Syrian children and youth!
On behalf of all the lives we changed together, we say thank you, and we invite you to reflect on what we have collectively managed to accomplish this year.
Spring, a time for new beginnings, saw Jusoor launch our biggest Startup Roadshow to date, which brought together 6,600 entrepreneurs from Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, and Iraq virtually to join our Bootcamps for Startup and SME development.
Additionally, we launched the “Give a Smile Campaign” during Ramadan, which raised over $100,000 to support the education of hundreds of displaced Syrian children in our Jurahiya center in Lebanon.
As lockdowns prevailed, our Refugee Education team in Lebanon continued to guarantee an uninterrupted educational experience for refugee children during COVID-19 through our online learning program, Azima.
We also continued to place education at the core of our work as we supported eight scholars across the finish line to graduation with our Hardship Scholarship Fund in Lebanon, and started our Academic Mentorship Project that helped connect 42 mentees with 33 university graduates and experts, guiding them through the university application process.
In summer, as the days grew longer and the world started to think about holidays, Jusoor received exciting news - our biggest donation to date, a generous gift from McKenzie Scott’s Seven-figure donation that will have a truly transformative impact in supporting our work in empowering Syrian children and youth around the world.This Summer, also saw the conclusion of our Startup Roadshow with a Demo Day, where we welcomed Ronaldo Mouchawar as keynote speaker, and six out of the 50 teams from our incubator were awarded a total of $60,000 to grow and develop their businesses after pitching their ideas to a panel of judges. To end summer on a strong note, we announced the start of our Professional Mentoring Project as a part of our new personal development program, helping connect 13 industry experts with 15 mentees looking into enhancing their careers.
This Autumn, as the world prepared to return to school and work, not only did 1,200 Syrian children return to our three education centers, but we had the pleasure of opening Jusoor’s first licensed school located in Saghbine, West Bekaa, Lebanon. This school will unlock many opportunities for thousands of Syrian and vulnerable Lebanese students this year and in the years to come.
During this season, we celebrated the graduation of 18 Jusoor scholars and welcomed aboard seven new scholars during Jusoor’s Scholarship Annual Meeting, where Jusoor board members, trustees, team, scholars, and alumni got together, learned from each other, and initiated insightful discussions about the future of our alumni community.
We also continued our mission in supporting startups who took part in our Startup Roadshow with our new After Care Project, offering coaching, expert training, and the opportunity to gain feedback on progression and receive expert advice as our founders build their businesses.
This autumn also marked the launch of our brand new website - www.jusoor.ngo, which has a whole new fresh look, built with user experience in mind and focused on becoming the central hub for all the data, stories, and activities of Jusoor. If you haven't yet - check it out!
This winter, as the world prepared to close out 2021, we continued to innovate, launching the Jusoor Agriculture Accelerator as our latest entrepreneurship project beginning the journey to train, develop, and fund startups with promising solutions to the agricultural challenges presented in Jordan and Lebanon.
In this season, we have developed and expanded our Azima project to deliver education to children who are unable to attend classes in school, and with its first year, Azima has welcomed 80 new students, allowing them to pursue their education online.
And finally, we concluded 2021 with Jusoor’s 10th Anniversary, A Decade of Impact a virtual celebration of the collective impact of giving education to 10,000 Syrian children and youth. During the event, we showcased some of the programs’ impacts across the last 10 years and heard directly from stories that we managed to work with years ago, and announced our plans for the future of Jusoor. Watch an exclusive performance from Noel Kharman for our anniversary here.
Today, we are proud to be ending 2021 as our strongest year to date. We have big plans for 2022 and the next decade of Jusoor! We look forward to sharing more news on this in the weeks to come. Thank you for being part of our journey so far, and we are excited to have you with us, as we continue into the next decade.
Happy New Year from all of us at Jusoor!
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