AlBaraa Taibah, Madiha Khayat, Maha Taher and Rayan A. Karkadan passionately outlined the benefits of the “Effat Catalyst” project at session four, called “It starts with a Click: Youth 4 Youth.”
In her brief remarks, 24-year-old Khayat highlighted the role of women in reviving the Islamic cause.
She also spoke of the need to project a more positive image of Islam as she described the pitfalls her team faced in their exciting journey to success.
Khayat said a moderate application of Islamic principles in her venture had brought fruitful results.
“We are celebrating our failures as we share our success stories,” she added. “Facing the world is not easy.”
Taher, another young entrepreneur, said a large number of volunteers had joined her Young Initiative Group (YIG) although she initially faced hurdles “colored with bias and narrow-mindedness”.
But YIG was now expanding into a think-tank too with valuable support from family members and enterprising mentors. “Our donors trust us,” said Taher.
As a university student in Switzerland, she said she had traveled to countries such as Tanzania, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Botswana where she learned more about social development.
Taher also bravely declared her ambition to become a future Minister of Social Affairs to rapturous applause.
She described her father as her best friend who motivated her to rise above “frustrations, suffering and worries” to achieve success.
Karkadan, meanwhile, discussed the widening social role of his community medicine scheme.
Taibah described how the youth could advance themselves with prudent time management. “Time is not elastic,” he said. He said his grandfather was his role model and mentor.
Moderator Ghazi Binzagr, board member of Binzagr Group Companies, pointed out that “youth are part of the solution and not part of a problem.”
He said the young innovators are “bridging the generation gap with their beautiful steps.”
He invited youths to become “champions of change” with guidance provided by Effat Catalyst.
Effat Catalyst, launched by Effat University, is an accessible, smart and resourceful website that functions as a platform for measuring and tracking voluntary initiatives that originate from innovative and young ambitious Saudi entrepreneurs.
It supports them with mentorship and networking and links them to investors and funding organizations.
Effat Catalyst was born in 2010 out of Effat University’s belief that young community service initiatives can make a strong positive impact on society, giving a different meaning to social corporate responsibility.
These young initiatives have brilliantly utilized social media like Facebook and Twitter via modern gadgets like iPhone and BlackBerry, pointing the way forward to serve others and to achieve their community-oriented goals.
Effat has therefore undertaken the role of both host and contributor to the Effat Catalyst project to highlight future initiatives and support existing programs.
