Bedaya Centre and Qatar Shell have started training 80 volunteer mentors, who will coach hundreds of students participating in the upcoming “Enterprise Challenge Qatar (ECQ) 2014.”

The entrepreneurship programme aims to attract more than 700 students from Doha and northern communities for the event.

ECQ 2014 is a programme that encourages the spirit of entrepreneurship among the youth by equipping them with practical skills to develop their business acumen, team work, and strategic thinking.

It is also delivered to students by volunteer mentors from a variety of professional backgrounds, some of which are company owners with experience in establishing and leading successful businesses.  

More than 100 volunteer mentors are expected to train students in their respective schools and universities this year.

The recent training sessions were aimed at equipping volunteers with the needed skills to coach students on ethical concepts and general business, in addition to the ability to train other mentors joining ECQ 2014. The volunteers will begin mentoring school and university students in September.

Bedaya’s finance officer Waleed Hadeid said: “Given that today’s youth will be tomorrow’s business leaders, who will essentially help diversify Qatar’s economy, it is important for people with a passion for enterprise to volunteer for this important challenge.”

“This is why I am volunteering as a mentor of ECQ for the second time in full support of Bedaya and Qatar Shell’s mission to spread the entrepreneurial spirit among young people,” he added.

The ECQ 2014 programme is composed of two parts: The “Ethical Business Challenge” tests participants’ ability to balance the economic, environmental, and social performance of their company while the “Business Simulation” element familiarises students with general business concepts from inception to trading, finance, sales, marketing, and production.

Salah al-Malek, who is the Mentors Recruitment Lead at Qatar Shell and a volunteer mentor at the ECQ, said Qatar Shell and Bedaya provide mentors with specialised training to deliver the programme.  

“Our role as mentors is to teach students practical and ethical business operations and support student teams to achieve the highest possible score in the computer-based Business Simulation competition.  It is great to see this large turnout of volunteers who would like to serve their community and country and to see the great abilities and energy of Qatari volunteers,” he said.

Maha al-Shaikh, an ECQ 2014 volunteer mentor, who works at Al Jazeera Network, added: “It is great to be able to give back to the community by educating the next generation of business leaders. Young people are the future and they are vital to the realisation of the Qatar National Vision 2030. Therefore, it is important for us to stimulate their individual entrepreneurial pursuits while they develop a business mind-set.”

Another volunteer mentor and entrepreneur, Deevina Visrolia, said: “As a mentor, I feel that I can make a significant difference by planting the entrepreneurial seed in the minds of young people and then support them in their endeavours as they learn about enterprise.”

She added: “It is an honour to be part of ECQ initiative where the main goal is to inspire Qatar’s youth through the support of large successful enterprises such as the Bedaya Centre and Qatar Shell.”

The programme will run throughout October and November with the final competition for universities taking place during the Global Entrepreneurship Week from November 17 to 23. This will be followed by the final competition for schools in December.

Since its establishment in 2012, The ECQ programme has rapidly expanded with a growing number of institutions, businesses, schools, and mentors involved in the activity.  

This year, Bedaya Centre and Qatar Shell have signed a three-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to expand the entrepreneurship programme among universities and schools in Doha and the northern communities.

The “Enterprise Challenge” initiative was created by Mosaic, a UK-based non-profit organisation, established by His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales in 2007. Qatar Shell is the founding partner of Mosaic in Qatar and together with Bedaya has worked to bring the “Enterprise Challenge” to Qatar.

For more information about the ECQ 2014, contact Reem al-Suwaidi at [email protected] or Leena Abdel Khaleq at [email protected]

 

 

 

 

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