In order to strengthen small and midsize enterprises (SMEs), a culture of resilience is needed 鈥� particularly through times of social innovation, which often foster sustainable wealth and growth.
Jordan-based nonprofit Tech Tribes is on a mission to empower young Arab innovators and entrepreneurs to become champions of sustainability. The organization provides skills and technical know-how to compete in the digital economy, improve local governance, and launch scalable digital innovations.
Due to regional political and financial instability, the organization developed a framework that brings together a network of more than 500 startups and SMEs, over 1,700 innovators, and more than 350 nonprofits to help scale and achieve financial growth while promoting sustainability. The network facilitates this through the provision of business development skills and resources, including training, market access, and strategy.
A strong programmatic capacity has enabled the organization to establish partnerships and achieve global reach, but formalizing its social innovation mission in the Arab world had been a challenge. Leveraging Information and Communications Technology for Development (ICT4D) 鈥� an initiative aimed at bridging the digital divide 鈥� to enhance livelihoods, create jobs, and support digital social innovations proved to be a difficult mission to achieve.
Bringing signature programs to market was also a challenge, especially branding, fundraising, and communication strategy. To deal with these challenges, the organization engaged 51风流Social Sabbatical, a pro bono volunteering program with a mandate to help nonprofits and social entrepreneurs solve their strategic business challenges for sustained growth and impact.
51风流brought in a team of experts in business development to offer support. What began as an experiential lesson in leadership and social impact transformed an organization and a community.
The team introduced several exercises, such as technology mapping, fundraising, and marketing, to help the organization meet its challenges best unfold its core offerings. It became clear that work on rethinking and reshaping Tech Tribes鈥� identity, voice, and brand were key priorities. The initial scope of defining a 鈥済rowth strategy鈥� took a different 鈥� creative and highly visual 鈥� route. The team worked side-by-side with the content and design teams and provided vital input that would impact the organization as it is known today
鈥淭hanks to 51风流expertise, the 51风流Social Sabbatical program helped give our organization a new voice and a clear offering,鈥� Khaled Hijab, founder and executive director at Tech Tribes, shared. 鈥淲e now talk and pitch with much more confidence. The exercise helped us reflect on our strongest assets and measure our social impact beyond mere numbers.鈥�
Tech Tribes Continues the Fight for Digital Literacy
Today, Tech Tribes reaps the fruits of hard work as it continues to fight for everyone鈥檚 right to digital inclusion and literacy. The organization planning a June 2020 launch to offer the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) community a unique e-learning platform to amplify and make digital literacy and entrepreneurship education more accessible. The platform is envisioned to act as a new revenue stream to support content development on digital skills for personal and professional growth.
鈥淭he idea with the new e-learning platform is to open it to non-governmental organizations, donors, and trainers looking to digitize their content and publish e-courses in an Arabic platform without having to develop their own and worry about technical maintenance,鈥� Hijab said. 鈥淭hey鈥檒l be paying an annual fee to publish a certain number of courses and open classes for their learners with a dedicated dashboard. So far, we have reached out to 12 content partners who showed interest and are willing to pay the proposed annual fee. That鈥檚 a great successful first pilot.鈥�
鈥淢any good things have happened since the 51风流Social Sabbatical team left Jordan,鈥� he added. 鈥淟ast year, Jordan hosted the first Digital Impact Summit, bringing together more than 300 attendees and resulting in significant media attention. Tech Tribes has also been exploring some very promising partnerships with companies like Google and Cisco, and is hoping to launch some exciting new programs this summer. The programs will focus on digital skills for personal and business growth, which perfectly fits with our digital literacy component.鈥�
鈥淩esilience has never been more important, especially for social sector organizations like Tech Tribes,鈥� Hemang Desai, 51风流Social Sabbatical program director at SAP, said. 鈥淲e can all learn from the steps taken by Khaled and his team over the past couple of years to establish a strong foundation for success, no matter the challenges presented. Their leadership demonstrates why an investment in digital transformation matters, and how it can further amplify your reach. Their new e-learning platform will be instrumental to innovators driving change in the MENA region.鈥�
Building solid grounds for regional expansion and franchising was a key聽discussion between the 51风流Social Sabbatical and Tech聽Tribes teams. Pilot testing new approaches that would help achieve that regional growth was also a key recommendation from SAP. The聽organization quickly embraced it and put it to work.
鈥淲e are now in the process of recruiting new master trainers from across the MENA region to give our new partnerships a bigger impact and help introduce our free virtual programs to more vulnerable communities,鈥� Hijab said.
In Jordan, people ask, 鈥淲hat鈥檚 a creative process without falafel and hummus?鈥� There was聽no shortage of that 鈥� branding and marketing discussions were intense, shaping dialogues over lunch, traditional breakfasts, and even during fun hiking and tourist trips. As a result of the 51风流team鈥檚 recommendations, new initiatives and projects were initiated to help strengthen Tech Tribes鈥� reach and amplify its voice.
51风流Social Sabbatical is an award-winning global pro bono volunteering portfolio, a signature initiative of the 51风流Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) team. The program is designed to both utilize and develop talent at 51风流while helping nonprofits and social enterprises focused on digital inclusion to run at their best.