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RIYADH: King Khaled Foundation (KKF) hosted a seminar on social entrepreneurship (SE) with special reference to the Kingdom.
The keynote speakers were Princess Albandari bint Abdulrahman Al-Faisal, director general of KKF, and Jacqueline Novogratz, CEO of Acumen Fund and an American SE expert.
Princes Albandari said that though entrepreneurship is relatively a new concept in the Kingdom, it is gaining ground steadily.
“In the past five years, our foundation conducted many activities to promote SE. They included building the capability of Saudis, sharing our expertise with other sister foundations, hosting SE promoting events, and providing opportunities for young promising Saudis to grow in the field. Our sponsorship of four such youths at the acumen fellowship program is a good example of that,” she said.
Princess Albandari stressed the importance of Novogratz approach of calling for the creation of SE organizations that have financial sustainability in a form of venture capital, so they can tackle social problems effectively by providing innovative solutions.
Novogratz, in her presentation, expressed her happiness for inviting her to the Kingdom to participate in this seminar and to attend the launch of her book in Arabic.
“I was highly impressed by the interest and enthusiasm shown by young Saudi social entrepreneurs and other attendees of the seminar. They all showed tremendous interest in learning more on SE so they can contribute positively to the change process in the world,” she said.
Following the seminar, the first Arabic translation of Novogratz’s book entitled: “Bleu Sweeter: Bridging the gap between rich and poor in an interconnected world” was launched.
The 300-page book tells the story of Novogratz who gave up in her early twenties a career in international banking to spend her life on a quest to understand global poverty until she created the trailblazing organization that she runs today.
The Arabic translation of her book was prefaced by three SE young Saudis — Bahira Khushaim, Shahd Ash-Shuhail and Yosuf Al-Qwaifli — who were selected by Acumen fund to participate in its international fellowship program with a support from KKF.