Get to Know the Cohort
Our summer 2021 cohort featured 24 fellows, who were selected from almost 300 applicants, marking an 8% acceptance rate. Fellows came from all over the Middle East and had a diverse range of backgrounds, from architecture and medicine to graphic design and software development.
Check out some of the cohort stats:
Gender:
60% female / 40% male
Age:
Age range: 18-24
Average age: 21
Refugee or conflict-affected person:
72% self-identify / 28% do not
Locations:
Iraq
Lebanon
Palestine
Saudi Arabia
Syria
Turkey
We interviewed a few of our fellows about their Young Tech Leaders (YTL) experience. Get to know them below!
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Dunya Soran
22 years old,
Sulaymaniyah, Kurdistan Region of Iraq
Why did you want to participate in Young Tech Leaders (YTL)?
Being from a third world country where we are constantly in the war zone, I find it hard to find opportunities that actually help us. Majoring in technology and seeing my community adapt to this new way of communication has only made me more eager to learn. Young Tech Leaders’ values and goals matched my energy, and I applied without a second thought. The selection process journey was not easy, but I am proud to be here.
What was your favorite part of the program?
Everything about the program is awesome! The fact that everything is planned and we have a whole agenda makes it so easy for us to follow. Having mentors and speakers from all around the world only makes us want to work harder on our project and turn our ideas into actions. We have a notebook, social nights, and follow-up programs to stay in touch. As a bookworm, I am very excited about the readings for fun that are provided as supplementary readings. Finally, I have built a great network with people that I share values with, including team members, mentors, and trainers.
What do you hope to do after the program ends?
I hope to share what I have learned with my community by turning my project into reality. I hope to be able to give back the same amazing energy, knowledge, and positivity to people around me just as YTL has. And I definitely hope to stay in touch with my amazing team members!
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Ghazi Elloulou
24 years old,
Beirut, Lebanon
Why did you want to participate in Young Tech Leaders (YTL)?
I chose to participate in YTL because it presented a huge opportunity to network with people, learn a new approach, and simply have some fun!
What was your human-centered project?
My team and I created a solution for refugees to foster the feeling of home away from home. We felt that refugees deserve the feeling of a community and to be connected with people who share the same culture, tradition, and values. The most valuable insight is that refugees need this. The biggest challenge was getting in touch with refugees who reside in different countries.
How will you apply your learnings from YTL moving forward?
The human-centered design in particular is a method I will definitely be using in the projects I work on.
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Georges Macheta
19 years old,
Jdeidat Artouz, Syria
Why did you want to participate in Young Tech Leaders (YTL)?
It seemed like a perfect fit for my interests and my need to develop my technology leadership skills—and indeed, it was the perfect fit!
What was your human-centered project?
My team and I came up with Faky Check, a tool to check fake news, because of all the fake news we are witnessing in the Middle East and the world.
What is the most valuable lesson/takeaway from the program?
The most valuable lesson I got was the importance of the team. At first, I was afraid that our ideas as a team might be different, especially because everything is virtual and we are not in the same place. I was trying to make the decisions, but then I found out what great work my team put into the project and that they are amazing!
