Emirates NBD Grants AED100,000 seed funding to e7 daughters of the Emirates Community Projects

Emirates NBD, a leading bank in the regionhasprovided AED100,000 cash to seed fund community projects developed byparticipants of the e7 Daughters of the Emirates – banat al emaratprogram. 

e7, ajoint initiative by Emirates NBD and Promise of a Generation (POAG)is ayear-long network and development experience for young women in the UAEagedbetween 18 and25, focusing on inspiration, training, connection and commitment to community projects.

The e7 Class of 2015 journey began withthe Emirates NBD e7 Girls Summit held in April of this year, where 33 participants from the seven emiratesspent three days training in design thinking and connecting with inspirational leaders to co-create projects to benefit the UAE community. For the past two months they have worked in teams to develop their projects with the advice of their e7 mentors (each young woman is matched with a community/business leader). A full-day pre-pitch practice workshop helped the teams hone their presentations and prepare for the judges’ tough questions.

During last Saturday’s e7 project pitchevent, eightteams presented their community projects for seed funding to a panel of judges including Elena Cruz, Head of Brand Management and CSR, Emirates NBD; Michael Mansour, Chief Innovation Officer, Microsoft Gulf and Muna Al Falahi, Head of Business Support, Emirates NBD. 

The judges were impressed with the projects e7 participants developed within eight weeks, which address a range oftopics including, diabetes awareness among adolescents; bullying on social media; enhancing skills and confidence of women in the northern emirates; helping youth with dyslexia; and fostering greater knowledge and appreciation of Emirati culture.

One of the projectsto receive funding isThe Lotus Effect, which aims to boost the earning potential and quality of life oflow-income female workers by providing them with an innovative mobile-based platform to help them improve their English language skills.

Commenting on the experience, Aisha Al Bedwawi of The Lotus Effect said: “Emirates NBD and Promise of a Generation have provided us a unique opportunity through the e7 initiative, the experience has not only given us the funding we so urgently need to bring our project to fruition, but we have also learned so much through theworkshops and mentors. The Lotus Effect will help deserving women in Dubai’s hospitality sector, the face of this amazing city, learn English and develop confidence, and I am immensely proud to be a part of this project.”

Chief Innovation Officer of Microsoft Gulf, Michael Mansour, served as a judge and provided feedback to the e7 participants on implementation success factors. “I was impressed with the high quality of ideas and the enthusiasm in the e7 presentations,” commentedMansour. “At Microsoft, we believe in empowering people to do more and achieve more by nurturing great ideas from their humble origins to successful innovations. I am delighted to pledge Microsoft’s support to the e7 community projects through our Bizspark program to help the www.16to26.com team develop a web-based platform and enhance career opportunities for young women.” 

Promise of a Generation Co-Founder and e7 Executive Board Chair, Adela Acevedo Sarna, said, “I am so proud of our e7 banat. The teams put a lot of time, effort and heartinto developing their project plans, budgets and presentations, all while studying for university final exams or working in full-time jobs.Their commitment to benefiting our UAE communities is inspiring. I cannot wait to see their projects progress, and I look forward to celebrating the achievements of the e7 Class of 2015!”