IFE LearnServe Egypt participants pose for a group shot just before departing to Cairo.
LearnServe Egypt is a US-Egypt exchange to promote entrepreneurship, innovation and cross-cultural understanding in American and Egyptian college students. Over the course of the six-week program this summer, students will form bilateral teams, and draft business plans for socially responsible ventures that will make a positive social and economic contribution to the development of Egypt in the new post-revolution era.
During Phase 1, in the first two weeks of this summer’s program, students in the United States will travel to Cairo to meet with their Egyptian counterparts to form teams and begin designing their business ventures. Phase 2 consists of two weeks during which the students continue their work in virtual teams, each from within their respective countries, connecting with their group members through the use of telecollaboration tools, such as e-mail, video conferencing, and blogs. In this way, students get first-hand experience navigating today’s logistical reality of conducting international business. In the final two weeks, Phase 3, the Egyptian students will travel to the United States, splitting their time between Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia, to meet with their group members and finalize their proposals.
The program’s curriculum emphasizes intercultural understanding and camaraderie, leadership, language development and other business skills. Throughout the program, as they hone their business plans, students will meet with experts in the field of international business and public policy in order to receive feedback and develop their ideas and global partnerships. At the conclusion of Phase 1 and Phase 3, student teams will pitch their business plans to panels of investors, business and government sector leaders in Egypt and the US, respectively.
LearnServe Egypt, a not-for-profit program, emerges from a unique trilateral partnership: First, it is operated by the Institute for Education in Washington, DC, (www.instituteforeducation.org) whose mission is to recognize, encourage, and promote civility and leadership locally, nationally, and in the world community. The primary sponsor is Mercator XXI (www.mercatorxxi.com), a global consulting firm also in DC, whose mission is to help clients engage the global economy. And it is directed by the Sicola Consulting Group (www.sicolaconsulting.com), a Philadelphia-based consulting company specializing in culturally and linguistically aware business and educational training programs. These institutions have joined together to create a unique curriculum that prepares young people to succeed in the global economy as innovative leaders and entrepreneurs.
To learn more or to see how you and your organization can contribute to the experience of these young entrepreneurs, contact LearnServe Egypt program director Dr. Laura Sicola.
Download the LearnServe Egypt Brochure in PDF ->
Contact Information:
Laura Sicola, PhD
(215) 850-0636
Program director, LearnServe Egypt
lauras@instituteforeducation.org
and
Sicola Consulting Group
laura@sicolaconsulting.com
