Mowgli annual report_june-dec2011

Mowgli annual report_june-dec2011

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  The Mowgli Foundation AnnualReview and Accounts Financial period June 1 - Dec 31 2011
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  The Mowgli Foundation- Annual Review June 1 - Dec 31 2011 www.mowgli.org.uk Welcome to the Mowgli Foundation’s Annual Report 2011 2011 was a year of growth, development, and exciting new “Meeting new business people from different sectors and different opportunities for Mowgli in the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA). I am proud to introduce our 2011 Report and share with our backgrounds, at my Mowgli training workshops in 2011, taught me supporters how far we have come in building a strong programme of a lot. Now, I have 2 mentees who I am very proud of. The Mowgli mentoring for entrepreneurs. experience provides unique opportunities for both mentors and Many initiatives in MENA have made progress in 2011, despite the region’s economic challenges and political turmoil. We launched 8 mentees: I believe that the time invested with both my mentees was new mentoring programmes this year, supporting 81 entrepreneurs, in addition to continuing our ongoing programmes of support in Lebanon, fruitful not just for them but for me as well. I consider that mentoring Jordan and Syria. Mowgli also engaged with key decision makers in is a pillar, if not one of the most important pillars in improving the region: the World Economic Forum’s Special Meeting on Economic Growth & Job Creation in the Arab World was a key event for us. We entrepreneurship in Jordan.” have continued to focus on developing the strong partnerships we have across MENA. The huge challenge we now face is the same one that was the initial reason for Mowgli’s inception: how can we, and our partners, support and re-generate local economies, create employment, Nidal Bitar and strengthen enterprising eco-systems across MENA? Our answer, of course, is training mentors and matching them with entrepreneurs who CEO of SCOPI / Board Member of our partner, Young Entrepreneurs Association Jordan have potential. We have achieved some fantastic milestones in 2011, which will move us closer to our vision of placing mentoring at the heart of leadership development and encouraging local business communities to build their own enterprise support networks. One such milestone is that in 2011 we were successful in securing the support of the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office for four mentoring programmes in Jordan. We would like to extend our thanks to Nada Jreissati Daher: the British Embassy in Jordan, and to all our Jordanian supporters, and hope that we can continue this successful partnership in the future. The “It was a great Body Shop Foundation was another generous donor to our cause, and we would like to thank them for supporting a group of Lebanese women experience, the through the Mowgli programme in 2011. We would like to also thank matching was great. key partners in each country - Berytech in Lebanon, the Syrian Young Entrepreneur’s Association, and the Young Entrepreneur’s Association in The tools and hints my Jordan for their on-going support. mentor gave me were The achievements of the inspirational entrepreneurs and mentors we mind blowing. I hope work with at Mowgli are, however, the most important highlight of this Mowgli Foundation (UK/Head Office) Mowgli Jordan that next year I will Report. I would like to invite you to read on and hear some of their success stories in their own words. The 3rd Floor Care of: Young Entrepreneurs Association be on the other side Bush House King Abdullah ll Street, King Hussein Business Park helping entrepreneurs.” I am looking forward to another year where we help more entrepreneurs across MENA fulfil their potential through mentoring. 72 Prince Street Bldg.10 First Floor Bristol PO Box 1652 Mentee, Lebanon programme, BS1 4QD, UK Amman 11821, Jordan November 2011 Andrew Fischer Tel: +44 (0)1179 292 540 Tel: +962 6 580 5379 Chair of Mowgli Foundation Email: [email protected] Fax: +962 6 580 5375 2 3
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  The Mowgli Foundation- Annual Review June 1 - Dec 31 2011 Tony Bury - Founder and Trustee, Mowgli Foundation “Investing in the development Mowgli provides mentors who can make a real impact and these mentors also fill some of the gaps that exist, in supporting at a personal of future entrepreneurial level the leaders of tomorrow - entrepreneurs. In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, despite a year of political and economic leaders is the key to uncertainty, the results you see in these pages from all our mentors supporting sustainable and mentees show that mentoring has a real impact on the capacity of individuals to succeed. Importantly, our mentees have created jobs, economic growth in MENA.” and will continue to create jobs. This is the reason I founded Mowgli: after doing business in MENA countries for so many years, one cannot remain unaware of the need that these small businesses have for advice and support, or of the massive challenge of unemployment, particularly amongst young people. Our mentors also experience immense satisfaction from mentoring, as well as taking important learning and leadership skills back to their working life. Our hope is that mentoring helps to build human capital within businesses across the region. There is now great opportunity in the MENA region to continue our work, and put entrepreneurial leadership at the heart of the community development and economic growth that we and our partners are working hard to support. But entrepreneurial leadership, we believe at Mowgli, will only have a lasting impact with a key ingredient included: a ‘mentoring culture’, driven by local needs at the community level which gives successful people an opportunity to ‘pay it forward’. This is why Mowgli’s informal motto is ‘to serve is to lead.’ The Mowgli Foundation is making plans now to expand and roll out our work across new countries in the MENA region, with a number Bahaa Dababneh, Mentor: of exceptional partners who share our vision of a healthy eco-system Although in the past I was doing some of support for the entrepreneurs they work with on the ground. We coaching and mentoring as part of my work have now begun training local leaders to deliver our programmes in at the Bank, when I attended Mowgli‘s Arabic and French, a major step towards sustainability of Mowgli’s fantastic training program in Jordan, I programmes, and we will be launching in a number of new countries in discovered that what I was doing was right the next few months. There is still plenty of work to be done in 2012, but needed some tuning. I believe that my however. If you are reading this in any one of the MENA countries, mentee Mohammed’s current success and I can guarantee there are entrepreneurs who need mentoring in a progress reflects my support and my help. community near you. We need companies, individual business leaders He and I have become close friends in a and public sector bodies at every level of enterprise support and within short period of time, and I believe in his the business community to help Mowgli and our mentors to support business too- I try and promote it wherever entrepreneurs to make a difference. Please do get in touch with us and I go. But I have also felt a personal impact find out how you can help. from the mentoring experience: I feel that I can communicate my opinions better to my My congratulations to all the exceptional Mowgli entrepreneurs who colleagues and to people in my personal life, have achieved so much this year, and to the inspirational mentors who and I started to change my way of thinking volunteered their time to help them succeed - without you, Mowgli’s and to take more mature decisions. I also feel work simply would not be possible. On behalf of the Mowgli team, ready to be more positive, to treat negative thank you all for your dedication and drive, and we look forward to happenings with a positive approach; and working with you again in 2012. I feel ready to play a part in my community and share my stories with others. Tony Bury Founder and Trustee, Mowgli Foundation Infographic created by Mowgli Graduate - Feb 2011 WonderEight.com 4 5
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  The Mowgli Foundation- Annual Review June 1 - Dec 31 2011 www.mowgli.org.uk Our Impact Istanbul, Cairo, and in the UK from the Greater 2011. We launched a further two programmes in Jordan Manchester area and the South West. and the UK in January 2012. entrepreneurs who completed their year. entrepreneurs in the Middle East since 2009, and 19 UK entrepreneurs since 2010. in 2010 (and has been completed) created 10 jobs. On average each mentee on 2010 programmes created at Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and the UK. least 1.5 jobs. within the 8 countries, including Beirut, Ramallah, Amman, created 118 jobs between them in MENA and the UK. Jericho, Irbid, Damascus, Aleppo, Aqaba, Karak, Tunis, Programmes that ended in 2011: Ramzi Ghurani: “Mowgli has simply the programme and 88% felt the programme was beneficial to them and their business. changed my life and helped give me the focus for at least six months. 69% of relationships continued with regular contact for one year. and clarity to succeed.” the mentee feels they have moved from being a ‘mentee’ to an equal or a peer. Mowgli Jordan Mentee, Oct 2011 Mentee Case Study “When I applied for the Mowgli programme, I was quite cynical about what I might get out of it - I’ve been in business 20 years, and I know my industry inside out. But in other ways 12 months will continue keeping in touch with their mentor on an unofficial basis. - Kashef Ahmad I was actually desperate for some sort of outside help, to release the pressure of all the ideas, risks and decisions you’re considering constantly as a business owner. I quickly lost my cynical approach on the matching weekend. The whole thing Kashef Ahmad is the Founder of the Taxi was unexpectedly inspirational - we (the mentors and mentees) Academy, a training centre which helps became close quickly, almost like a family. 2010 people train as taxi or private hire car drivers. Andrea, my mentor, helped me over the year mainly because 34% 2009 Having helped around 1000 trainees into of how much empathy she has; she really took time to listen. Gender balance on Mowgli 23% self-employment, the Taxi Academy has When I had crucial decisions to make, I would ring her and programmes received recognition for its business model talk; It was such a relief, to bounce decisions off someone first. Andrea was always there for me, especially last year when I Since the first programme in March 2009. from HSBC Startup Stars and the Smarta had some personal issues to deal with alongside work. I feel 57/175 entrepreneurs have been female (32%) 100 Awards for Innovation. He was matched that her support helped me to keep working on my business- We are working to improve the number of not getting lost in it. with Andrea, his mentor, in 2010. women who work with us. In 2010 34% of Mowgli entrepreneurs were female and in Now, I consider that I’m a mentor to others around me, 2011 the figure was 35%. including many of the drivers we train. When you’re in business a long time, you get used to the repeated challenges and knockbacks that come with it- but, it can still be hard to stay motivated. Mentoring helps with that motivation. Even though We would ask readers to bear in mind the challenges faced by those who were running small businesses in the Arab world, during the I make little changes to my big vision every day, I now have a widespread upheaval which occurred in 2011. Mowgli Syria mentees were often unable to continue their relationships past 6 months clear idea of what I’m aiming for with my business.” due to being cut off from communications, meaning we cannot collect data from them - and indeed many have sadly been forced to leave both the country and their business. These issues also affected operational aspects of running our programmes in 2010-11. 6 7
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  The Mowgli Foundation- Annual Review June 1 - Dec 31 2011 www.mowgli.org.uk Progress towards localising our mentoring programs Financial stats (period July to December 2011) increasing from 63% Income 0% in 2009 and 13% in 2010 18% 82% in 2011 *progress towards localising our mentoring programs £67,879 sponsorship £314,993 donations £44,072 received as Benefits in Kind intend to become 73% entrepreneurs a mentor to someone else in their community *embedding a mentoring culture 3% Governance costs 5% 62% were referred by our local partners and 92% Mentoring programmes incubators *collaborating with local partners 8 9
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  The Mowgli Foundation- Annual Review June 1 - Dec 31 2011 www.mowgli.org.uk Mowgli Mentee Case Mowgli Mentor Case Study - Ala Suleiman Study - Mohammad Having graduated from the Jordan University of Science and Technology, Masadeh Ala Suleiman, a Mowgli Jordan mentee and one of Oasis 500’s first companies, went on to work in several companies before opening his own business: Masmoo3, the first specialized Digital Arabic Audio Books Mohammad Masadeh holds a BA degree in Business Administration and Production house in the Arab world. Ala joined a Mowgli programme in Operations Research from Eastern Michigan University. With over 20 years May 2011 and was matched with a mentor from the UK, Chris Rawlins. of experience in consulting mainly in entrepreneurship and enterprise development in Jordan and across the Middle East, Mohammed now serves “When I started (with Mowgli) I thought I wouldn’t need a mentor. On as a Mowgli facilitator and will promote and develop our Mowgli Jordan a personal level I thought I could handle the business on my own, I Mohammed (centre) at a Mowgli mentoring workshop mentoring programmes. “Now I have begun to help thought I was competent and self-motivated. But after being faced with challenges, market problems, investments… I couldn’t find anyone who “The difference between regular mentoring and Mowgli’s mentoring are that others in the same way Chris believed in me as Chris believed in me. I found a great friend and a wise other types of mentoring are usually done at a much faster pace. Mentors specialist in the business who kept me motivated during the hard times. “Being a mentor has helped need to take more time, to ensure the entrepreneur reaches sustainability. helped me, like supporting Being a mentor has helped me too, since ultimately as business people we me too, since ultimately as other entrepreneurs as well We now have our own offices and have built our own studio, and have are all facing the same difficulties. For example, my two mentees were trying had to employ more staff. With more than 30 Arabic Audiobooks and 30 business people we are all to raise capital for their businesses, as I was also trying to raise capital for my as my employees.” business the past year- so working with them gave me a better view of what I Audio stories available for download worldwide, we are developing new and improved products, and we have launched a new website facing the same difficulties.” was really doing in my business. Also, you feel very good about yourself when (www.masmoo3.com). Now I have begun to help others in the same you are giving, and when you help the person in front of you succeed! way Chris helped me, like supporting other entrepreneurs as well as my employees. I now try to motivate them and give advice when they need We face many problems in Jordan. One of our biggest problems is support. unemployment, and the solution is ultimately creating small and medium enterprises. We need to develop these companies, and the only way to I was wrong when I thought that mentorship was not for me - I can feel the develop them is through programmes like Mowgli.” results and I know that part of what motivated me was Chris’ mentorship.” 95% Impact on Mentors Berytech, Mowgli Lebanon Partner: Lebanon needs entrepreneurs to contribute to the economy, limit ‘brain drain’, and create jobs. Entrepreneurship stimulates innovation, as well Mowgli programmes to others as creating success stories and inspirational role models within Lebanese communities. Berytech entrepreneurs who work with Mowgli mentors receive a number of benefits, including getting clarity on their vision moving forward; an unbiased and structured relationship; and they 79% also expand their network and gain valuable contacts. It’s important for entrepreneurs to 87% have someone to bounce ideas off, and to “The experience reinforced encourage them to be more systematic and rigorous about their business growth plans. my purpose as a coach, In the future, Berytech and Mowgli hope to mentor and business owner.” developed active listening, work together to develop more Mentor/Mentee to mentor others in their empathy and understanding Mentor, Ghada El Kurd, Jordan 2011 experiences, as well as recruiting more mentors directly from the local community.” 10 11
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  Learn more aboutwhat Mowgli does Visit our website www.mowgli.org.uk and read our regularly updated blog posts Register for Mowgli’s quarterly newsletter at www.mowgli.org.uk/about-mowgli/mowgli-newsletter Follow us on Facebook at Follow us on Twitter on @mowglitweets Join our LinkedIn Group at www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1840711 Watch our videos on our Youtube channel - Join the Mowgli family – Are you an entrepreneur looking for a mentor to help you grow your business? If so, find out how you can join the growing network of Mowgli Entrepreneurs at http://mowgli.org.uk/about-mowgli/become-a-mowgli-entrepreneur Become a Mowgli Mentor – Are you an experienced professional looking to develop your leadership capability and support an entrepreneur to grow their business? If so, find out how you can join the growing network of Mowgli Mentors at http://mowgli.org.uk/about-mowgli/become-a-mowgli-mentor Become a Mowgli Sponsor – Are you an individual or corporation who wishes to participate in and/or help change the trend that only 20-25% of start up enterprises succeed, as a result of mentoring? If so, email us at to find out how you can support entrepreneurs grow their businesses on our year-long Mowgli Mentoring Experience (MME) programs Become a Mowgli Partner – Are you an organisation that is already established within your country’s entrepreneurial ecosystem and is looking to broaden your service offering to include mentorship? If so why not become a Mowgli empowered partner? Contact us at Become a Mowgli Volunteer – Find out how you can volunteer and support entrepreneurship, mentorship and leadership development by emailing us at Contact us Mowgli Foundation (UK/Head Office) Mowgli Jordan The 3rd Floor Care of: Young Entrepreneurs Association Bush House King Abdullah ll Street, King Hussein Business Park 72 Prince Street Bldg.10 First Floor Bristol PO Box 1652 BS1 4QD, UK Amman 11821, Jordan Tel: +44 (0)117 929 2540 Tel: +962 6 580 5379 Email: [email protected] Fax: +962 6 580 5375 Registered address: 1 The Sanctuary, Westminster, London SW1P 3JT A Company Limited by Guarantee No. 06587752 (Charity Reg No. 1127087)