Training Entrepreneurs for Excellence at MEET 2

The program's overarching goal is to better position the next generation of Israeli and Palestinian leaders to bring about positive social, economic, and political change in the region. The program's primary objective is to develop 380 excelling Israeli and Palestinian students' computer science and entrepreneurship knowledge and skills, while simultaneously cultivating shared values and fostering a deeper understanding of the "other." The program recruits 80 excelling Israeli and Palestinian youth (age 15-16) from over 40 high schools throughout Israel, East Jerusalem, and the West Bank each year. The students are divided into cohorts based on graduation date and are divided equally along national and gender lines. The curriculum is taught in English to ensure a common language, and the students attend all "study and work" sessions jointly. The program consists of three intensive summer programs and two afterschool year-long programs, which take place at MEET's two hubs in Nazareth and Jerusalem. The summer programs are held in Jerusalem and utilize mainly volunteer instructors from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The program's main anticipated results include increased capacity of a networked cadre of excelling Israeli and Palestinian youth to create joint bi-national CS and entrepreneurship projects, and increased exposure among program participants' family members and stakeholders to program activities, values, and products. In the first quarter of implementation, October-December 2017, the main thrust of activity was on providing training to the Year1 and Year2 students in the Fall semester of the Yearlong Program. A total of 82 Year1 students and 56 Year2 students took part in the training, with 79 Year1 students and 46 Year2 students attending at least 70% of the scheduled Yearlong training sessions. The program also made progress in recruiting the next class of students, primarily through establishing contact with representatives of schools and online marketing efforts. Implementation-related challenges to the program did occur following President Trump's December 6, 2017, announcements regarding Jerusalem. There were limited difficulties for West Bank students regarding closures or permits, but the main challenge on the Palestinian side related to recruitment of West Bank participants due to anti-normalization and anti-American trends at some schools. The overall reported cost of TEEM2 activities in the first quarter was $109,786.59, of which $31,549.81 were federal funds. The next quarter will see the continuation of the Yearlong Program, the next stages of the recruitment for the next class, and additional outreach efforts.