In our first year, our programs blossomed.

1. We sponsored a 3-week intensive accelerator program for winners of Egypt NEGMA's Impact Egypt! Social Innovation Competition, to pilot core modules of the RISE fellowship program;

2. We hosted our first RISE Research meeting, convening researchers from Harvard, MIT, RISD, and AUC, to structure the think tank aspect of RISE's work, building an evidence-based research practice to support the RISE entrepreneurs;

3. We participated in policy discussions at top think tanks and universities including the Middle East Institute, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Wharton School of Business;

4. We conducted outreach across North America and the Middle East to build our global network;

5. We successfully recruited and selected a top notch inaugural class of RISE Entrepreneurs and officially launched our fellowship program with an incredible event at Harvard featuring a fantastic line-up of speakers and participants.