Muslim Social Entrepreneurs and Obama's New Era

Photo credit: Stephen Crowley/New York Times

This morning's speech in Cairo signaled a new US approach to the Muslim world; an approach that like the rest of Obama's young presidency seems to be characterized by pragmatism, common sense, and a deep-seeded belief that all people, communities, and cultures have something to contribute to a sustainable, thriving, peaceful global world, and that at the end of the day, we're only as strong as we are together. There were also, as we've seen elsewhere, indications that economic prosperity relied on a combination of actors including social entrepreneurs.

The speech is a particularly significant moment for me personally. Cairo is a place whose story has become interwoven in complex ways with my own. I wrote earlier this year:

In 2004, I found myself in Cairo, Egypt for a semester abroad. It was after 9/11, a year into the Iraq war, and I was skeptical of the dogmatic us, them, clash of civilizations mindset that seemed to be in style. I wanted to see it for myself.

Egypt was not a random location. My parents had visited Jordan, Israel, and Egypt when I was only three, and just after the start of the first intifada. Their stories introduced me not only to the majesty of history, but of our power to destroy - and often to destroy in the name of the good. I would find an Egypt just as confusing.

Almost from the moment I arrived, I loved Egypt. I loved the layers of history embedded in the very buildings themselves; I loved the passion of constant conversation. I loved the cab drivers who consoled me and my American friends the day after George Bush was re-elected.

But at the same time, my Egypt was not just about Pyramids and politics. In 2004, the violence in Darfur had just flared up and I began volunteering with refugees from the horn of Africa as a way to "do my part." It quickly became the most important part of my week. I spent as much time as I could tutoring English at St. Andrews, a small sanctuary from the cacophony of the outside world.

While I was captivated, I was also appalled. There is no place where I've felt the injustice of opportunity denied quite as oppressively as among the refugees of Cairo. Brilliant, talented, compassionate people are left to languish, denied the basic rights of employment and education. An entire generation of Sudanese youth have grown up outside of any systemic support. And if the Egyptian government's treatment of refugees isn't deplorable enough, the rest of the world treats Cairo like a convenient dumping ground, progressively reducing the number of refugees we allow to cross our borders.

It was the first moment that I felt the seemingly immense gap between my desire to do good, and my ability to actually impact global problems.

I included in that piece just how powerless I felt that fall sitting in a hotel room in Cairo surrounded by other idealistic young friends watching George Bush be re-elected as president. To see then, today, our new president forcefully reject the politics of fear and division and project a new vision of an era of US-Muslim cooperation is thrilling.

In the section of the speech dedicated to what happens next, President Obama asserted that "education and innovation will be the currency of the 21st century," and that success would take cross-sector collaboration:

On education, we will expand exchange programs, and increase scholarships, like the one that brought my father to America, while encouraging more Americans to study in Muslim communities. And we will match promising Muslim students with internships in America; invest in on-line learning for teachers and children around the world; and create a new online network, so a teenager in Kansas can communicate instantly with a teenager in Cairo.

On economic development, we will create a new corps of business volunteers to partner with counterparts in Muslim-majority countries. And I will host a Summit on Entrepreneurship this year to identify how we can deepen ties between business leaders, foundations and social entrepreneurs in the United States and Muslim communities around the world.

In response to that gap I felt in 2004 between my desire and ability to do good, I've tried to answer by investing in the social entrepreneurship sector. It's incredible to see our president refer to Muslim social entrepreneurs because of the immense potential for positive energy they're creating around the Muslim world. Referring specifically to Arab social entrepreneurs, Ashoka Arab World wrote this week:

...the very movements that have the most potential to realize these promises of change, are receiving the least press coverage. They are those movements for social change that are taking place in the Arab region right now. They consist of civil society leaders, activists, organizations and associations that are committed to tackle systemic issues that their societies face using home-grown and innovative ways. Regardless of which of the twenty-two Arab states you look at, there are movements underway to address pressing social issue.

In Egypt, for example, Ehaab Abdou is mobilizing disaffected young professionals to positively contribute to their country. Ehaab established ‘Nahdet el Mahrousa’ to engage young social entrepreneurs in Egypt and abroad and to push them to be responsible for creating the change they themselves hope for. Hisham el Rouby is another example of a committed leader that is giving youth a strong taste of civic engagement and social responsibility. Through his Youth Association for Development, Hisham is popularizing the concept of volunteer-service, an idea that has already led to the establishment of youth volunteer centers in Yemen, Egypt, Syria, the United Arab Emirates and Tunisia since 2003. In Lebanon, Selim Mawad is creating a cadre of “agents of change” by providing young people with the skills  and knowledge necessary to teach their communities about the need for transparency and accountability in government. His country-fellow, Wael Hamdian, is inspiring youth to become engaged in realizing social change by identifying and promoting ‘local heroes’. In the occupied Palestinian territories, Abdelfattah Abusrour is introducing Palestinian children in refugee camps to a non-violent form of channeling their frustration and anger by promoting a ‘Beautiful Resistance’ that uses arts and theatre.

These are the Ashoka fellows, but after even just five years of traveling to the Middle East and inviting young Middle Eastern leaders like Hany Amin and his brother Ramy Sami, leaders of Better World NGO dedicated to using technology to unleash youth potential in Egypt, I can say that the excitement and passion for social entrepreneurship increasingly characterizing American youth leaders does not stop at our borders.

An Egyptian man applauds as he watches this morning's speech (Getty)