AMENA Center’s Offerings and Services

Decades of economic underdevelopment and socio-political conflict have resulted in skills, gender equity, and innovation gaps in a number of countries in the broader Middle East region. By developing human capital, instilling entrepreneurial mindsets, building bridges with Silicon Valley, and publishing academically rigorous policy-oriented research, we aim to narrow the gaps.
Our Services

Entrepreneurship Incubation:

Berkeley-powered incubators and accelerator programs help MENA startups to
augment their innovation capacity, refine and commercialize their products and
services, improve their management and marketing skills, and scale their
enterprises.

Within 10-20 weeks of innovation immersion programs, our programs allows intra- and entrepreneurs to bring their product to market at a fraction of the cost and time.

Human Capital Development

We offer short-term certificate courses designed to enhance workforce capacity,
boost innovation, improve governance and institutions, provide intra- and
entrepreneurship training, and instill a culture of calculated risk taking.

Our Global Exchange Program enables individuals pursuing degrees to take for credit courses at UC Berkeley. Upon completing the courses, participants will be issued UC Berkeley transcripts, enabling them to transfer units they earn at Berkeley to their home institutions. The courses have a practical bend to them, and are offered in intensive format (9am to 5pm), enabling students to spend, depending upon the units
assigned to the class, 2-3 weeks at Berkeley.

Emerging Professional Empowerment

We develop workshops and curricula for young professionals to advance modern skillsets such as:

  • Design Thinking
  • Computational Thinking
  • STEM in Fablab and Robotics Lab

while also providing vocational training on renewable energy, information technology, digital arts, and recycling.

 

Think-Tank for Strategy Development / Consulting

As part of their consulting services, Berkeley experts may also advise MENA
officials on issues pertaining to the design, development and execution of the plans
to overhaul oil-based economies, and leap frog from extractive to productive,
competitive, high-value added, and innovation-based 21st century economies.

Berkeley experts may also draft white papers that can serve as guidelines for
officials in the formulation of strategies on solving industry-based problems. Key
findings are condensed into short, sharp, actionable, and fact-driven idea-briefs.

 

Why UC Berkeley?

Developing pathways to promote entrepreneurship and sustainable economic growth in the AMENA region requires an interdisciplinary approach. With its world-class schools and departments, UC Berkeley has the expertise to provide meaningful insights. It also has the reputation to attract thought leaders from other public and public organizations from around the world.

UC Berkeley’s proximity to and extensive contacts with Silicon Valley enables us to ‘connect’ actual and aspiring entrepreneurs and business leaders from the AMENA region with leading companies and entrepreneurial trendsetters in the hi-tech sector.

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Unlike most Middle East Centers and programs, which tend primarily to focus on the history, culture, languages, and politics of Middle Eastern countries, the AMENA Center at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business is devoted to narrowing the skills, economic development, entrepreneurship, innovation, and gender gaps in the broader Middle East region.

We identify local talents, enhance their innovation capacity, improve their business, management, and technical skills, and teach them how to commercialize ideas, find a niche, and link into the global value-chain. We also contribute to the generation of  academically rigorous yet actionable recommendations for the resolution of socioeconomic, environmental, educational, and industry related challenges in AMENA countries. Daruish Zahedi

Executive Director

From The Blog

From recaps of our latest events to the next best idea, read below to learn more about us!

MENA AI and Data Science Series

MENA AI and Data Science Series

by | Dec 1, 2021 | upcoming events

In collaboration with PhazeRo, a flourishing startup company in Muscat, Oman, Berkeley-AMENA is sponsoring the MENA AI and Data Science Series.  Presented by world-class experts and practitioners, the series will consist of a number of webinars focused on recent...

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