Current Projects
The mission of Rawabi’s Tech Hub is to create an integrated economic cluster for fast-growing tech segments such as financial technologies, cybersecurity, augmented, and virtual reality. Within the cluster, start-ups leverage a shared R&D infrastructure, access to credit, investment capital, and training as well as expanded access to local and international ICT markets. The Tech Hub is built on a foundation designed to provide:
The Rawabi Fellowship was created in cooperation with the Harvard Kennedy School of Government to provide an expanded educational opportunity for emerging leaders from Palestine. The fellowship provides tuition, health insurance, and stipends for Palestinian students enrolled in degree programs, as well as financial assistance packages for Palestinian participants in the school’s executive education programs.
The Foundation established an endowment to provide tuition-offsetting scholarships for high-achieving, underprivileged Palestinian students. Students from villages, towns, and refugee camps throughout the West Bank and Gaza who would not otherwise have the opportunity to complete their studies are now able to matriculate to accredited universities.
The Foundation partners with Massar International on the Massarak program, a pioneering work-study initiative offering internships to local and international university students. The program allows students to apply theoretical knowledge in a hands-on working environment while learning valuable skills to advance future employment opportunities. Interns receive monthly stipends and are placed according to their field of study. The program places a strong emphasis on equal gender opportunities.
1. Massarak Local:
Designed to serve Palestinian university students and recent graduates. These young employees bring energy and vitality to the workplace and in return are able to explore their chosen field under the guidance of seasoned professionals. Participating students also undertake specialized training courses to augment their learning experience. Since its inception, more than 550 students and graduates have participated in the program, 60% of whom are female. 70% of participants are subsequently hired for permanent positions at companies within the Massar group.
2. Massarak International:
Places students pursuing advanced degrees from leading international universities within a Massar group company or affiliate for three months. The program is an opportunity for these companies to benefit from the assistance of highly qualified students specialized in various fields. Students enjoy the opportunity to work in a challenging, one-of-a-kind business environment while learning about the culture and history of Palestine and its people.
Since 2013, more than 120 graduate students have participated in this program, hailing from the world’s top-ranked universities, including Harvard Business School, Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government; Tufts University; Yale University; Georgetown University; Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business; Cornell University; the University of Oxford; the University of Cambridge; King’s College London; and the London School of Economics. Massarak International provides international interns with comfortable accommodations, a monthly stipend, and reimburses travel costs to and from Palestine.
3. Massarak Tech
Designed for ICT-related university students to support innovation, entrepreneurship, creativity, and teamwork.
4. University Relationships and Case Study Development:
Fostering strong, multi-faceted academic relationships with a number of the world’s leading colleges and universities. We have received delegations of university presidents, deans, faculty members, administrators, and students. A Harvard Business School case study is currently taught at HBS and Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business. Tuck students also worked with Rawabi sales teams to develop a comprehensive pricing strategy for residential units sold at Rawabi as well as on the e-Commerce model for the Q Center commercial hub. A third case study is under development focusing on the retail fashion industry in the city.
In 2016, five Tuck professors led the first mini-MBA program in Palestine, taught at Rawabi. Tufts University Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy conducted field research to create a value proposition positioning Rawabi as a regional ICT hub and to increase the city’s exposure to international ICT companies for potential partnership opportunities. Wake Forest University constructed a graduate-level case study for its school of communications exploring the concept of a master narrative for the city of Rawabi. The study will be published in the forthcoming Handbook of Applied Communication Research. Wake Forest University has another case study under development examining the mission and vision of Rawabi.
As part of our ongoing efforts to promote culture and knowledge-sharing, the Foundation hosts public lectures on trending topics, including entrepreneurship, technology, marketing, social media, healing, arts, health, meditation, social justice, culture, music, and science. Each session is led by a different speaker expert in the topic. All lectures are free and open to the general public.
The Active Living Initiative is structured to support healthy lifestyles and promote well-being for all ages. The Foundation installed outdoor exercise equipment throughout the city of Rawabi; all are safe, weatherproof and free for public use. Regular weekly exercise classes include Zumba, yoga, and Pilates, each conducted under the supervision of a certified trainer. Dabke, karate, and ballet classes are scheduled to be offered in the near future.
The Foundation is also working to establish a sports arena with a professionally constructed, regulation-sized multi-purpose courts. The courts will be built to accommodate basketball, volleyball, hockey, tennis, soccer games, and other sports activities.
As part of its support for conservation and protection of the environment, the Foundation launched “Grow for a Greener Palestine”, a tree-planting and community greening initiative. Designed to restore Palestine’s natural forests and protect natural habitat for indigenous wildlife, the program has planted more than 10,000 trees with the support of philanthropists, students, and people from all over the world.
You can support our tree planting initiative by buying a tree of your selection via this link:
The Foundation and Qatra Water Resources Company are collaborating on an initiative to increase water conservation awareness and improve water access to schools in need. The project involves building rainwater harvesting cisterns at a school in Deir Sudan, a village suffering from serious water shortages which sometimes impede the school’s ability to operate.
As part of the project, the Foundation will work with Qatra to develop and run an educational curriculum on water conservation at the school in Deir Sudan and at Rawabi English Academy. Construction of a school garden in the village and a community garden in Rawabi, fed by surplus harvested rainwater, will contribute to the children’s education about the environment and the importance of conserving water.
Rawabi is a multi-faith city, with residents celebrating a wide range of religious holidays including Christmas, New Year, Easter, Ramadan, Eid Al-Fiter and Eid Al-Adha. The city embraces the free practice of all religious traditions and extends its welcome to all faiths great and small, including the Palestinian Samaritan community
To promote cultural and social ties between Rawabi and the international community, the Rawabi Foundation is working to forge strong ties between Rawabi and cities around the world. City twinning is an effective means of meeting and connecting with people from different backgrounds and cultures.