KING’S ENTREPRENEURS AIM HIGH
BY MUNA AL-ALULOn April 13, King’s Academy celebrated the graduation of the first cohort of its students to complete an entrepreneurship program organized under the Tawfiq Fakhouri Chair for Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Leadership.
Offered as a semester-long course at King’s Academy during the spring 2023 semester, the entrepreneurship program concluded with a shark tank-like pitch competition at which 21 students divided into six teams presented their business ideas to a panel of judges.
The Tawfiq Fakhouri Chair for Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Leadership was established in the
spring of 2021 at King’s Academy by sTF5 Care, a foundation that works with grassroots organizations to deliver evidence-based health and education solutions to Jordanian and Palestinian communities.
Thanks to sTF5 Care’s support, and the generous sponsorship of INVESTBANK and Orange Jordan, what started as a single co-curricular course in 2021 has since expanded into a holistic curriculum catering to the entire King’s community.
The program offered by the Tawfiq Fakhouri Chair consists of four pillars. The first pillar, the entrepreneurship course, evolved from the co-curricular into an elective course led by King’s Academy alumna Dina Shawar ’10,
currently managing director of Endeavor Jordan.
The three remaining pillars include the Entrepreneurial Thinking for Educators Program powered by Endeavor Jordan, to build the entrepreneurial mindset among King’s staff and faculty; the Entrepreneurs Club — a student-led club established to enable students to act on their entrepreneurial ideas and create handson impact; and a series of speaker sessions organized by the club.
Welcoming the participants and attendees at the opening of the pitch competition and award ceremony, Head of School Penny Townsend emphasized the importance of entrepreneurial thinking at King’s.
“You do not need me to list the challenges the next generation will face as they move on from King’s Academy to university study and beyond,” said Townsend. “The tasks at hand are daunting and they require new habits of mind — new mindsets, different skills and an entrepreneurial spirit.”
Thanking the program sponsors INVESTBANK and Orange Jordan, as well as Endeavor Jordan for providing training to King’s faculty who will model that mindset for students, she continued: “Entrepreneurship is more than a collection of courses or a new business idea. It is a mindset that inspires innovation, risk-taking and seizing opportunities. It is a mindset that has to extend across all the disciplines we teach at King’s.”
Addressing attendees at the ceremony, sTF5 Care Board Member Maram Samara Fakhouri spoke of her family’s pride in establishing the Entrepreneurship Chair in memory of her late father-in-law, the Jordanian banker and entrepreneur Tawfiq Fakhouri.
“Tawfiq Fakhouri was not just a mentor, but also a beacon of hope to all who knew him,” said Fakhouri. “He was a visionary, a risk-taker, and a dedicated leader who believed in the power of optimism and innovation. His entrepreneurial spirit was contagious, inspiring his children and many around him to pursue their dreams and make a positive impact on the world. He embodied great integrity, humility and generosity, always willing to help others and give back to his community.”
The establishment of the Entrepreneurship Chair was a fitting tribute to Tawfiq Fakhouri’s legacy, she added. “It will empower ambitious young entrepreneurs to develop their skills and become successful business leaders. We hope it will foster the same entrepreneurial spirit he embodied and inspire many others to pursue their dreams and create a better future for themselves and their communities.”
Moving on to the pitch competition, where students were able to demonstrate the knowledge and skills they acquired through the program that will help them build future ventures, King’s welcomed five external judges: Minister of Digital
Economy and Entrepreneurship H.E. Ahmad Hanandeh Rainmaking CEOMENA and Africa Abe Seksek Oasis500 CEO Luma Fawaz, Digital Health Investments and Partnerships Vice President Lana Ghanem, and Flat6Labs Program Director Tamer Al Masri.
Next, the six teams of students took turns presenting their pitch decks, which included a range of creative and inspired business ideas across different sectors including: an improved integrated UI hospital database; and under-18 financial management app; an online educational hub; an online fitness platform; a digital language learning platform; and an environmentally friendly insect protein business.
Each team was given a few minutes to pitch their business idea, followed by a question-and-answer session with the judges. Impressing the judges with their professional presentations, convincing arguments, and knowledge on all aspects of their business ideas, the students then waited with bated breath as the judges conferred to decide on the top three winning pitches.
Taking first place for their business idea were Aya AlKaraki ’23, Tia Abukhadra ’24 and Montaser Oran ’25
for Tadaros: The Educational Hub. In second place were Noor Elian ’25, Wyatt Wunker ’25, Asad Kedairy ’25 and Maria Jarun ’25 for their insect protein business idea. Taking third place for their fitness business idea, F4L: Fit for Life, were Tarek Haroun ’23, Jafar Fakhouri ’23, Yousef Taha ’23 and Ziad ElHout ’23.
The judges praised all the competitors for their remarkable work developing their startup business ideas, noting that many were ready to be incubated immediately. In addition to trophies, the competition winners were awarded cash prizes that will be used for educational and entrepreneurial purposes, as well as mentorships with successful entrepreneurs.
Most importantly, the program offered students the opportunity to foster an entrepreneurial mindset within a creative, supportive space that encourages them to learn, iterate, fail and grow; to accept failure and learn from it; to learn to be problem solvers and critical thinkers; and to navigate challenges and implement solutions in the face of uncertainty and risk — skills crucial for the success of future endeavors.