©2019 The William Davidson Institute 4 GETTING STARTED The first M²GATE cohort began in January 2018, with each team including students from one MENA country and students from Michigan. The kickoff event beamed participants from the four MENA countries into a Ross School of Business classroom where the Michigan students were seated. After introductions, the students worked on a team-building exercise in virtual breakout rooms before coming back together to report on what they learned. Program organizers then reviewed the eight-week schedule and outlined the support and resources available to them. After the cohort launch, it was up to the students to schedule virtual meetings and decide their preferred video chat platform. Teams also discussed what social challenge in the MENA teammates’ country they should pursue. Once that was decided, the teams presented their proposal in a short video. WDI staff, mentors and successful entrepreneurs from MENA and Michigan helped guide the students as they navigated through their projects. The students then used the remaining weeks to develop a business model canvas for their proposed solution and to create a video pitching it. At the end of each cohort, a panel of judges selected the best pitch video. The winning team from each of the three cohorts—there were a total of 86 teams—was invited to the University of Michigan’s Ann Arbor campus for a final pitch competition. At the pitch competition, each team had seven minutes to present to a panel of four judges that included entrepreneurship professors from the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business and startup consultants. Team EcoMENA, comprised of five students from Egypt and two Michigan undergrads, was named the winner. Their project proposed working with the Zabbaleen, or “garbage people,” in Cairo to help them turn the recycled materials they collect into jewelry and other products they can sell. This would reduce the amount of plastics and metal burned or dumped into landfills, and also help some of the Zabbaleen earn extra income. The other two finalist teams were The Alters, a team from Morocco that proposed an after-school program to improve students soft skills, and Kaizen, a Tunisian team that wanted to encourage more recycling in the country by rewarding people who did. EcoMENA member Naglaa Ibrahim Hussein Ali said the team faced challenges at times as it put together the proposal and pitch. But in the end the team “came up with the best pitch we can,” and “we love each other.” She said she never imagined the team would win and was very happy that they did. “I won’t ever forget this experience,” she said. (Left) A student and a mentor in Libya connect virtually with teammates in the U.S. (Right) Michigan-based students at U-M’s Ross School of Business attend the launch event for the M²GATE program. GETTING STARTED