The U.S. Embassy's Public Affairs Officer, Melissa O'Shaughnessy, and Cultural Affairs Coordinator, Edith Bitar, both took time out of their busy schedules to celebrate with us and congratulate the alumni. 

The event started with both the national anthems of Lebanon and the United States, respectively, followed by a welcoming note from the Access Alumni Coordinator, Ms. Roudaina Boushaheen, and another welcoming note from Ms. O'Shaughnessy. 

Next, an inspirational word was given to the alumni by Access alumna Reem Daher, before the project presentations and distribution of trophies for both round 1 and round 2 grantees. 

Three mini-grants were given in the first round (2021) and five mini-grants were given in the second round (2022). 

In the first round, three groups presented their projects: 

• Ismail Awad’s "House of Mastery," provided master classes to 120 youths aged 17–25 in order to enhance their employability skills; 

• Raghat Farhat and Nour Al-Houda Siage’s "Learners Do Matter," provided career guidance to 200 high school students through a series of workshops and tests,

• Nour Lakkis and Mada Yazbeck’s "Women Entrepreneurship Hub" provided entrepreneurship training sessions to 80 women from North and Bekaa to empower them to start their own small businesses. 

In the second round, five groups presented their projects. 

• Fatima Katrib and Amal Akoumi’s “Take the Lead” trained 50 underprivileged youths from Tripoli’s economically disadvantaged localities of Tebbeneh, Qobbeh, and Jabal Mohsen on leadership and employability skills. 

• Jana and Maryam Soussi’s “MHM Manufacturing” trained women on how to manufacture reusable menstrual pads made from eco-friendly materials. 

• Rasha Shalha’s “Forging Your Way” project prepared 80 juveniles from Zahle and Beirut who had been in conflict with the law or categorized as "exposed to danger" to integrate into society. 

• Yasmina Zeineddine’s “Microproject Assembly” project aimed to train 50 youths from the Southern Maten area in project proposal writing, budgeting, logistics, presenting, implementation, and assessment. 

• Ziwar Moulky’s “Microsoft Skills For High School Students” project trained 50 youths from Tripoli’s economically disadvantaged localities in Microsoft skills as a way to increase their employability chances.

TFL and the Access program accompanied the grantees through their projects and reported on their progress.

Deepest thanks to the US Embassy in Beirut for sponsoring this initiative and warm congratulations to the winners.