GEMS American Academy - Qatar organized the inaugral Qatar Youth Innovation and Entrepreneurship Conference (2018) on its campus on April 21, 2018. Founded by Andrew Jose, the project was spearheaded by student leadership which were supervised and advised by project advisor Tiffany Alrefae (Upper School Principal of GEMS American Academy). The staff of GEMS American Academy, the facilities managers and especially CEO Mark Lentz, provided encouragement to the conference organizers during their endevour. This project was part of GEMS American Academy's independent study program ) - created by the Vice Principal of Academics and History Department Head, Alzahir Tharani - where students are empowered to form projects that will benefit the community and leave a legacy behind for future GEMS students. The conference provided students with a fresh look at entrepreneurship, where practical ideas were shared with students from entrepreneurs within Qatar, a Senior Corporate Relationship Manager at Commercial Bank, and two individuals who work at Al Jazeera. In this way, the conference catered to both students who were part of their school business studies and commerce programs, as well as students who were passionate about entrepreneurship.

The 2018 QINOCON (short for Qatar Youth Innovation and Entrepreneurship Conference) had the theme "From Why to How". The organizers invited speakers who helped the attendees learn how to take their ideas from dreams into reality. The speakers were Renee Odeh and Juan Carols Van Meek (who work at Al Jazeera), Lina Tarawneh (a young social entrepreneur who founded Green Mangroves - an NGO in Qatar), Christian Ofori - Atta (A parent at GEMS American Academy - Qatar, working as a Senior Corporate Relationship Manager at Commercial Bank, who volunteered to speak in his capacity as a parent), and Khalifa Saleh Al Haroon (Founder of ILoveQatar).

Renee Odeh and Juan Carlos Van Meek provided insights to conference attendees on how a media organization works; Lina Tarawneh presented on social entrepreneurship; Christian Ofori-Atta discussed the funding and financing aspects of entrepreneurship; and Khalifa Saleh Al Haroon discussed on how he started Qatar's largest digital media network.

In addition to these speakers, Mr. Mark Lentz (CEO of GEMS American Academy - Qatar) and Lisa Martin (Head of THIMUN Qatar) delivered the opening and closing keynote speeches respectively. Mr. Lentz spoke on the core values of GEMS American Academy and Entrepreneurial-ism, and Ms. Lisa Martin spoke on "The Sustainable Development Goals and Entrepreneurship".

Students from GEMS American Academy - Qatar, Amna Bint Wahab Secondary School for Girls, Newton International Academy, Stafford Sri Lankan School Doha and Vision International School attended this event. The QINOCON 2018 Conference was led by Andrew Jose, Khalid Abdel Rahman, Mozelle Ofori - Atta, Ariele Edward and Ms. Tiffany Alrefae.

Cover image courtesy of GEMS American Academy

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