Summary of Campaign

​The Mountain is a business incubator and a design thinking hub in the middle of the nature for young Palestinians, change Makers and Human Rights Defenders to strengthen their sense of identity and define their place within themselves, their society and the world so that they feel empowered to take action for social change and develop their own business and social projects. When individuals leave the Mountain, they will have the tools necessary to inspire others and to create innovation and change in their communities. https://www.facebook.com/aljabalps

Since we are in the middle of the nature where we have no access to water or electricity, and since we have to buy water monthly which is so expensive, not sustainable and hard to get, we thought that it will be a great chance to build a Well, which is a priority and the most important thing that we need urgently to sustain the Mountain Project, support the surrounding farms and to go green. 

What’s the problem we are solving?

Available resources in Palestine do not bridge the needs of the Palestinian context with the global trend of entrepreneurship and innovation abroad. Because of this, many initiatives and start-ups do not have the sustainable foundation that will lead them to lasting success. Along with this, young Palestinians need to be able to reconnect with themselves and their heritage in a way that will create meaningful initiatives for social and economic change that will benefit not just them, but their communities.

The Mountain Main Program

The Mountain is a program based upon three pillars: Inspiring, Learning and Innovating. Our target audience is young men and women in the West Bank, ages 16-29, who have creative ideas for businesses or initiatives focused on environmental sustainability, gender equality, cultural outreach, entrepreneurship, and youth outreach. This program will challenge participants and teach them to adapt tools and methodologies in ways that fit the Palestinian context. This solution is innovative because it builds upon the foundation of mindfulness and self-care. By working at an individual level, we can help the participant understand their passion, and help them cultivate it in a sustainable way that will not only benefit them but everyone around them.

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About Taghyeer Organization- Towards a POSITIVE Palestinian Community 

An independent Palestinian organization working towards creating innovative and safe spaces, where Palestinian youth and adults are inspired to take action for creating positive change and confront negativity. We focus on promoting gender equality and enhancing youth and women’s role in achieving social and economic change, by mobilizing, inspiring, motivating and engaging them to challenge the status quo and stereotypes by interacting, sharing information and spreading the spirit of success and positive thinking through innovative multimedia platforms and technology. We stand by youth to turn our challenges into opportunities, by fostering their imagination and creativity through boosting entrepreneurial skills and strengthening capacities.

Social media links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljabalps/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TaghyeerSM 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taghyeersm/?hl=en

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/saedkarzoun/ 

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzXqjmw-GceCQKFfmrSsV3A 

Website:https://taghyeer.ps/

Other Programs for young Palestinians

You Lead: aims at inspiring young women and men in Area C, OPT. It is a pilot project aiming to adapt and test a Canadian youth empowerment model employed for First Nations communities in Canada on the OPT context, specifically with marginalized youth in Area C.The project offers creative trainings that bring young women and men to work together, to express themselves, tell their story, identify their interests, thus shaping potential story ideas.

Mapping Her: is an electronic tool that aims at mapping the marginalized, harassed and unprivileged women in Palestine in order to raise awareness towards their rights and urge decision-makers to enhance and improve the situation of these women. Mapping Her is also a social media platform; which is considered the first Palestinian data repository related to women. It combines all the essential data that is related to these women with detailed statistics, and share it with women’s rights activists,  Ministry of Women, and any other possible duty bearers who can utilize the data in making positive changes and improvements.

Team Behind the Project

- Saed Karzoun - CEO and Project Founder: is a Palestinian journalist, community engagement specialist and founder of the Palestinian non-profit company Taghyeer, which mission is to inspire youth to create social and economic change through social entrepreneurship and the use of new technologies. Saed holds a master’s degree in International Relations and Affairs/Diplomacy.

-       Email:  Karzoun.saed@gmail.com 

-       LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/saedkarzoun/

-       Twitter: https://twitter.com/Saedkarzoun

-       Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/saed.karzoun

-       Blog: https://saedkarzoun.wordpress.com/

-       Mobile:  00972- 599 – 370 – 687

-       Saed's Book: Amazon – Kindle Edition:  http://amzn.com/B01BUD93OO

-       Create Space - Paperback: https://www.createspace.com/6083781 

- Safaa Ayad - The Mountain Project Officer: She graduated from Al Quds University with BA degree in Economics and a minor in the English language. She is an entrepreneur.

- Ahmad Badarneh - Filmmaker and Graphic Designer: Saed was Ahmad’s teacher at Alquds Open University where they met. Ahmad was a very passionate student. Because of his great filmmaking skills, he became one of Saed’s team members directly after his graduation.

- Mohammed Daoud - Financial Officer:  Mohammed has more than 12 years’ experience in the field of Finance and Accounting. 

- Allison Pennell - Fundraising: An American volunteer who came to Palestine for 2 months to help and support the Mountain project and became our fundraising manager. She is back to the USA but still supporting and working with the Mountain project.

Our Partners

- Drosos Foundation: It was established in late 2003 in Zurich, Switzerland. It has been operational since the beginning of 2005. Drosos supports projects that have a direct bearing on improving the living conditions of particular groups of people. Drosos Foundation strives to create opportunities particularly for those children, young people and young adults who, during the course of working together in a project, display a commitment and willingness to improve and accept responsibility for their living conditions.

- Oxfam: Is a global movement of people who are fighting inequality to beat poverty together. We tackle the inequalities that make and keep people poor. We save and protect lives in times of crisis, work with people to build resilience and rebuild their livelihoods and because we want lasting solutions, we campaign for genuine, durable change.

​We appreciate your support!

Supporters can help by donating to our cause, as well as spreading the word. We want the world to know what The Mountain is doing for young Palestinians, and what young Palestinians can do for the world!

If we exceed our fundraising goal, the excess will go towards the continuation of building at The Mountain, as well as funding for the Well which will also be beneficial to the local farmers in the surrounding area.

The money that is raised for these milestone projects will not only help build the Mountain and grow young Palestinian leaders and entrepreneurs, but it will also directly benefit the surrounding village. The well and entrance roads to the Mountain will help the local farmers by making their properties more accessible to the main road, as well as providing a reliable water source.

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This campaign is supported by BuildPalestine, a platform to connect supporters around the world with innovative, social impact projects in Palestine