12 October 2016
3 Day Startup has issued the following write up by 2016 Gabr Fellow Alexis Taylor.
From Cairo to Capital Hill: Alexis Taylor’s Experience as a 2016 Gabr Fellow
This past month, 3 Day Startup had the honor of having one of our team members selected for the 2016 East-West: The Art of Dialogue Fellowship. Alexis Taylor joined 21 American, Egyptian, and Lebanese fellows as a part of this initiative developed by Mr. Shafik Gabr Chairman and Managing Director of the Egyptian investment and development group called ARTOC. Chairman Gabr knows that non-governmental organizations can positively impact societies, which is why he formed this program to “provide opportunities for tomorrow’s leaders to create a meaningful impact on the lives of others within our increasingly globalized community.” Chairman Gabr, developed this fellowship as a tool to have citizens from different cultures and backgrounds come together to make change and work towards peace, greater international empathy, and cross-cultural understanding. These fellows came with backgrounds ranging from entrepreneurship to art to politics.
After rising from a pool of 600 applicants and progressing through a four step interview process, Taylor embarked on 2 exchange programs (one in Cairo and one in D.C. and New York) that cumulatively lasted approximately 20 days. In these 20 days, Taylor met with Egyptian and American entrepreneurs, educators, policymakers, and nonprofit leaders.
Though schedule was packed and the program intense, Taylor says that this experience has been one of the most valuable in her life. “It really pushed me out of my comfort zone…and I learned what it felt like to really be pushed to my limit as far as taking in information and trying to process what can be done to problem solve or make an impact.”
For Taylor, part of that impact meant a Egypt-US Startup Exchange that seeks to help solve the problem of youth unemployment in Egypt.