Lara Chikhani, Maya Itani and Rasha Sukkarieh

After developing their action plan concept during the 2017 program, three fellows of Lebanon, Lara Chikhani, Maya Itani and Rasha Sukkarieh, have launched Solve24, a project-based summer program that will train students aged 13-17 to solve real-life problems through STEM. Though the team was not awarded a seed grant during their time in the U.S., Lara, Maya and Rasha were passionate about their idea and continued their mentorship virtually upon returning home, supported by Impact Coaches Katy Dickinson, Fatema Kothari and Mercedes Soria, who serve on Solve24’s advisory board. Said Lara, “Thank you to Techwomen for pushing us to start this and connecting us with the amazing mentors.”
Solve24 will offer activities to improve participants’ skills in design thinking, leadership, communication, innovation and teamwork as they design a project focused on solving an issue in their community. At the end of the program, students will pitch their projects to design professionals, mentors and family members. The top projects will be awarded a prize.
Lara, Maya and Rasha hope that Solve24 will help Lebanese youth cultivate critical thinking skills and creativity in order to create positive impact and be competitive in the global job market. The first boot camp program will begin this summer.