Rahaf Abu Mayyaleh is a Jordanian youth educator and member of Technology17, a Samsung and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) partnership empowering younger people who find themselves contributing to the Global Goals.
Since 2020, the initiative has supported Young Leaders worldwide with Samsung Galaxy know-how, mentorship and networking alternatives to amplify their tales and options.
Growing up, Rahaf noticed how digital expertise coaching was out of attain for younger folks. Now, she’s altering that by creating accessible tech teaching programs for the following era.
Rahaf Abu Mayyaleh is aware of what even one alternative can do. As an adolescent, she acquired the prospect to take a programming course that modified her life. It confirmed her what was doable when you’ve got entry to tech training and mentorship. “It was really the first course I had in robotics,” Rahaf says. “That experience was a turning point.”
Youth unemployment in her house nation is almost 40% in accordance with the UN, and plenty of younger folks have restricted entry to the digital expertise that would result in employment. The tech area can really feel inaccessible, reserved for these with assets and connections.
Rahaf got down to give younger folks what that programming course had given her: not simply expertise, however confidence and a way of risk.
Empowering Young People to “Innovate and Go”
In 2017, at age 15, Rahaf joined an initiative with pals to show digital expertise to younger individuals who had no entry to this sort of training. By 2023, this had grown into the registered group IBTKRGO, which suggests “Innovate and Go.”
Through workshops, summer time camps and one-on-one mentorship aligned with the UN’s Global Goals for high quality training (Goal 4) and first rate work (Goal 8), IBTKRGO has skilled over 750 younger folks. More than 30 workshops have been provided free to susceptible communities, together with refugees.
Tech Skills for Tomorrow’s Workforce
Rahaf designed instructional kits with recyclable packaging the place college students study programming, robotics and AI utilizing digital elements that may be upcycled after use. “We’re providing them with quality digital education, which is very important for today’s and tomorrow’s job market,” says Rahaf, who’s now 23.
But know-how isn’t simply what Rahaf teaches; it’s how she runs IBTKRGO. It permits her to coordinate workshops throughout Jordan, handle her staff of volunteers and doc her work for social media to lift consciousness.
During lessons, college students get hands-on with computer systems and micro:bits — small, programmable units designed for studying coding fundamentals — to develop their expertise and construct easy robots. The partaking strategy helps make summary ideas tangible, giving youngsters an early expertise with know-how that may spark curiosity and encourage them to study extra. “With so many young people struggling to find work, these skills can be life-changing,” she says.
Turning Regional Learning Into Global Impact
Looking forward, Rahaf hopes to show IBTKRGO into “a world platform” that provides extra companies on-line and reaches past Jordan. “My dream is to expand this work across the Middle East and beyond,” she says, “to show that when youth have access to tech education and believe in themselves, they become the next generation of leaders and changemakers.”
