Ranwa Yehia

Ranwa Yehia seeks to empower Arab youth by instilling critical thinking, self-confidence, and self-expression skills that engage them as active participants in building and contributing to virtual and real communities. By creating a digital "camp" environment unlike anything they have experienced—to explore their ideas and reflect on their culture and identity—she hopes to break the cultural code of silence.

Ranwa's is empowering Arab youth with two vital skills that their family or social circumstances typically can not afford, discourage, or prohibit: Digital know-how and critical thinking. Ranwa believes the two are powerfully linked, and has framed her idea around one fundamental principle: To create a safe, "cool" space where young people may freely express themselves without inhibition or judgment. This offers the best opportunity for Arab youth to discover their intellectual resources and creative capacity to think critically. Using camps to address the challenges of repression and lack of access to new technologies, Ranwa uses three methods: First, youth are exposed to and trained in the latest state-of-the-art digital technology. Next, Ranwa adopts participatory techniques to foster youth's self-confidence, to enhance belief in their abilities, and to demonstrate that their opinions and contributions matter. Last, coaching from experts is followed by post-camp youth-led community projects which continue to ensure an environment for these young adults that provides free incentives to encourage critical thinking, initiative, and an entrepreneurial spirit. Ranwa's believes uninhibited expression is the foundation to develop leadership and intellectual skills. It is the basis on which to demonstrate to youth that their opinions and feelings are valid and valuable to society. Encouraging youth to express their opinions and feelings increases their self-confidence, their willingness to be expressive, and their tendency to think freely, as creative and unique thought is accepted, valued, and rewarded. Thus, youth participants will possess the confidence to question their circumstances and the flexibility to offer creative solutions to real challenges.