February 2019
**You'll notice that the Collaborative Fieldnotes newsletter has a new look**
There is Something to be Said About Meeting in Person
The Babson Collaborative Summit is less than one month away.  We look forward to seeing all of you who have already registered and encourage those who haven’t yet to do so.  This is a great opportunity to meet up with your existing Collaborative relationships as well as make new connections from around the globe.

Below is a glimpse into some of the social events and content you can expect at the summit. 

Social Events
Visiting the Giza Pyramids, as well as having time to explore Cairo, are all part of the summit agenda. There will also be group dinners and an award ceremony where we have the opportunity to celebrate your achievements.

Content
You will hear from Bill Gartner, the B ertarelli Foundation Distinguished Professor of Family Entrepreneurship at Babson College, talk about the difference between entrepreneurial families and family entrepreneurship. The panel discussions are an opportunity to hear from your fellow Collaborative members. Panel topics include: Curriculum Integration Across Disciplines; and Accelerators, Incubators and Entrepreneurship Centers.

It's not too late to register for the summit, taking place the week of March 18.
The State of Entrepreneurship in Egypt
Get a snapshot of entrepreneurship in Egypt on page 77 of the 2018/2019 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor.
FROM THE FIELD - AN INTERVIEW WITH DR. HATEM FROM THE AMERICAN UNIVERSITY IN CAIRO (AUC)
We had a chance to catch up with Dr. Tarek Hatem , Professor of Strategic Management and Entrepreneurship, and Founding Director of the Entrepreneurship Unit at the American University in Cairo (AUC) .

We asked him a few questions to help you prepare for the summit in Cairo.

Babson Collaborative: As Collaborative members prepare for the summit at AUC, what do you think will surprise them most about the entrepreneurship ecosystem in Cairo?

Dr. Hatem: There are many initiatives being taken in Egypt that might be of interest to the members. Some of these are through civil society with NGOs, some by the government, while others are by universities and the private sector. 

For example, the government has established an organization called MSME (Micro Small Medium Enterprises) that has led several initiatives to support the formation of clusters, including incubators, funding initiatives by the central bank, and a new law for the formation of small enterprises.

As far as initiatives through different NGOs, there have been efforts, especially in Upper Egypt, to support the acceleration of startups that have otherwise been lacking the necessary resources for development.

Also, universities are adopting many initiatives to encourage entrepreneurship across campuses.


Babson Collaborative: What entrepreneurial initiatives are you currently working on at AUC that have you most excited at the moment?

Dr. Hatem: At AUC, and in the business school in particular, the new buzz is around entrepreneurship. It is part of our mission statement too and we are carrying many initiatives forward. For example, in my class, the students have an experiential learning project where they identify a product or service that they have to sell during the semester. They then must write and present several reflections on this activity.
 
We are also hosting the GEM report and host the Venture Lab , an accelerator where we mentor several startups from different sectors.
 
Of course, there’s also our collaboration with Babson and with the Wadhwani Foundation .

Thank you Dr. Hatem for taking the time to provide us with a sense of the entrepreneurship landscape in Egypt and at AUC.
NEW MEMBERS
Holy Spirit University of Kaslik (USEK)
We are proud to welcome Holy Spirit University of Kaslik (USEK) to the Collaborative. USEK is a private Catholic higher education institution founded by the Lebanese Maronite Order (LMO) in 1938. It is the first university established by Lebanese citizens .
MEMBER NEWS
Connecting at the Babson Symposium for Entrepreneurship Educators (SEE) in Dubai:

L to R: Heidi Neck (Babson College), Colleen Foster (AUAF), Haya Al-Dajani (MBSC)
Universidad de Piura, Perú:

Edilberto Salazar and students during the first phase of the Collaborative Student Challenge.