BuildPalestine: Inspiring creative solutions to challenges in Palestine

Jerusalem24 – Founded in 2016, BuildPalestine was introduced as the first Palestinian crowdfunding platform to provide an alternative means of funding for local communities in Palestine.

As a nonprofit organization, BuildPalestine supports the inspiring and growing social innovation sector in Palestine by connecting individuals looking to support innovative projects with those making an impact within their communities, executive director Lama Amer tells Jerusalem24.

BuildPalestine is set to launch its annual virtual Social Innovation Summit on 7-8 October under the slogan Designing for Unity.

“It’s about how we can design interventions that are inclusive for everyone,” says Lama. “As Palestinians, we’re everywhere. Geographically, we have so many changes, like tradition, and political fragmentations… So the goal is to focus on unity, how we can get Palestine united to build the Palestine that we want to see.”

The summit is step one in the BuildPalestine agenda. It will introduce multiple topics like agriculture, diaspora, and tourism in Palestine by highlighting the challenges within those fields.

As part of step two, the topics discussed during the summit are applied into the next year: “We run several social innovation boot camps where we help people who are interested in starting solutions and solving social and environmental challenges to turn their interests into ideas – and then their ideas into a tested MVP [Minimum Viable Product, ie a prototype].”

The BuildPalestine scholarship – step three – offers a space for entrepreneurs and provides them with upscale connected fundraising and customized support to help them grow their impact, and thus, give back to their community.

The summit went virtual in 2020 due to Covid-19. Two years later, they’ve decided to keep it this way due to Palestine and Palestinians’ very particular situation: “The summit is virtual to allow everyone who wants to join, to connect with Palestinians and learn about the grassroots solutions that are coming out of Palestine – but also get to know where are the challenges.”

Listen to the full interview on Vibes.

https://soundcloud.com/24fmpalestine/vibes-lama-amr