Several insightful workshops and panel discussions took place  on the first two days of the Empower 2016 conference, organised by Reach Out To Asia (Rota), a member of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development.
The theme of the conference this year is ‘Innovation in Youth Social Entrepreneurship’. The event saw over 450 bright enthusiastic young minds participate in various entrepreneurial workshops and discussions.
The first and second day of the conference included 48 workshops and two panel discussions, which were held for participants to learn about the concepts of crowdfunding, innovation in product creation, entrepreneurship and the power of social networking, among other topics.
The conference will continue today with an array of off-site visits and panel discussions which will further the knowledge of participants and enrich their experience. The winner of the Rota Youth Challenge will also be announced today.  
An international participant from Indonesia, Linda Masteti, said: “It is my first time participating in Empower. I run a small business in my home town. In addition, I organise workshops for children about culture heritage. I have learned a lot of concepts about how to be a social entrepreneur from the panels and workshops. I look forward to learning new skills that will benefit me and my community.”
Hanane Hanzi, from Bedaya Centre said that conference reflected Bedaya’s mission to provide Qatari youth with career development and entrepreneurship services and the participants are passionate about being social entrepreneurs.
A number of exhibitors had a booth in the dedicated space during the Empower 2016 conference. The Top Shabab, one of Rota Youth Service Clubs, held an exhibition booth at Empower 2016, made entirely out of recycled materials. The initiative aims to raise general awareness of the issues related to responsible consumption and ways to make smart purchases when shopping to decrease waste.   
Amal Mohammadi, president of Top Shabab, said: “This is the seventh year Top Shabab is exhibiting at Empower. Our new project, Green Use Campaign, was launched earlier this year and aims to spread awareness about the danger of plastic bottles and plastic waste in general. Right now we’re in the process of planning the plastic festival, to be held in mid-April where we will display sculptures made 100% of plastic.”