Rural Entrepreneurs at PowerX Summit 2025
Earlier this month, Rural Entrepreneurs proudly participated in the PowerX Summit 2025, Lebanon’s first national innovation and entrepreneurship summit. Organized by Berytech, the event took place from May 13 to 15 at Beirut Hall, Horsh Tabet, and brought together over hundreds of participants representing startups, ecosystem partners, donors, policymakers, and private sector leaders.
For Rural Entrepreneurs, this summit was an important opportunity to engage with a wide range of stakeholders and present our mission: empowering rural communities through entrepreneurship, innovation, and enabling infrastructure. Over three days, our team engaged with humanitarian professionals, local and international NGOs, business owners, startup founders, youth leaders, and private sector actors interested in rural development and sustainable growth.
One of the focal points of our presence was the showcase of our GIL Labs, fully equipped coworking and community spaces located in Chouf, Choueifat, and Hasbaya, powered by UNICEF Lebanon. These labs serve as vital access points for youth and organizations to co-create, learn, and launch new ideas. Each lab features training rooms, shared workspaces, and enabling infrastructure designed to support skills development, innovation, and collaboration.
Our model not only strengthens rural entrepreneurship but also builds long-term community resilience.Participating in PowerX allowed us to establish new connections, explore collaborative opportunities, and exchange knowledge with peers who share a commitment to economic development.
The summit also reinforced the critical role of multi-sectoral partnerships in scaling impact, especially in underserved areas that require both infrastructure and strategic support. We are especially grateful to Berytech for organizing such a high-caliber event and to the donors who made it possible: the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Sweden, the European Union, Agence Française de Développement (AFD), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS), UNICEF, and the World Food Programme (WFP). To all visitors who stopped by our booth, thank you for the insightful conversations. We look forward to staying in touch!
Rural Entrepreneurs is proud to share that our President, Haitham Saab, was recently invited to join a high-level panel discussion hosted by TRI (The Rural Initiative), as part of our participation at the PowerX Summit, Lebanon’s national entrepreneurship and innovation summit organized by Berytech, held from May 13 to 15, 2025. The panel brought together leaders and quality management experts to discuss the strategic relevance of the EFQM (European Foundation for Quality Management) Excellence Model in driving impact within mission-led organizations.
Haitham’s contribution to the panel was particularly significant, as Rural Entrepreneurs is among the first organizations in Lebanon to obtain EFQM certification. This achievement reflects our deep commitment to institutional excellence, operational resilience, and continuous improvement. It also positions Rural Entrepreneurs as a leading nonprofit in Lebanon, integrating internationally recognized quality frameworks into its governance and operational systems.
During the discussion, Haitham shared the organization’s journey in adopting and implementing the EFQM model, emphasizing how it has strengthened our approach to strategic planning, internal alignment, stakeholder engagement, and impact evaluation. In an environment as complex and evolving as Lebanon’s, EFQM has provided Rural Entrepreneurs with a structured methodology to identify priorities, streamline operations, and enhance value creation for the communities we serve.
The conversation also highlighted the broader significance of integrating globally tested tools like EFQM. Haitham spoke about the importance of a participatory implementation process, noting how engaging the entire team across Rural Entrepreneurs led to more inclusive, data-driven decision-making. The process not only improved institutional processes but also built staff capacity through exposure to international best practices in quality management.
This panel served as a valuable platform for dialogue and peer learning, reaffirming the need for more cross-sector conversations around quality, transparency, and sustainable performance in Lebanon’s development ecosystem.
We extend our thanks to TRI for organizing this insightful session and for spotlighting the importance of embedding excellence frameworks like EFQM across sectors. At Rural Entrepreneurs, we remain committed to leading by example, ensuring that our mission is supported by systems as resilient as the communities we serve.
