News & Events

High School Juniors and Seniors attended a special fair focusing on start-up enterprises in Lebanon. It was designed to raise awareness about technology and entrepreneurship as alternative career paths, and inspire the students to pursue those paths.

Omar Christidis, ACS Alumni, Class of 2000, and Board of Trustee Member, brought the idea to the school as a way to develop a stronger appreciation within the student body and of the importance of technology as a transformative force in the world. Mr. Christidis is the Founder & CEO of ArabNet, the leading Events & Media Company that focuses on the Arab web and mobile industry. In addition, ArabNet publishes news and analysis of the web and mobile industry on its online portal and print magazine, The ArabNet Quarterly.

After opening remarks, Mr. Christidis introduced 8 entrepreneurs who used their passion, experience and education to open their own businesses. Each entrepreneur spoke of their journey; how many times they failed, why they persisted and what their company is doing today. Some of the businesses were very familiar to the students while others were just becoming well known. One of the enterprises challenged preconceived notions of what could be learned, and other businesses were noted for future reference.

Then the fair broke out into two sessions encouraging the students to visit with two different entrepreneurs for the next hour. The entrepreneurs include Lara Noujaim, Publishing Director, GameCooks, Adam Kanso, Cofounder, Mama's Apron, Mira Tahan, General Manager, Loop, Reine Abbas, Co Founder/Partner, Wixel Studios, Maurice Mattar, Co-Founder and CEO, Feel22, Daniel M. Kofdrali, Founder, Onlivery, Nadine Njeim, General Manager Designer24. Businesses were from the service sector, retail company and education.

Head of School, Greg MacGilpin said "Listening and interacting on campus today with the 8 start-ups in Lebanon inspired me, inspired students and aligned so beautifully with our mission- solving problems creatively while serving Lebanon and the world. I think if the students think of themselves as problem solvers, they need to see people actively doing this; Arabnet’s assembly and break-out sessions gave a peek into how people can merge passion and purpose."