While headlines about the Middle East & North Africa region often focus on conflict and uncertainty, a quiet revolution is taking place—one led by Generation Z entrepreneurs and change-makers determined to rewrite the narrative of their region.
I recently had the privilege of witnessing this movement firsthand at the Youth Impact Studio. Their main mission? Empower young leaders to change their world, and do so with sustainability at the center of its operating ethos.
The program – a joint collaboration between PepsiCo & Zigzag – brought together 60 exceptional young leaders, selected from nearly 700 applicants across Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Egypt. These participants, ranging from 20 to 27 years old, represented the top talent from their respective countries after a rigorous selection process involving pre-boot camp assessments in each country.
Sami Abou Saab, the founder of Zigzag, explained why this initiative means so much to him: “This fulfills my life journey and makes me feel that I’m actually contributing back to a region that I’m originally from. I’m doing something impactful for people coming from countries who usually don’t get as much support and coverage. Being able to bring them world-class and top-notch trainers and mentors and support is the most fulfilling thing I could do today.”
What I discovered – covering this event – was not just a regional phenomenon, but a blueprint for leadership that has global applications. Here were five powerful lessons from the Middle East’s Generation Z that might transform how we approach leadership going forward.
1. Get Proximate to the Problem You’re Solving
The young leaders I met live with the challenges they’re trying to solve. Unlike theoretical discussions that often dominate sustainability conversations in boardrooms, these youth experience firsthand the water scarcity, agricultural challenges, and economic difficulties that define their region.
“What drives me right now is to find a purpose. Purpose to make different. Purpose to leave something after I’m gone,” shared Anas Bajbaa from Saudi Arabia. This sense of urgency comes not from theoretical concerns but from witnessing real challenges daily.
Hatim Khan, Senior Director for International Programs at PepsiCo Foundation, explained this as an advantage to their capacity for innovation: “For people who are closer to the end impact of climate, for example, that’s where the better ideas are going to come from.”
For these young leaders, sustainability isn’t an academic exercise—it’s survival. This proximity builds a sense of purpose, urgency, and authenticity that drives innovation. The most effective solutions emerge when we immerse ourselves in the realities of the challenges we aim to address rather than analyzing them from a comfortable distance.
Generation Z is often characterized as the smartphone generation, content to live in social media. They are the most active of any generation. But they also tend to be experiencing the problems they hope to solve. And they are unafraid to solve them.
2. Name The Obstacles
“I think one of the biggest issues in the region is that we live in a globalized capitalist system in which it is profitable to look sustainable, but is essentially not profitable to actually be sustainable,” observed Arthur Diniz, representing the UAE. This clear-eyed assessment highlights how genuine sustainability requires challenging short-term profit motives in favor of more enduring values.
The fragmentation that has historically divided the MENA region was frequently cited as a consequence of short-term thinking. As Osama Freihat, a 23-year-old from Jordan, explained, “Our region has over 10 countries. The population is crazy. The amount of resources that we have is also crazy. Unfortunately, instead of focusing on all that, we focus on what divides us. We focus on ethnics, on our religions, on different religions, on our different races. Everybody puts his national interests at the front.”
Tarek Almahayni, a 26-year-old Syrian representing Saudi Arabia, shared a personal example of these divisions: “I studied in the US for a year and I had to come back to Saudi to visit my family. And I wasn’t able to come back to continue studying in the US because I was Syrian, I was blacklisted. There’s a lot of things we cannot do just because of our citizenship.”
Rayan Saade from Lebanon pointed to inherited thinking patterns as another obstacle: “The problem that we all face here in the Middle East is that we don’t understand the rules. We just like what we’ve heard about from our parents, from the older people. That’s what we abide by. So we have to read the books, not just listen to what the people say. We have to change the books.”
What makes their commitment to naming obstacles so remarkable is that it comes from young people living in countries where political and economic uncertainty might reasonably justify focusing only on immediate concerns or avoiding confrontation. Instead, they’re directly identifying barriers to progress as the first step toward overcoming them.
3. Build Hope as a Strategic Resource
An ambition such as long-term thinking requires that leaders build their collective capacity for hope. Perhaps the most powerful insight from these young leaders was their recognition of hope as a prerequisite for change.
Samar Al Kreidy, a 26-year-old Lebanese woman representing Jordan, emphasized: “Building hope within people, especially the new generation—those are the people who will be leading. This aspiration, this hope within our souls as a younger generation is where we should start from.”
The deliberate cultivation of hope as a strategic resource was evident in how these young leaders discussed challenges. Rather than dwelling on limitations, they consistently pivoted to possibilities. When asked what gives them hope, many pointed to each other.
“Something that inspires me is actually myself, you guys, seeing this new generation leading on,” Samar shared. “This is truly inspiring. You can see it in your eyes. You can see your potential, their potential. It’s like saying things in action, not in theory.”
Tarek Almahayni offered a powerful perspective on hope as a mental stance: “What actually gives me hope is that I believe all the issues we spoke about are in our mental, it’s in our head. So basically, if we don’t believe in it, if we don’t believe that we can change or make change, and if we don’t work on making change, nothing will change later on. So I believe we must believe that everything will change and we must work upon it.”
Joy Khalil from Lebanon found hope in three areas: “First, the amount of startups I’m seeing right now that are working on sustainable, innovative solutions across different industries. Second, programs like the Youth Impact Studio. And lastly, the cohort that we had during the program, amazing people, passion and impact-driven from six countries across the Middle East.”
Finally, Osama Freihat shared a story that captured the essence of hope amid difficulty: “A taxi driver that took us to the airport in Egypt was blaming Egypt for everything, that there is no hope. But at the end he said that because in the month of Ramadan, I see people doing good for each other, though sometimes they are very poor. But though they are poor, they would give you food, they will invite you to their homes. As long as people are doing good to each other, there is still hope regardless.”
This strategic nurturing of hope isn’t naive optimism—it’s a deliberate practice of finding possibility within constraints, a skill that serves leaders in any context facing seemingly insurmountable challenges.
4. Erase The Self
These young leaders consistently rejected ego-driven models of leadership in favor of service-oriented approaches.
“The kind of leader that I want to be is the leader who everyone wouldn’t notice that they have been led,” shared Umniah Khajori, a 25-year-old doctor from Iraq. “I want everyone to feel special about themselves and feel safe to share ideas.”
Anas Bajbaa, 22, from Saudi Arabia, offered a complementary perspective: “Leadership is having a vision. This is the difference between a leader and a manager.” This distinction between leadership as visionary service versus management as directive control ran through many conversations.
The concept of selflessness was particularly striking. Tarek Almahayni, 26, explained: “I don’t see myself walking in front of people walking behind me. I see myself walking with the people around me. Because even if you are a leader, there are a lot of things you can still learn from people with you.”
This emphasis on servant leadership stood out across conversations with participants from diverse backgrounds and countries. As Ryan Saade, 22, from Lebanon put it: “What a leader is for me is the one that helps the people around him to become leaders.” In our world of increasing complexity, this mindset offers a refreshing alternative to hero-centered leadership models—creating environments where everyone’s contributions are valued and amplified.
5. Welcome Change
The final lesson from these emerging leaders is their recognition of how technology enables impact at scale that was previously impossible. Contrary to headlines around AI anxiety, this generation is not nervous about what’s coming – they’re eager to use it.
“We have access to resources that was never seen before in any generation,” noted Arthur Diniz, a 22-year-old Brazilian representing the UAE. “We can make things that 20 years ago would require whole teams, whole companies to make. Right now, we as young people can make those things in small teams.”
This technological enablement – including a free tool they experimented with at the bootcamp developed by Zigzag which can rapidly scale a start-up idea using generative AI – creates optimism about their ability to drive change despite limited resources.
Whether in startups or established organizations, this Generation Z perspective challenges us all to continually reassess how technology can help us multiply our impact with fewer resources—a mindset that will become increasingly vital in a resource-constrained world.
Wisdom Beyond Their Years
Sami Abou Saab observed something remarkable about this generation: “The level of self-awareness that I’ve seen is mind-blowing. The level of confidence they have and how outspoken they are is something that I don’t think I had at their age.”
This self-awareness, combined with their collaborative mindset and technological fluency, makes these young leaders uniquely positioned to tackle complex challenges. Their approach offers valuable lessons for leaders of all ages and backgrounds.
What struck me most powerfully was how these young people from countries that have experienced war, economic instability, and political unrest remain unfailingly optimistic about their ability to create change. They don’t just dream about a better future; they’re building it.
Kareem Mohammed from the PepsiCo Foundation shared a personal story that encapsulates this spirit. After witnessing the Syrian refugee crisis firsthand as a volunteer, he found himself drawn away from his IT career into humanitarian work: “It’s so much more rewarding than your salary. It’s actually the feel you get after helping and lifting up people,” he explained. This same desire to create meaningful impact ran through all the Youth Impact Studio participants.
Many female participants noted that their journeys as leaders have involved breaking through additional barriers. Samar Al Kreidy’s experience traveling alone to attend the boot camp challenged family expectations. Umniah Khajori navigated the challenges of being a young woman in scientific fields. Yet all approached these obstacles with determination rather than resentment.
As Joy Khalil, a 24-year-old from Lebanon, put it: “My advice for young women and entrepreneurs is to believe in yourself, to believe in your potential and to educate yourself… Because if you’re educated and you’re confident, no one can bring you down.”
The revolution may not make headlines, but make no mistake—these young leaders in the Middle East are quietly demonstrating a leadership approach we would all do well to study. Their blueprint—proximity to problems, building a long-term approach, hope-building, erasing the self, and welcoming change—offers wisdom for addressing challenges from corporate boardrooms to community organizations.
Fortunately, for the twelve winners listed below, their journey is only beginning. They will be enrolled in UC Berkeley’s Executive Education program, “ESG University: Sustainable Capitalism In Practice.” Saab – a graduate of UC Berkeley’s Haas MBA program – pioneered this partnership, but noted that here too success had a long-term focus.
“If they feel that now they are supported and they got this push at this early stage of their career one day when they are a bit more experienced and they have the capacity and ability to give back, then they see that someone pushed them early on and they can go ahead and push others and this would create a whole ripple effect for the whole world.”
Author’s Note: The Youth Impact Studio brought together 60 young leaders from Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Egypt for intensive training on sustainability, innovation, and leadership. The 12 winners are listed below.
Egypt
• Lobna Kandil (22) – Senior Mechatronics Engineering Student
• Youssef Abdelmotteleb (20) – Data Analyst at Nestlé MENA, Co-founder Microsoft Student Club SAMS
Saudi Arabia (KSA)
• Anas Bajbaa (22) – Junior Electrical Engineering Student
• Tareq Almahayni (27) – Project Manager at Levelup Consultancy (Syrian, representing KSA)
United Arab Emirates (UAE)
• Arthur Diniz (22) – Co-Founder of Carbon2Capital (Brazilian, representing UAE)
• Armaan Niyas (18) – Computer Engineering & Economics Student at NYU Abu Dhabi, Research Assistant at Transition Investment Lab, Stern School of Business NYU AD
Lebanon
• Joy Khalil (24) – International Project Manager at Impact Business Development Consulting (IBDC)
• Rayan Saade (22) – Co-Founder of “BatteLife” Startup, Senior Chemical Engineering Student
Jordan
• Osama Freihat (23) – Mechanical Engineer involved in Water Diplomacy at BluePeaceME
• Samar Al Kreidy (26) – PhD Candidate in International Relations and Diplomacy, Water Diplomacy & Advocacy Practitioner at Blue Peace ME
Iraq
• Aiham A. Mahir (20) – Founder of “Start for Wooden Solutions,” Freshman Computer Security Student at The American University of Kurdistan
• Umniah Khajori (25) – Medical Oncology Trainee, Educator in Department of Medicine, Baghdad University