Main Projects / Activities

As the development arm of the AUC school of business, we engage in research and offer mentorship, leadership and fellowship programs for the capacity building of a better community.

The program aims to assist organizations and individuals working in the civic society sector to achieve the highest standards of governance and professional operation. We aim to strengthen social impact by building leadership capacity and providing tailored peer learning and customized support services.

1. The capacity buidling program :

Evolving curriculums for the workshops and training of the trainers. We aim to build a pool of competent instructors who can then transfer their knowledge and expertise to another pool of candidates. Curriculums are mainly built on identifying the civic society’s market needs to fill in the skills gap.
Aiding technically in formulating comprehensive CSR programs and supporting their implementation in the pursuit of sustainable development and corporate social responsibility, which serves the main objective of this program.
Increasing philanthropists’ efficiency and effectiveness in dispensing their funds and managing their operations.
Professional Training Programs for Faculty Members in Egyptian Universities: In line with our efforts to institutionalize civic engagement practices in universities, we offer CBL training programs to faculty members in Egyptian public universities to enhance and elevate faculty members’ professional abilities and help them learn more about the CBL techniques.
We are experts in planning, designing, and conducting courses that are offered to development practitioners, which include the following: Project Management for Development Practitioners, Civic Leadership, Community-Based Learning, and Monitoring and Evaluation.

2. Gerhart Center’s research program has become a leading hub of evidence-based research and knowledge on Social Responsibility in the Arab world and Africa. The research activities and programs of the center serve as a neutral platform and a knowledge hub for academics, practitioners, and communities concerned with social impact. The program develops and disseminates rigorous researches that fill relevant knowledge gaps in the social impact space and congregate diverse voices through different convening activities.

Activities
Developing original mapping studies and surveys on innovations and interventions of the institutionalized social investment and giving sector
Endorsing policy discussion papers that present comparative research and address current or foreseen policy issues by providing recommendations to the policy debate and key stakeholders
Holding policy roundtables, workshops, and conferences to create awareness and stimulate policy debate. These roundtables also serve as a platform for the emergence and growth of a community of practice for foundations, social entrepreneurs, philanthropy and civic engagement scholars, and young researchers in the region

3. Activities and Programs
Civic Engagement Programs for Children
Intensive, focused, short-term learning winter and summer camps for children aged 6 to 12. The core aspect of the camps is to promote civic engagement and endorse the idea of social responsibility among young generations. The camps support the Center’s main purpose of serving as an incubator of knowledge, responsible business practices, civic leadership, and capacity building to promote effective social responsibility.

Engaged Generation Bootcamp
To expand AUC students’ breadth of knowledge about academic theories and learning techniques, expanding their social and cultural understanding and helping them in bringing about positive societal change, the engaged generation bootcamp was launched in 2019 within the “Summer at AUC Program”.

Watch Children’s’ Feedback Here

Watch AUC Students’ Feedback Here

University-based Civic Engagement Programs
Our university-based programs aim to develop a generation of civic leaders to create community-engaged learning environments in the Arab region and to strengthen the center’s presence as a civic hub on the AUC campus, Egyptian public and private universities, and Arab higher education at large.

national_regional_competitions
National and Regional Competitions
The competitions seek to acknowledge the efforts and amplify the voices of civil society leaders, providing them with a platform to share their endeavors with specialists in the field. It encourages the exchange of best practices, offers experience in overcoming challenges, and bolsters youth potential through civic engagement.

Watch Video Here

community_based_initiatives
Community-Based Initiatives
The program helps participants realize, plan, develop, and implement their innovative sustainable solutions to local community challenges. Additionally, the program provides training on project management, leadership, team building, problem-solving, and using open-source technology in social innovation.

Civic Engagement Programs for Fresh Graduates
Leadership Programs
The center offers various youth leadership programs to selected university graduates to work in civil society organizations and advance their dreams to make a difference in their field of interest. Our Leadership Programs give fresh graduates the knowledge, skills, and on-ground experience to actively and positively participate in the development of their communities.

Lazord
The Lazord Fellowship hosted by the Gerhart Center
The fellowship is offered by the Gerhart Center in partnership with the Lazord Foundation; this one-year fellowship program provides fresh graduates interested in pursuing a career in civil society with professional experience in socially engaged organizations. The program provides the fellows with weekly training sessions and mentorship. A bi-annual exchange takes place between the three-chapter partners in the form of conferences.

Lazord FAQs
Download Brochure

Alumni and Volunteering Activities
Alumni and Volunteering Activities
Now alumni can give back to their societies through volunteering in beneficial, humane activities in our Youth Empowerment Program. With a network of more than 1000 alumni, the main objective of the activities is to bring all alumni together while creating a sense of union, raising awareness about the distinction between philanthropy and charity, and leveraging social responsibility among different segments of youth.

Civic Engagement Programs for Middle-Aged
Social Entrepreneurship/ Employability Programs
This program promotes the social enterprise movement and creative economy efforts, giving access to the creative community for capacity-building opportunities and spaces for incubation and scaling up creative enterprises. The theory of change for this program depends on creating champions by providing them with the needed resources, knowledge, and access to opportunities to help them create sustainable projects and businesses. The program depends on creating an incubation that is a sustainable model and has a long-term impact.