For over twenty years, INJAZ Al-Arab has equipped young people across MENA with the skills and mindset to succeed in work and entrepreneurship. With youth unemployment affecting one in four young people in the region, understanding what actually drives impact is critical. So INJAZ ran its first region-wide alumni survey.
Who INJAZ is
The regional operating center of JA Worldwide, since 2004. 10M+ cumulative student learning experiences · 1.6M a year · 140K+ volunteers · 400+ partners.
Who answered
2,476 completed responses · 63% women · all 13 nations · 61% took part within the last year. Every insight is drawn directly from alumni voices.
Every dot on the next screens is one real respondent. The same 2,476 rearrange into every number in this report. One of them (Amal, an alumna from Kuwait) will tell you her story in her own words.
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INJAZ Al-Arab · 2026 Alumni Impact Survey
2,476 alumni. One story.
Across 13 nations, they told us what changed.
Swipe up
Every number in this report is made of people.
This is one of them.
1
alumni answered · all 13 nations
Every number in this report is the same 2,476 people, rearranged.
Every one of these dots is a person.
Tap any dot, anywhere in the story. Many alumni told their story in the report, including Amal.
Amal · Kuwait. Remember her.
She’ll be up here the whole way. Tap her anytime for her story.
Before we begin
These aren’t pixels.
Every dot is one real alum. Say hi.
Chapter01
Belief
Before a young person can build a career, they have to believe one is possible.
Chapter 01 · Belief
credit INJAZ with shaping their career direction and development.
Chapter 01 · Belief
+34
Net Promoter Score across all alumni, a favourable score on industry bands.
Among those who stayed three to six months it climbs to +51, and to +65 beyond six.
They helped me build my confidence and understand my worth.
Alia
Name invented to protect identity. Words verbatim from the 2026 alumni survey.
Chapter02
Skills
Belief becomes action when there's something concrete to bring to a job or a venture.
Chapter 02 · Skills
Five skills, measurably improved.
Share of alumni reporting improved capability after INJAZ.
Chapter 02 · Skills
Skills come from doing.
Alumni recall the hands-on moments that shaped them: most often a team project, presenting to an audience, or writing a business plan.
1 33%2 14%3 14%4 12%5+ 27%
formative moments recalled
78%
of working alumni use these skills in their current job or business.
72% connect their current work directly to INJAZ.
INJAZ gave me the professional mindset and practical financial skills I needed to transition from a student to a professional.
Sofiane
Name invented to protect identity. Words verbatim from the 2026 alumni survey.
Chapter03
Work & ventures
In a region where one in four young people is out of work, what happens to alumni?
Chapter 03 · Work & business
Fewer are locked out of work and school.
Youth not in employment, education or training: INJAZ alumni against the regional average.
17% INJAZ alumni33% Arab states average
outline dots · regional benchmark
Chapter 03 · Work & business
Of all 2,476: where they are today.
46% studying22% employed15% looking7% self-employed6% not working4% volunteering
Chapter 03 · Work & business
Among alumni who have finished studying and entered the labour market, 7 in 10 are working or running a business.
Chapter 03 · Work & business
Of the 1,404 who finished studying, most considered a business, and 229 are actively planning one now.
Chapter 03 · Work & business
70%
of those who never started a business name lack of funding as the main reason.
Chapter 03 · Work & business
INJAZ as the spark.
34% of adult alumni say they likely would not have started a business without INJAZ.
84% of current students say INJAZ increased their interest in entrepreneurship.
Chapter 03 · Work & business
Some don't take jobs. They make them.
336 of the 1,404 who finished studying run their own business.
212 employ at least one other person.
70% credit INJAZ for the growth or success of their business.
53% of these founders are women.
Chapter 03 · Work & business
~2,000
jobs created by these 212 founders.
Each gold dot is a person hired by one of these founders.
Job count is an estimate from reported employee ranges.
INJAZ completely shifted my career trajectory (…) It gave me the confidence to move past the ideation phase and realize that I could achieve at a young age. (…) I launched my first venture just months after completing the program, setting me on a path of serial entrepreneurship.
Rakan · Bahrain
Name invented to protect identity. Words verbatim from the 2026 alumni survey.
Chapter04
Return
What they gained, they hand back.
Chapter 04 · Giving back
39%
stay connected with INJAZ in at least one way.
33% follow on social30% in touch with peers
Chapter 04 · Giving back
20%
give back: mentoring, volunteering, showing up.
14% mentored13% volunteered11% attended events
Three years after completing the program, I serve as the President of the INJAZ Palestine Alumni Association.
Fadi · Palestine
Name invented to protect identity. Words verbatim from the 2026 alumni survey.
Chapter05
The multiplier
The longer alumni stayed, the further they went.
Chapter 05 · The multiplier
The longer they stayed with INJAZ, the more of them were working.
And 20% go back to lift the next generation of students.
Association, not causation: more engaged young people may also choose longer programs.
Chapter 05 · The multiplier
The alumni who got the most give the most.
NPS by engagement level: the effect compounds.
Chapter 05 · The multiplier
The Company Program: a year inside a real company, with mentors.
Base: finished studying, n=1,404 · Company Program 560, other programs 844. ‘Employ others’ is measured among the 336 who run a business (Company Program 174, other programs 162).
gold marker = Company Program · the lit run is the gap the year buys
INJAZ mainly showed me just how easy it is to truly take the first step. That all these barriers I had were 80% just in my head.
Ziad
Name invented to protect identity. Words verbatim from the 2026 alumni survey.
The talent is real.The method works.The mission continues.
The 336 founders had finished studying. Counting those still studying, 484 of all 2,476 alumni run a business. That's 1 in 5, against roughly 11% of adults across MENA (GEM regional report).
This survey reached 2,476 alumni.
INJAZ has delivered more than 10 million student learning experiences across two decades.
The dots were people all along.
With gratitude
To the stakeholders and partners who stood behind this work, and behind these 2,476 young people: thank you.
Every number in this report is made of people. This is one of them.
1alumni, one field
INJAZ Al-Arab · Alumni Impact Study
2,476 alumni. One story.
Across 13 nations, they told us what changed.
INJAZ Al-Arab Region-wide alumni impact survey · June 2026
2,476 alumni. Thirteen nations. One question: did it change their lives?
Every dot on this screen is one of the 2,476 people who answered the 2026 INJAZ Al-Arab alumni survey. Click any dot to read a real alum's words. Keep scrolling and watch the same 2,476 rearrange into every number in the report.
Amal · Kuwait. Remember her.She’ll be up here the whole way. Click her anytime for her story.
Before we begin
Every dot is a person.
Each one is a real alum. Click any dot, anytime. Many alumni told their story in the report, including Amal.
Scroll
Who answeredThirteen nations. One generation.Where the 2,476 who answered grew up, from Lebanon (587) to Kuwait (43).
Country distribution, all respondents (report p3). 4 alumni didn’t share their country.
Five chapters. One climb.
Belief, skills, work, return, multiplier: each alum’s rise lifts the next.
Who answered
0%
of the 2,476 are women.
34% men · 3% preferred not to say.
Who answered
Every level of education.
From not-yet-secondary school (13.8%) to doctorates (0.8%): the full range.
Who answered
3 in 5
took part in an INJAZ program within the last year.
The circle is the last twelve months.
Recency excludes 255 alumni who don't remember when they last took part. Education distribution: report p3.
Chapter01
Belief
Before a young person can build a career, they have to believe one is possible.
Whenever you see gold, that’s where INJAZ left its mark.
Chapter 01 · Belief
81%
credit INJAZ with shaping their career direction and development.
For four in five alumni, the belief that a career was possible traces back to INJAZ.
84%initiative
83%teamwork
83%confidence
Amal is one of the 81%.
the constellation: the 81% who connected the dots · unlinked = the 19%
Chapter 01 · Belief
+34
Net Promoter Score across all alumni, a favourable score on industry bands.
Among those who stayed three to six months it climbs to +51, and to +65 beyond six: the first hint of Chapter 5.
Net Promoter Score, all respondents. Bands illustrative (Qualtrics / industry conventions): 0+ good · 20+ favourable · 50+ excellent · 80+ world-class.
−100
0
+100
+34
They helped me build my confidence and understand my worth.
Alia
Name invented to protect identity. Words verbatim from the 2026 alumni survey.
Chapter02
Skills
Belief becomes action when there's something concrete to bring to a job or a venture.
Chapter 02 · Skills
Five skills, measurably improved.
Share of alumni reporting improved capability after INJAZ.
Alumni recall the hands-on moments that shaped them: most often a team project, presenting to an audience, or writing a business plan.
moments recalled:1 33%2 14%3 14%4 12%5+ 27%
formative moments recalled
Chapter 02 · Skills
0%
of working alumni use these skills in their current job or business.
72% connect their current work directly to INJAZ.
37% use them regularly
41% use them occasionally
22% skills unused, still counted
INJAZ gave me the professional mindset and practical financial skills I needed to transition from a student to a professional.
Sofiane
Name invented to protect identity. Words verbatim from the 2026 alumni survey.
Chapter03
Work & ventures
In a region where one in four young people is out of work, what happens to alumni?
Chapter 03 · Work & business
Fewer are locked out of work and school.
Youth not in employment, education or training: INJAZ alumni against the regional average.
INJAZ alumni17%not in employment, education or training
Arab states average33%outline dots · regional benchmark
Benchmark: youth NEET, ages 15–24, Arab states, 2023 (ILO Global Employment Trends for Youth 2024). Ghost dots represent the regional benchmark, not survey respondents: a benchmark, not a control group. Lebanon (43%) and Yemen (21%) carry most of the alumni NEET rate; without them it would be ~11%.
Chapter 03 · Work & businessAmong alumni who have finished studying and entered the labour market, 7 in 10 are working or running a business.
Base: alumni no longer studying and active in the labour market, N=1,156.
bright = working or running a business · the line sits at 7 in 10
7 in 10
Chapter 03 · Work & business
Some don't take jobs. They make them.
336 of the 1,404 who finished studying run their own business.
Chapter 03 · Work & business
212
of them employ at least one other person.
For every 3 INJAZ founders, 2 have created jobs for others.
Chapter 03 · Work & business
0%
of these founders credit INJAZ for the growth or success of their business.
Chapter 03 · Work & business
53% of alumni who run a business are women.
47% are men.
212 founders in the middle · the ~2,000 jobs they created around them
women · 53%
men · 47%
Chapter 03 · Work & business
~2,000
jobs created by these 212 founders.
Each gold dot is a person hired by one of these founders.
Conservative estimate: surveyed alumni only, no extrapolation.
Estimate based on the 212 alumni whose business employs at least one person beyond the founder. Each business is counted at the midpoint of its reported employee band, with the open top band held at 50. Self-reported; covers surveyed alumni only, no extrapolation to the wider alumni base.
the worker = ~2,000 people hired, one dot each · the pearl desk = the 212 businesses
Of all 2,476 alumni: where they are today46% studying · 22% employed · 15% looking · 7% self-employed · 6% not working · 4% volunteering
Chapter 03 · Work & business
They get in, and stand on their own feet.
7 in 10 report living comfortably or getting by
70%working within six months of finishing
23%already had work47%found it within six months30%later · or not yet
Speed base: finished-studying alumni employed by others, n=460. Living standard excludes Yemen; excluding Lebanon, 8 in 10 are comfortable or getting by.
82% use INJAZ skills at work · 77% credit INJAZ for their career progress (employed by others, n=460) · 83% work in their field of study · 70% hold a job related to INJAZ (asked of n=295).
Chapter 03 · Work & business
Of the 1,404 who finished studying, most considered a business, and 229 are actively planning one now.
Bases: finished studying n=1,404 → considered 80% → took a real step 49% → actively planning n=229 (39% seeking funding · 30% idea-only · 24% written plan · 7% operating). Q7c.
Chapter 03 · Work & business
0%
of those who never started a business name lack of funding as the main reason.
Base: considered but never started, n=806. Q25.
70%lack of funding
30%every other reason, combined
Chapter 03 · Work & business
INJAZ as the spark.
34% of adult alumni say they likely would not have started a business without INJAZ.
84% of current students say INJAZ increased their interest in entrepreneurship.
Bases: adults asked n=1,582 · students n=301 (Q10 routing).
of every three, the gold one would not exist without INJAZ
INJAZ completely shifted my career trajectory (…) It gave me the confidence to move past the ideation phase and realize that I could achieve at a young age. (…) I launched my first venture just months after completing the program, setting me on a path of serial entrepreneurship.
Rakan · Bahrain
Name invented to protect identity. Words verbatim from the 2026 alumni survey.
Chapter04
Return
What they gained, they hand back.
Chapter 04 · Giving back
They stay close.
39% stay connected with INJAZ in at least one way.
33% follow on social30% in touch with peers
Chapter 04 · Giving back
And they lift the next one.
20% give back: mentoring, volunteering, showing up.
14% mentored13% volunteered11% attended events
Nearly three in ten engage in two or more ways.
All of them are inside the 39% who stayed connected.
in orbit = the 39% who stayed close · the rest drift beyond the frame
the givers step out of the orbit · one generation lifting the next
Three years after completing the program, I serve as the President of the INJAZ Palestine Alumni Association.
Fadi · Palestine
Name invented to protect identity. Words verbatim from the 2026 alumni survey.
Chapter05
The multiplier
The longer alumni stayed, the further they went.
0%
0–3 months
0%+17
3–6 months
0%+7
6+ months
0%working1
6+ months with INJAZ
0%working
3–6 months
0%working
0–3 months
Chapter 05 · The multiplierThe longer they stayed with INJAZ, the more of them were working.
Chapter 05 · The multiplier
It wasn't just work.
Career progress climbed the same stairs.
lit = were working · dim = the rest of that group, still counted
lit tread = credit INJAZ for career progress · the gold traveler climbs with the dose
0%
0–3 months
0%+4
3–6 months
0%+10
6+ months
Chapter 05 · The multiplier
They recommend it louder the longer they stayed.
Net Promoter Score climbs with time in the program. The advocacy arc keeps widening.
+0
NPS · 0–3 months
+0
3–6 months
+0
6+ months
And 20% go back to lift the next generation of students.
1. Base: alumni no longer in education, active in the labour market; excludes 89 who don't remember their participation length (p40). 2. Base: finished-studying alumni, n=1,404; excludes 216 who don't remember (p43). 3. NPS: all alumni; excludes 216 who don't remember (p43). Figures show association, not causation. More engaged young people may also choose longer programs.
Chapter 05 · The multiplier
The alumni who got the most give the most.
+0
not engaged
+0
engaged
+0
give back
NPS by engagement level: the effect compounds. Mutually exclusive groups (p44).
Chapter 05 · The multiplier
The Company Program: a year inside a real company, with mentors.
Base: finished-studying alumni, n=1,404 · Company Program 560, other programs 844. 'Employ others' is measured among the 336 who run a business (Company Program 174, other programs 162). Gold marker = Company Program; the lit run is the gap.
INJAZ mainly showed me just how easy it is to truly take the first step. That all these barriers I had were 80% just in my head.
Ziad
Name invented to protect identity. Words verbatim from the 2026 alumni survey.
The talent is real.The method works.The mission continues.
2,476 alumni across 13 nations shared what INJAZ made possible. The same pattern holds nation to nation: belief, then skills, then work. And it doesn't stop with them. The ones who gained the most give the most back: mentoring, hiring, showing up for the next cohort.
The 336 founders you met had finished studying. Counting those still studying too, 484 of all 2,476 alumni run a business. That's 1 in 5, against roughly 11% of adults across MENA (GEM regional report).
Believe81%→Ready for work78%→Get in faster70%→Create opportunity1 in 5→Give back39%
The last step starts someone else’s first.
The scale
2,476 answered this survey. They’re not the whole story.
INJAZ has delivered more than 10 million student learning experiences across two decades.
The dots were people all along.
2,476 stories like this one. Each one starting more.
Tap to celebrate
Thank you to the stakeholders and partners who supported this journey, and to the 2,476 alumni who answered.
Before a career is possible, it has to feel possible.
81%
credit INJAZ with shaping their career direction and development.
Initiative84%
Teamwork83%
Confidence83%
Belief is the first thing alumni name and the hardest to measure. Alongside career direction, they report stronger initiative, teamwork and confidence (self-reported, and all pointing the same way).
And they'd recommend it: a Net Promoter Score of +34 across all alumni (a favourable score on industry bands), climbing to +51 among those who stayed three to six months, and +65 beyond six.
Base for career direction: finished-studying alumni, n=1,404. Source: Region-wide alumni impact survey, June 2026.
Chapter 02 · Skills
Belief becomes action when there's something concrete to carry.
78%
of working alumni use these skills in their current job or business.
Communication83%
Leadership80%
Problem-solving80%
Financial literacy70%
Digital & tech68%
Skills come from doing. Alumni most often name a team project, presenting to an audience, or writing a business plan as the hands-on moments that shaped them. A third recall one such moment, and more than a quarter recall five or more.
And the skills stick: 37% use them regularly and 41% occasionally, and 72% connect their current work directly to INJAZ.
Base: all 2,476 respondents; the 78% is based on working alumni only. Source: Region-wide alumni impact survey, June 2026.
Chapter 03 · Work & business
336 businesses, and the people they hired.
~2,000
jobs created by these 212 founders.
Run a business336
Employ someone212
Women founders53%
Alumni report 17% not in employment, education or training, against a 33% Arab-states benchmark: a benchmark, not a control group (alumni self-select into INJAZ). Among those who finished studying and entered the labour market, 7 in 10 are working or running a business.
And many make their own work: 80% of finished-studying alumni considered a business, 229 are actively planning one now, and 34% of adult alumni say they likely would not have started without INJAZ. The ~2,000-jobs figure is deliberately conservative: each business counted at the midpoint of its reported employee band, the open top band held at 50.
Base for the ~2,000 jobs: the 212 alumni whose business employs at least one person (band-midpoint estimate, no extrapolation). “7 in 10 working”: labour-market alumni, n=1,156. Benchmark: youth NEET, ages 15–24, Arab states, 2023 (ILO Global Employment Trends for Youth 2024). Source: Region-wide alumni impact survey, June 2026.
Chapter 04 · Giving back
What they gained, they hand back.
20%
give back: mentoring, volunteering, showing up.
Stay connected39%
Mentor students14%
Volunteer13%
Attend events11%
The categories overlap: nearly 3 in 10 alumni engage in two or more ways, which is why the individual lines sum past the 20% headline.
39% stay connected in at least one way. The gap between staying connected and actively giving back is the programme's clearest growth surface.
Base: all 2,476 respondents. Source: Region-wide alumni impact survey, June 2026.
Chapter 05 · The multiplier
The longer they stayed, the further they went.
+65
NPS among alumni who stayed 6+ months, against +21 at 0–3 months.
0–3 months57%
3–6 months74%
6+ months81%
Every metric moves the same direction with dose. Share working climbs 57% → 74% → 81%; skills used at work 74% → 85% → 88%; Net Promoter Score +21 → +51 → +65. The Company Program (a year inside a real company, with mentors) takes it furthest: 86% stay engaged, against 17% from other programmes.
This is association, not causation, and the survey cannot resolve it: more-engaged young people may also choose longer programmes. The honest claim is that longer participation travels with better outcomes.
Base: alumni no longer in education, active in the labour market; excludes 89 who don't remember their participation length. NPS base: finished-studying alumni, n=1,404; excludes 216 who don't remember. Source: Region-wide alumni impact survey, June 2026.
Before INJAZ, I was just another girl fresh out of high school who entered into undergraduate accounting program with a very limited understanding of how the world works.
The girl that I once was had no idea how businesses anchor societies.
She only saw things to be the way they are only because of their mere existence. The way they coordinate never occurred to her to be the byproduct of businesses, entrepreneurship, and societal development.
It all changed when her professor defined entrepreneurship for her. He said:
"Entrepreneurship is the act of risking time and money."
She thought to herself, 'What for?'
Only to realize that the reason why civilizations have come to be is from the sole reason that someone, at some point, decided to take that very risk, unbeknownst to that person whether that risk will yield a crop that would reap bountiful fruit.
Then she drew a pattern of how so many people decided to take their own type of risk, to make a change, to make a difference.
And so, she made that decision for herself as soon as she sat through her first INJAZ session.
There was a question to define entrepreneurship that day, and she defined it without hesitation in that very definition of taking a risk and bravely facing the consequences, manifesting herself to be an entrepreneur herself.
That girl aspired to become who I am today.
After multiple years of participating in INJAZ and its company programs, I have engaged in entrepreneurial and business activities that enriched my skillset in ways that made me outshine those around me and outshine the mind of the freshman girl that never thought herself to be a business-oriented professional.
I developed an appetite to do more. To innovate. To make changes in the world enough to shift civilizations.
That's how INJAZ contributed to my development, and career direction.
