<html><head><base href="x-msg://184/"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><br><div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; ">John Boghossian<br>Massachusetts Institute of Technology '11<br>Mechanical Engineering and Economics<br>428 Memorial Drive<br>Cambridge MA 02139<br>(617)710-2411<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><b>|</b><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="mailto:jbogoss@mit.edu">jbogoss@mit.edu</a><br><br></div></span></div></span></span>
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<div><br><div>Begin forwarded message:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote type="cite"><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><span style="font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium; color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 1);"><b>From: </b></span><span style="font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium;">Daria Michelle Kaboli <<a href="mailto:dkaboli@MIT.EDU">dkaboli@MIT.EDU</a>><br></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><span style="font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium; color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 1);"><b>Date: </b></span><span style="font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium;">April 1, 2011 7:06:10 PM EDT<br></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><span style="font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium; color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 1);"><b>To: </b></span><span style="font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium;">"<a href="mailto:d.alkekhia@gmail.com">d.alkekhia@gmail.com</a>" <<a href="mailto:d.alkekhia@gmail.com">d.alkekhia@gmail.com</a>>, John G Boghossian <<a href="mailto:jbogoss@mit.edu">jbogoss@mit.edu</a>><br></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><span style="font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium; color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 1);"><b>Cc: </b></span><span style="font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium;">"<a href="mailto:majalal99@gmail.com">majalal99@gmail.com</a>" <<a href="mailto:majalal99@gmail.com">majalal99@gmail.com</a>><br></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><span style="font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium; color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 1);"><b>Subject: </b></span><span style="font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium;"><b>Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Middle East - HKS at 4:45pm on 5th April, Tuesday</b><br></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-size: medium; "><div lang="EN-US" link="blue" vlink="purple"><div class="WordSection1" style="page: WordSection1; "><div><div style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; "><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#1F497D" face="Calibri, sans-serif" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;"><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#144FAE" face="Helvetica"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br></span></font></span></font></div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; "> <o:p></o:p></div><div><div style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; "><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 22pt; font-family: Times, serif; ">Entrepreneurial Ecosystem – Challenges, Opportunities in shaping the business and political landscape of the Middle East</span></b><o:p></o:p></div><div style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; "><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: Times, serif; "> </span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: Times, serif; "> </span><o:p></o:p></div><div style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; "><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 16pt; font-family: Times, serif; ">4:45 pm – 6:00pm on April 5<sup>th</sup>, Tuesday</span><o:p></o:p></div><div style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; "><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 16pt; font-family: Times, serif; ">The Weiner Auditorium, Harvard Kennedy School</span><o:p></o:p></div><div style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; "> <o:p></o:p></div></div></div><div><div><div><div style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; "> <o:p></o:p></div><div style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; "><img width="420" height="279" id="_x0000_i1025" alt="ABRAAJ-234.jpg" apple-width="yes" apple-height="yes" src="cid:image001.jpg@01CBF05C.9988ADC0"><o:p></o:p></div><div style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; ">Launch of<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i><a href="http://WAMDA.com" style="color: blue; text-decoration: underline; ">WAMDA.com</a></i>, the most comprehensive MENA-wide entrepreneurship<o:p></o:p></div><div style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; ">portal at Abraaj Capital's Celebration of Entrepreneurship<o:p></o:p></div><div style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; "> <o:p></o:p></div><div style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; "> <o:p></o:p></div><div style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; "><span style="font-size: 16pt; font-family: Times, serif; ">A Panel Discussion with</span><o:p></o:p></div><div style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; "><span style="font-size: 11pt; "> </span><o:p></o:p></div><div style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; "><b><span style="font-size: 16pt; font-family: Times, serif; ">Sami Shalabi<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></b><i><span style="font-size: 16pt; font-family: Times, serif; ">-<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></i><i><span style="font-size: 13pt; font-family: Times, serif; ">Google Inc., Founder of<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></i><i><span style="font-size: 13pt; ">Zingku, Inc & YallaStartup</span></i><o:p></o:p></div><div style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; "><b><span style="font-size: 16pt; ">Habbib Haddad<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></b><i><span style="font-size: 13pt; ">- Founder of<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://Yamli.com" style="color: blue; text-decoration: underline; ">Yamli.com</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>& WEF's Young Global Leader</span></i><o:p></o:p></div><div style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; "><span style="font-size: 16pt; font-family: Times, serif; "> </span><o:p></o:p></div><div style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; "><span style="font-size: 16pt; font-family: Times, serif; ">Moderator</span><o:p></o:p></div><div style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; "><b><span style="font-size: 16pt; font-family: Times, serif; ">Ahmad Jalal<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></b><i><span style="font-size: 16pt; font-family: Times, serif; ">-<b><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></b></span></i><i><span style="font-size: 13pt; ">Summer Associate at Jordan & Palestine Growth Fund</span></i><o:p></o:p></div><div style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; "><span style="font-size: 16pt; font-family: Times, serif; "> </span><o:p></o:p></div><p align="center" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-bottom: 0.1pt; text-align: center; ">- What is the regulatory and financing environment for new enterprises in Middle East?<o:p></o:p></p><p align="center" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-bottom: 0.1pt; text-align: center; ">- How are entrepreneurs innovating to overcome the challenges?<o:p></o:p></p><p align="center" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-bottom: 0.1pt; text-align: center; ">- What is the state of entrepreneurial activism in the region?<o:p></o:p></p><p align="center" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-bottom: 0.1pt; text-align: center; ">An example was when Internet activity was shut down in Egypt, volunteers from Google and Twitter launched international lines to leave voicemails. Habib Haddad was a volunteer involved with the AliveInEgypt initiative which set up a translation service to take those Arabic voicemails and convert them to text in many languages and Tweet them onwards.<o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-bottom: 0.1pt; text-align: justify; "> <o:p></o:p></p><div style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; "><span style="font-size: 16pt; font-family: Times, serif; "> </span><o:p></o:p></div><div style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; "><span style="font-size: 13pt; font-family: Times, serif; "> Also available for distribution at the event will be copies of</span><o:p></o:p></div><div style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; "><span style="font-size: 13pt; font-family: Times, serif; ">Abraaj Capital's<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><b> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ui453sOlWGc" target="_blank" style="color: blue; text-decoration: underline; ">Celebration of Entrepreneurship</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Consensus Brochure</b></span><o:p></o:p></div><div style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; "><span style="font-size: 24pt; font-family: Times, serif; "> </span><span style="font-size: 13pt; font-family: Times, serif; "> </span><o:p></o:p></div><div style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; "><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 13pt; font-family: Times, serif; "> </span><o:p></o:p></div><div style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; "><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 13pt; font-family: Times, serif; ">Sponsored by:</span><o:p></o:p></div><div style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; "><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 13pt; font-family: Times, serif; ">HKS Venture Capital and Private Equity PIC, HKS Arab and Palestine Caucus, HBS MENA Business Club and MIT MENA Business Club.</span><o:p></o:p></div><div style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; "><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 13pt; font-family: Times, serif; ">The Dubai Initiative, and Center for International Development</span><o:p></o:p></div><div style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; "><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Times, serif; "> </span><o:p></o:p></div><div style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; "><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Times, serif; "> </span><o:p></o:p></div><div style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; "><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Times, serif; "> </span><o:p></o:p></div></div><div style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; "><img width="124" height="83" align="left" hspace="12" alt="Sami Shalabi.jpg" v:shapes="_x0000_s1026" id="f63e1b9d-3395-4dd1-960c-a103c2f29f73" apple-width="yes" apple-height="yes" src="cid:image003.jpg@01CBF05C.9988ADC0"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Times, serif; ">Sami Shalabi</span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Times, serif; "><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>is a software inventor and entrepreneur. He is currently at Google leading the engineering teams responsible for Google Friend Connect (which he co-founded), Googleʼs Social API Platform, and few other secret projects. Sami joined Google after they acquired Zingku, Inc, a venture backed software company he cofounded in 2006. </span><o:p></o:p></div><div style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; "><o:p> </o:p></div><div style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; "><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Times, serif; ">Sami has 32 patent/patent pending ideas and the MIT ASO recently recognized Sami with the 2009 MIT Young Professional Award.Sami also co-founded a non-profit called YallaStartup, an organization with the mission of fostering innovation and early stage entrepreneurship in the MENA region.</span><o:p></o:p></div><div><div style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; "><o:p> </o:p></div><div style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; "><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Times, serif; ">Prior to Zingku, Sami had architecture and leadership responsibilities for a number of products at Lotus, Iris Associates, and IBM. Sami serves on the MIT Arab Alumni/ae Association’s Executive Team as well as serving on the Board of several startups. Sami received his SB and MEng from MIT.</span><o:p></o:p></div><div style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; "><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Times, serif; "> </span><o:p></o:p></div><div style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; "><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Times, serif; "> </span><o:p></o:p></div></div><div style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; "><img width="85" height="96" align="left" hspace="12" alt="Habib haddad.jpg" v:shapes="_x0000_s1027" id="999f89ca-2dd1-4ddd-b457-811bd7882032" apple-width="yes" apple-height="yes" src="cid:image005.jpg@01CBF05C.9988ADC0"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Times, serif; ">Habib Haddad</span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Times, serif; "><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>is a tech entrepreneur, recently founder and CEO of<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://Yamli.com" style="color: blue; text-decoration: underline; ">Yamli.com</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>a startup focused on empowering the Arabic language on the web. His also the founder and CEO of YallaStartup an organization focused on early stage entrepreneurship in the MENA region.</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: rgb(31, 73, 125); "><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Times, serif; ">In 2009, the World Economic Forum recognized Habib as a Young Global Leader and the ArabianBusiness named him one of the top 30 influential Arabs under 30. He currently serves on the Global Agenda Council on innovation.</span><o:p></o:p></div><div style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; "><o:p> </o:p></div><div><div style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; "><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Times, serif; ">Habib is an advisor to several US and Middle Eastern startups and non-profits. During the July of 2006 war he started Relief Lebanon to support relief operations. He holds a Bachelor of Computer and Communication Engineering from the American University in Beirut and a Masters in Electrical Engineering from the University of Southern California.</span><o:p></o:p></div><div style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; "><o:p> </o:p></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; "><o:p> </o:p></div></div></div></span></blockquote></div><br></body></html>