Expo City Dubai Foundation Launches the Changemakers Academy

Photo: Dubai Government Media Office

The Expo City Dubai Foundation has recently launched the Changemakers Academy, an exciting new incubator aimed at young innovators. This initiative is designed to encourage creative problem-solving and find bold solutions to some of the most important social and environmental challenges in the UAE. By focusing on innovation and entrepreneurship, the academy will provide young people with the tools they need to make a real difference.

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The academy is open to final-year students and recent graduates from universities in the UAE. It’s part of the UAE’s Year of Community and aims to inspire the next generation of leaders to turn their ideas into action. This program will help students use their creativity and passion to develop practical solutions for the issues that matter most to the UAE community.

The Changemakers Academy offers a well-organized and structured incubation journey, with hands-on training and support. The best projects will receive financial help, with grants of up to AED 50,000. They will also be provided with mentorship, introductions to investors, and assistance with business setup, including getting a business license, a visa, and access to a workspace at Expo City Dubai. This is a huge opportunity for young entrepreneurs who want to turn their ideas into successful businesses.

Yousuf Caires, the Executive Director of the Expo City Dubai Foundation, said, “Our innovation programs during Expo 2020 Dubai and COP28 have shown how talented and capable UAE youth are. Expo City Dubai is a place where we support the next generation of pioneers with groundbreaking ideas. The Changemakers Academy aims to inspire the brightest minds to find solutions to challenges that matter to the UAE. We want to help turn these ideas into real businesses that can bring positive change to our community.”

The areas of focus for the academy were chosen with the help of Dubai’s Community Development Authority (CDA). These include improving traffic, mental health, work-life balance, environmental sustainability, and inclusion for people of determination and the elderly.

Students can submit their applications until the end of March. After that, selected projects will be invited to a special ‘boot camp’ to help improve their ideas. The projects that stand out will move on to the next stage, the Accelerated Incubation Programme. This part of the program includes AI-based design-thinking training, which covers ideation, prototyping, digital skills, and certification. At the end of the program, there will be a pitching session where the final projects will be chosen in June 2025.

The Changemakers Academy builds on the success of the Expo Live University Innovation Programme, which received over 1,000 applications from more than 40 universities across the UAE and helped 58 student teams. This program is part of the Expo City Dubai Foundation, a non-profit organization created in June 2024. Its goal is to connect people with ideas and resources to drive innovation and create positive social, economic, and environmental change.

Expo City Dubai is already home to innovative projects like the Emirates Group’s ebdaa innovation hub and the Expo City Urban Lab, a city-wide testbed for urban development technologies. With these and other projects, Expo City Dubai is becoming a hub for entrepreneurs and innovators who believe in building a better future for people and the planet. It supports sectors that contribute to Dubai’s Economic Agenda (D33).