52P Young Entrepreneurs Fellowship, Year One and Two The political, economic, and security conditions in Israel and Palestine are difficult and worsening. 2021 and 2022 saw an uptick in violence, with calm periods shortening and coming less frequently. Amidst these difficulties, Tech2Peace (T2P) and 50:50 Startups (50:50) have managed to recruit young Palestinians and Israelis motivated by the potential for better lives for themselves and their peoples, who are choosing to meet, face the difficult reality head-on, learn new skills, and innovate together towards a new reality. With Dutch support, 189 Palestinians and Israelis aged 20-30, from a wide diversity of backgrounds, have come together in the last year alone- engaging in dialogue, learning high-tech and entrepreneurial skills, creating a lasting community of true partners, and building joint ventures and projects that demonstrate new possibilities for the region. T2P and 50:50 have created an effective partnership, leveraging both organizations’ strengths, bringing together young Palestinians and Israelis to work together towards a better future and demonstrate a model of Deep Economic Cooperation. Tech2Peace, through residential seminars and an ongoing alumni program, has been successful in recruiting “non-traditional peacebuilders” beyond the “already convinced”, and building strong relationships, understanding, trust, professional opportunities, and basic high-tech and entrepreneurial skills among participants. Seminar alumni have joined and helped to lead a lasting community of partners that continue meeting and innovating together while addressing the hardest realities of the conflict. In Year One of the program, Tech2Peace held three, 12-day residential seminars and 16 alumni activities funded by the Dutch government, reaching 161 unique and 250 non-unique beneficiaries (86 new beneficiaries reached through seminars, 75 existing alumni). 8 T2P alumni joined 19 new recruits creating a cohort of 27 young Palestinians and Israelis that went through 50:50’s startup acceleration process, culminating in seven ventures pitching at 50:50’s annual Demo Day. 50:50’s program was effective in helping participants build entrepreneurial skills and cross-border relationships, and creating real ventures that demonstrate positive cooperation and have the chance to become businesses. T2P’s alumni community - managed and implemented by T2P and T2P alumni leaders, and newly open to 50:50 alumni - have benefited from over 50 activities in the last year, 16 of which were funded by the Dutch Government. These activities - including Advanced Dialogue Weekend Seminars, Advanced Tech Weekend Seminars, professional development opportunities, and social gatherings - have helped to maintain and strengthen program results, and, most importantly, have allowed the community to address external crises and violence as they occurred, creating a resilient community that has continued working and innovating together even in the hardest times. Businesses, partnerships, and relationships that fail due to the ever-occurring crises in Israel and Palestine are worthless - we are developing and demonstrating a model for how to make these partnerships last. Program alumni have gone on to become leaders in the alumni community, helping to create a self-sustaining and long-lasting community, as well as leaders in their fields and societies. T2P and 50:50 have worked hard to spread a model of Deep Economic Cooperation, reaching hundreds of thousands on social media, with 23 media items about the two organizations and their alumni in the last year, including in major publications such as Wired Magazine, and with staff and alumni speaking alongside key leaders at significant events such as the Forbes Middle East Forum. A planned joint major publicity event was canceled due to Covid-19. T2P and 50:50 have forged a successful partnership that creates efficiencies and synergies and multiplies the impact of both programs, opening the T2P alumni community to 50:50 alumni, coordinating on recruitment and events, sharing opportunities, and creating a pipeline of beneficiaries that gain a holistic experience between both organizations. The organizations have benefited from the Dutch partnership through new connections, such as with the West Bank career accelerator TAP by Kiitos, and through funding and support that has allowed both organizations to significantly grow their capacity and programming. Both organizations suffered from some setbacks and limitations, especially the Covid-19 Omicron wave - which interrupted recruitment and early 50:50 programming, as well as a joint public event - and visa issues with the US. In general, we had a very successful first year and can’t wait to keep moving forward and deepening impact. With the Dutch Government’s support, we will create a lasting and growing cross-border community of diverse, young Palestinians and Israelis with deep relationships and understanding of the other, along with the skills and capital needed to create joint startups and reach high professional positions. We will leverage shared high-tech and entrepreneurial training - delivered through residential training seminars and a nine-month startup accelerator - to incentivize cross-border cooperation, providing economic opportunities and setting a basis of relationships and trust needed for effective dialogue, going beyond thin economic bonds to create attitudinal changes and deep relationships of mutual understanding. As dedicated peacebuilders with strong professional skills, beneficiaries will create joint and reach high professional positions where they can leverage the influence of their workplaces to advocate for peace and coexistence. Alongside the Dutch Embassy, we will share the community’s startups and other successes through publicity events and the media, reaching thousands of others, demonstrating to suspicious Israeli and Palestinian publics that it is possible and beneficial to cooperate across the border, increasing trust in and desire for other forms of cross-border cooperation needed to achieve steps towards a two-state solution. Participants will also benefit from the expertise of the growing Dutch entrepreneurship ecosystem, in the process creating greater connections between Dutch, Israeli, and Palestinian entrepeneurs and businesspeople.