‘The climate of change in the region is in part due to youth dissatisfaction with their employment opportunities,” Bruder said. He believes new Arab governments will be more receptive to working with groups that promote job creation. Bruder is the founder of Education for Employment (EFE) and was named by Time Magazine as one of the World's Most Influential People in 2011. While EFE has a New York location, Arab locals lead offices in their countries where they envision, direct and staff programs. Started in 2004, EFE recognizes that when young people are employed, “they help lay the foundations for secure and peaceful societies.” Since EFE began in Jordan, it has expanded training programs to the West Bank, Egypt, Yemen and Morocco. In 2011, 1,300 students will graduate from EFE programs, and by 2013 this number is expected to rise to 5,000. Driving EFE's expansion are local staff and management. Locals take ownership of projects and tailor training to suit the needs of the workforce. Jordan focuses on air-conditioning repairs and land surveying, Yemen on business English and information technology training and Egypt offers textile merchandising and banking training. “The way EFE operates, which I think is a plus, is it sets up local foundations where the board is local and the staff is local and they figure out how to make it country-specific,” Bruder said. “They know how to figure out their needs better than we do.” The organization's growth, and local control, is a sign of its success. EFE graduates like 25-year-old Azeddine from Morocco embark on productive careers after attending training programs. “The [EFE] training truly transformed me. I became very organized, more secure in my decisionmaking, and developed excellent relationship and communication skills, which I am using in my personal life and in the workplace,” Azeddine said. He works as a human resources coordinator at a hotel. “My life has truly changed.” Plans are in the works to open an EFE office in Tunisia. After positive meetings with new government ministers, who Bruder described as “doers,” the next step is for Tunisians to take control. “We want to know that there are locals that believe in what we are doing, that will take ownership of it and make sure the money is spent wisely and carefully and effectively, by putting in money of their own and by knowing the local landscape,” Bruder said. Local ownership of EFE programs ensures that commitment remains strong. EFE operations continue even as an uprising goes into its third month in Yemen. “Despite all that is going on in Yemen, our programs are continuing and going as business-as-usual,” Bruder said. EFE Yemen Chairman Alwan Shaibani is committed to the organization “and nothing is going to slow it down.” Financing EFE operations continues to be a challenge as it expands. Funding comes from corporate sponsors, agencies, associations, foundations and individual donations from the Arab world and beyond. With EFE's growth and success, Bruder said, this is becoming less of an issue. Bruder said that all the hard work that goes into making EFE a success is worth it. “The greatest satisfaction is when I go to a graduation and I look at these kids,” Bruder said. “I look in their eyes and I shake their hand and to me that's the best part.” This article has been contributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, US Department of State
