Ahmed ElHawary

Ahmed ElHawary

Synergos Social Entrepreneur & Founder, Bashkatib

Bashkatib is organization which seeks to empower young writers and aspiring journalists by creating an online portal for local news content. Ahmed El Hawary, a journalist at Al Masry Al Youm since 2009, recognized a serious deficit in the quantity and quality of local news, especially from marginalized areas, and founded Bashkatib in an effort to train and enable the next generation of journalists in Egypt.

Focusing on youth ages 12 to 17, Bashkatib organizes workshops and training programs to help develop young writing talent, teaching basic journalistic skills, introductory photography, and media ethics. Ahmed ran a series of these workshops in Ard El Lewa last year, and after concluding the training, helped the young journalists establish their own news publication, Ahl El Lewa, to discuss important local issues such as poverty, environment, and local governance.