Khibra

History

Khibra is Manama Hub’s first long-term project, with the aim of bringing mentoring, coaching and internship opportunities to individuals across Bahrain. The program was done in partnership with Tamkeen, Bahrain’s local authority for supporting SMEs and empowering the local workforce along with Bahrain Business Women Society and Mowgli, an international organization for mentorship.

In 2015, Khibra linked young Bahrainis with over 1,000 mentors, matched 20+ young individuals with experts and became the catalyst for future mentorship programs. Tamkeen has since launched much bigger mentorship programs which supported 1,000s of young Bahrainis in 2016 to 2019.

Relaunching Khibra in 2024

Problem Statement 

Mentorship and guidance is among the top required support cited by youth, to help them advance their career. Such support is not always readily accessible, leading to missed opportunities learning from experienced professionals. 

Proposed Solution  

Khibra aims to empower youth to reach their full potential by connecting them with experienced mentors. It is an overarching initiative that will include events and programs. It will also include an online matchmaking platform for youth to book 1:1 sessions with career mentors, entrepreneurial mentors and leadership mentors. 

The initiative aims to serve young professionals, young entrepreneurs, fresh graduates, university & high school students. 

Hub Activities 

Manama Hub, in collaboration with Zain Bahrain, hosted a Meet the Leaders mentorship event. It included a career planning session and one-on-one speed mentorship discussions with experts in diverse fields, including tech, research, finance, marketing, HR, strategy, entrepreneurship, architecture, law, environment & sustainability and more. 

Short / Long Term Results 

Mentorship has a transformational power in supporting youth career development, facilitating intergenerational knowledge sharing and empowering future leaders. In particular, attendees of the Meet the Leaders mentorship event were highly engaged and gained personalized insights from industry leaders. 

Available Metrics 

For the Meet the Leaders Event, 30 mentors and 30 mentees attended. Positive feedback from the mentees included, “I got a lot of answers and this really helped clarify things for me. I left early to reflect on what my next step will be and I found it,” and “this type of event is very useful to attend.”

Collaborators

Zain Bahrain