User:NGOsofTheWorld/sandbox

The Arab Youth Venture Foundation is the first expat founded NGO and social enterprise in the Arabian Gulf (GCC) for strategic youth workforce development and entrepreneurship in the Middle East conceived in 2006 by its current CEO, a female American international entrepreneur and technology investor.

The Foundation (also known as AYVF) maintains an underlying focus on STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) Diplomacy and by design serves both regional government efforts in workforce nationalization     and U.S. foreign policy goals vis-a-vis supporting science and technology education and youth employment.

AYVF is recognized as the creator of a number of trend setting public initiatives supported by GCC governments and the U.S. Department of State and has been credited by the Obama White House and regional U.S. Embassies and Consulates. The first notable program initiated in 2007 was developed under a historic NASA International Space Act Agreement for space education in the Middle East. The next was the launch of the first United Nations Association in an Arabian Gulf Country (UAE) a momentous achievement that has yet to be replicated in any other GCC nation.

AYVF was the first to coin the acronym "STEAM" in 2008 in order to add industry focused inspiration to the long established STEM acronym (science, technology, engineering, math), in this case, the A for Aerospace/Astronomy/Aviation/Astronautics.