Monthly Update: August 2017

Dear Kiron Family,


Read about the latest Kiron insights!


This month we celebrated not only the successes of our students, but of all the great accomplishments over the last two years that have led us to this point - an honored visit by German Chancellor, Angela Merkel! Her visit was more than just an opportunity to share our mission and discuss our goals and ambitions, but allowed us to connect her directly with some of our students, so that she, on behalf of Germany, could see and understand the value of higher education for refugees worldwide. Moreover, this unique opportunity allowed our students to share their perspectives and represent the voices of refugees. This milestone, along with a range of other student successes, new and ongoing program initiatives and many more eventful happenings in August has left Kironistas, partners, sponsors and our students enthusiastic for the road ahead!


Best Regards,


Your Kiron Team



AUGUST ANNOUNCEMENTS

• Angela Merkel Visits Kiron in Berlin
• New Partnership with Technical University Ingolstadt
• Kiron signed two Learning Agreements in Jordan
• Kiron Student Study Weekend

KIRON INSIGHTS


Kiron Students present Kiron online platform to Chancellor Merkel
On Friday 25th of August, Chancellor Angela Merkel was invited to learn about the online platform for refugees, Kiron Open Higher Education, in Berlin. Her visit emphasizes the great importance of digital education opportunities in the context of sustainable integration work.
During her visit, Chancellor Merkel had the opportunity to receive insight into the innovative educational opportunities of a social startup. Together with students, employees and partners, her visit served to reflect on the organization’s progress and provided an overview of the prospects for the coming years. Read more here & get a short video impression.   




Kiron Student Study Weekend
Kiron organized its second study weekend with 14 Kiron students from all over Germany at Migration Hub in Berlin. Studying online and under exceptional circumstances can present a challenge and Kiron is eager to help students make the most of their studies. Our students studied offline for two days under the guidance of academics from RWTH Aachen University and Kironistas and, with the help of these great tutors, prepared for examinations in different MOOCs and study tracks. Read more here




MEET OUR STUDENTS


Ahmed
Ahmed is from Damaskus and left his hometown in 2015. He goes by Med and even though he is from Syria, he thinks of himself as a global citizen. Before leaving his home he was studying Bio-Mechanical Engineering and English Literature. Ahmed was working for the Red Cross and the Ministry of Health. He was not allowed to leave Syria, so he was forced to escape. Read more about Ahmed's Story here.




Future Transfer Student Moataz
On August 25th, in his role as Ambassador for the Kiron student community, Moataz from Syria discussed the importance of higher education for refugees, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Having taken online courses on platforms like Coursera since the platform’s founding in 2012, Moataz has been one of the early advocates of online university education joining Kironstudying Business & Economics, in October 2015. Managing to get 60 credits of his online studies recognised, he is one of Kiron’s most successful students. In autumn 2017 he will transfer to BAU International, a private university in Berlin that allows qualified refugees unbureaucratic access to higher education at reduced tuition fees. Kiron is currently looking for supporters willing to cover the remaining fees, that will allow talented students like Moataz to finish his studies with a recognised Bachelor degree, providing him with new opportunities in the future. For more information on how to support Moataz, please contact Ronny Röwert.



This Month Kiron Introduces: Gui
Kiron would not exist in the way it does today if it were not for hard-working and committed volunteers such as Gui. Having lived in more than five different countries, Gui knows how difficult it can be to settle in a foreign country and, especially, to find one’s way in an unknown educational system. With a postgraduate degree in social sciences and as a current student of agricultural sciences, Gui strongly believes in his responsibility to protect and help out society and environment, which is also rooted in his Buddhist belief and the way he learned a social and caring behavior at home. It was in Germany during his second study track when he discovered his passion for working for, and more importantly, with refugees. His tireless dedication and his cheerful spirit make him indispensable – for Kiron, for his co-workers and for the students with whom he loves to be in contact with as much as possible. Read Gui's story.



KIRON INTERNATIONAL

Kiron Jordan
Kiron signed two Learning Agreements in Jordan. The first Learning Agreement was signed with Hashemite University, and includes an equivalence analysis for the BsC Computer Science. The second Learning Agreement was signed with Jordan University of Science and Technology (JUST), also for the BsC. in Computer Science. Currently, the Kiron Jordan team is working on the signing of two more Learning Agreements, and the transfer of the first students is planned in October 2018.



Team Jordan joins Facebook
We are happy to announce that Kiron Jordan has launched their own Facebook page. Follow the Kiron Jordan Team and learn more about their activities and Kiron Students like Amani!




Kiron France
Kiron France will participate in Nantes Digital week, discussing the topic is "innovative solutions to access education". Julia responsible for Academic Partnerships and Curriculum in France, will represent Kiron during a panel discussion. Moreover, the French team will be present at  Festival de l'Humanité, a well know Parisian festival gathering more than 200.000 participants.

KIRON PARTNERSHIPS

New Partner University: Technical University Ingolstadt
We are happy to announce that the Technical University Ingolstadt signed the cooperation agreement with Kiron, in order to enable a smooth transition to regular programs for refugees.

Partner Reception
Strong alliances with long-term partners is a key component of Kiron’s philosophy, and a major building block of its success story. At Kiron we believe that establishing synergies is the only way to achieve long-lasting change and societal integration of our educational model. For that reason we brought together partners from the corporate and academic sector and foundations with our students and Kironistas. We were excited that a diverse range of partners followed our invitation to meet with our students and Kironistas. They came together at the partner reception and lunch before and after the podium discussion between Kiron students and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on August 25th. Among the guests were representatives of long-term corporate partners such as Google, Volkswagen and UBS but also more recent supporters like Goldman Sachs. Our partner’s commitment for their partnership with Kiron reinforced the importance of our mission and the need to work together to empower refugees through education.



Goldman Sachs supports Kiron
During the partner reception prior to the visit of the German Chancellor Angela Merkel on 25th of August, we were excited to exchange personally with our corporate partners on what it means to support refugees and how education can empower disadvantaged individuals. As Dr. Wolfgang Fink, Co-Chief Executive Officer for Germany and Austria at Goldman Sachs explained to us “The refugee crisis has fundamentally moved us, as individuals and as a firm. Through Goldman Sachs Gives, we have committed nearly $8m to address the immediate needs and long-term resilience of refugees through education, infrastructure and shelter.” It is also in this context that Kiron was awarded first place in the Goldman Sachs Gives Analyst Impact Fund where nearly 300 analysts from Goldman Sachs offices around the world competed to win grants for innovative non-profit organizations of their choice. With regards to Chancellor Merkel’s encouraging words for our program and mission, Dr. Fink emphasized the importance of the private sector commitment for refugees: “Chancellor Merkel’s comments today reinforce our commitment to this global humanitarian crisis and inspire us to continue partnering with leading organizations such as Kiron Open Higher Education, improving outcomes the situation for refugees through access to higher education".

HR Start-up Personio donates three Scholarships to Kiron
Good news from the start-up scene! Munich-based start-up Personio awarded Kiron with a donation of 10.500€ to enable three refugees to study and to provide them with a language course. Founded in 2015, Personio is developing a holistic HR and applicant management software. While Kiron’s main supporters and donors are large and medium-sized companies, we especially appreciate that also young and comparably small organisations like Personio feel the urge to contribute to society and make generous donations. "As a start-up of the same age, we see many analogies in our development - from recruiting and employee happiness to fundraising and organisational development" says Hanno Renner, Co-Founder of Personio. Therefore we enjoy our regular exchange and are happy to welcome Personio as a trusted partner!

KIRON PROJECTS

First KironX MOOC with over 3.000 Online Learners
The first kironX MOOC on edX together with our partner FH Lübeck has reached halftime. So far more than 3.000 learners have enrolled in the course "Computer Networks and the Internet". Read more about this unique project.

Final Stages of Project INTEGRAL²
We are in the last stages of our large project INTEGRAL² funded by the Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF). We would like to invite all interested partners and supporters to the final event reflecting on key findings on potential ways forward on Monday, 11th September in Berlin. You can register here.

 “Letters to Europe – Refugee Women Write”
European Policy Centre’s young citizen project FutureLab Europe, supported by Allianz Kulturstiftung, Kiron and Polis180invite you to a colourful and diverse evening, which will include a book launch and a theatre performance based on the stories of female refugees. The event will take place on September 16th, at the FLUGWERK in Berlin, with a presentation of the book „Letters to Europe – Refugee Women Write“, in which 15 female refugees from all over Europe shared their very different stories, perspectives, concerns and hopes for the future. The official book release will be followed by a short theatre performance developed on the basis of the stories in the book by three talents: the actress, writer and musician Enana from Syria, writer Gudrun Buchholz from Germany and director Konstantin Buchholz who is part of the „Letters to Europe“ project team. The performance will include some musical elements and other surprises! Find out more

Design Thinking and Intercultural Innovation for Female Refugees
Together with the Paritätischen Bildungswerks, supported by BMBF, HTW Berlin, University of Applied Sciences, Albatros gGmbH and Future Fashion Forward e.V., Kiron invites female refugees interested to learn more about the innovative design method 'Design Thinking'. This year’s HTW Refugee Summer School takes place between the 22nd and 24th of September in Berlin. The project aims to create an innovative model for a community space for women where they can come together and exchange ideas. Find more information here!



KIRON EVENTS

Kiron at Sommerfest in part by H&M Meets World initiative
Kiron had the wonderful opportunity to participate in the Sommerfest hosted by H&M and The DO School. Both organizations work together to support refugees, in particular with the H&M Meets World initiative!

MEnt Project Holds Successful Mentoring Workshops
On the 19th of August the MEnt teams in Berlin and Brussels held inspiring and productive workshops on financial strategies, building digital platforms, branding and marketing for newcomers and migrant entrepreneurs.


Kiron’s First In-Office MOOC Exam with Students
For the very first time an examination took place at the Kiron office. Some of our most talented students participated in the final exam for the MOOC "Absatz und Beschaffung" from RWTH Aachen. We are excited about the results and wish our students the best of luck!



KIRON IN THE NEWS

• Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung (BMZ): BMZ und Ber­li­ner Start-up Ki­ron ko­ope­rie­ren in Jor­da­ni­en
• Tagesspiegel: Angela Merkel besucht geflüchtete Studierende in Berlin 
• N24: So stehen die Parteien zu Flüchtlingsthemen 

KIRON DOODLE