SAE Institute partners with NOMAD to drive career opportunities for UAE’s young creative talent

SAE, the world’s leading educator in creative media fields today has revealed signing a strategic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with NOMAD, Al Ahli Holding Group’s entrepreneurial ecosystem and community platform venture, to facilitate the growth of UAE’s local and international talent in the creative media industries.

The MoU signed by Mohammed Khammas, CEO of Ahli Holding Group & NOMAD, and Fadi Abdul Khalek, Managing Director, SAE Dubai, outlines plans to collaborate on a range of services including providing mutual access to the Institute and NOMAD facilities, offering students  memberships,  and usage of facilities, along with key members from SAE  faculty joining the NOMAD mentorship and advisory network. This partnership also opens relevant NOMAD programs participation, incubation and internship opportunities for SAE students, shaping a new wave of talent in creative media. The joint venture formed with the aim to upscale promising talent, develop programs, provide mentorship and incubation opportunities to creative artists, thereby unlocks the untapped potential to create growth and jobs in the creative media industries.

“Recent studies have shown that creative industries are one of the most rapidly growing sectors representing great economic potential. At SAE, we are committed to nurturing creative talent by providing a culture and environment that will help them to adapt and adopt 21st century skills required in our workforce today,” said Fadi Abdul Khalek, Managing Director, SAE Dubai.

“This is the first of many initiatives that SAE and NOMAD will embark on jointly to grow the UAE’s creative economy and build young leaders. We are excited to be able to partner with organisations like NOMAD and hope to attract and nurture skilled youngsters hungry for the chance to flex their creative talent.”

“Our collaboration with SAE will create opportunities for content creators, musicians, artists, filmmakers and other young creative specialists. With the goal of propelling UAE based grassroots talent to an international platform, NOMAD will support promising graduates at SAE from various backgrounds with long-term engagement and market access opportunities,” added Mohammed Khammas, CEO of Ahli Holding Group & NOMAD.

Under the partnership, both NOMAD and SAE will partner on joint program development and thought leadership initiatives. SAE will also connect NOMAD to a wider industry network, including its award-winning industry practitioners and course offerings. 

The MoU signing is followed by NOMAD’s collaboration with SAE as a knowledge partner on a Creative Bootcamp Series in music and filmmaking during October and November 2019. In line with the vision to empower the community, NOMAD appointed Community Leaders to take members through workshops on production, business guidance, market access and a collaborative creative challenge. Bootcamp members included promising musical artists, filmmakers and SAE students that will benefit from long term membership and engagement opportunities with NOMAD.  Industry partners and prominent global speakers from NOMAD’s ecosystem provided the members first-hand insights into pursuing careers and growing their ideas within the global creative industries.  The 2019 bootcamps resulted in members creating a short film and a seven track EP “NOMAD: On The Rise”, that was released on all the main music streaming platforms on the 21st February 2020. These innovative contents generated will be promoted by NOMAD with a festival planned to celebrate the community’s success stories; OTR (On The Rise) Festival at the 117 Live Arena. 

NOMAD is a pioneering community platform and incubator in the region to enable startups and the creative community to collaborate and fuel innovation.  Operating as a global membership model and incubator, the NOMAD community has access to workspaces, production resources, business establishment, market access, capacity-building programs, events and Al Ahli Holding Group integration opportunities.

SAE is currently focused on growing its Centre for Industry Engagement along with current partnerships such as NOMAD and Ubisoft. The institute will embark on new ventures that will provide the right space and tools to develop UAE’s creative talent.