Live Love Lebanon was born in 2012, at a moment when Lebanon felt exhausted by crisis. Rather than waiting for optimism to return, we decided to create it.
What began as a simple bracelet was an invitation to pause and choose love for this country, even when it felt difficult. Founders Eddy and Youmna took to the streets of Gemmayzeh with a camera, asking people a single question: What do you love about Lebanon? The answers weren’t immediate. But the intention was clear.
At the same time, Instagram was just emerging. On a friend's advice, a hashtag was born: #LiveLoveBeirut. In under six months, Live Love Beirut reached one million cumulative likes.

A social enterprise from Day One
From the very beginning, Live Love was never meant to be “just” a campaign or “just” an NGO.
Eddy and Youmna came from complementary worlds: production, marketing, eco-tourism, education, community work, and environmental action. They believed that celebrating Lebanon, serving its people, and building something financially sustainable should not be separate goals. Live Love was therefore designed as a social enterprise, one of the first of its kind in Lebanon and the middle east, operating through a hybrid model: a company and an NGO, working together with a shared mission.
The Live Love name was trademarked, the company was registered, and the NGO “Live Love Lebanon: was established shortly after, with the addition of Abbas, George, and Sandro. The model was intentional:
The company would handle strategy, production, partnerships, and paid services.
The NGO would focus on impact, programs, advocacy, and grant-funded work.

Both were, and still are, driven by the same people, values, and long-term vision. Any revenues generated through grants or mission-aligned services are reinvested directly into social impact.

From campaigns to programs
As Live Love grew, small self-funded initiatives (cleanups, volunteering drives, awareness campaigns) evolved into structured programs. Partnerships followed, including collaborations with public institutions and international donors such as the Ministry of Tourism, UNDP, and the U.S. Embassy.
In 2015, this approach expanded into new solutions like Live Love Recycle, applying the same social enterprise model to environmental action and waste management.
At a time when the concept of social enterprises was still largely misunderstood in Lebanon, Live Love actively advocated for it since 2015 with all the groups working on drafting different projects of laws which led to a common presentation of a first draft of law to the Prime minister Saad Hariri in 2018 , since then we’ve been participating in task forces, contributing to early drafts of a national social enterprise law, and continuing to represent the sector through Lebanese Social Enterprise Association (LSEA), where Live Love remains an active board member today. These efforts were informed by global conversations around purpose-driven business, including early thinking on Public Benefit Corporations championed by leaders such as Perry Chen, founder of Kickstarter that was brought to Lebanon to talk about it..

When crisis hit, we were ready
Following the August 4, 2020, Beirut Port explosion, Live Love Lebanon rapidly mobilised and created the beirut relief coalition, coordinating large-scale relief and recovery efforts. The team grew from a dozen people to 52 full-time staff. Over three years, more than $4 million was mobilised for Beirut’s recovery.
In parallel, Live Love played a governance and coordination role at the national level, co-chairing the 3RF (Reform, Recovery and Reconstruction Framework) and contributing firsthand insight into the dynamics between donors, local actors, institutions, and communities.
Throughout this period, Live Love remained transparent and consistent about its hybrid structure, advocating for service-based agreements over inefficient grant models, prioritising accountability, deliverables, and long-term sustainability.

Still here, still building
Live Love Lebanon continues to operate today because it was never built as a short-term response or a traditional NGO dependent on crisis cycles. The social enterprise model, company and NGO working hand in hand, has allowed Live Love to remain independent, agile, and impact-driven.
We believe local actors should be trusted, resourced, and empowered. We believe impact must be measured not only in intention, but in results. And we believe that loving Lebanon means investing in it, responsibly and sustainably.
Live Love Lebanon is, and has always been, about giving and taking: celebrating the country and its people, while building systems that allow this work to last.