Badr Jafar

Badr Jafar (Arabic: بدر حميد جعفر‎) is an Emirati businessperson, philanthropist and diplomatic advocate. He is the Chief Executive Officer of Crescent Enterprises, a gloabl business conglomerate with operations in ports and logistics, power and engineering. Jafar is also the President of Crescent Enterprises' sister company Crescent Petroleum, an oil and gas company headquartered in the United Arab Emirates. He is the Chairman of Pearl Petroleum, a five-member international consortium for the development of natural gas assets in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, and the Chairman of the Executive Board of Gulftainer, a port operator.[1][2][3][4][5]

Badr Jafar
بدر جعفر
Badr Jafar at the United Nations in 2010
Born (1979-08-09) August 9, 1979
Sharjah, UAE
NationalityUnited Arab Emirates
Alma materEton College
Cambridge University
Spouse(s)Razan Khalifa Al Mubarak
Websitebadrjafar.com

Additionally, he launched the Pearl Initiative in 2010 at the United Nations, a private sector-led initiative to promote corporate governance, accountability and transparency within the Gulf region of the Middle East and the Centre for Strategic Philanthropy at the University of Cambridge.

Recognitions

In 2011, Jafar was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum and is co-chair of the Forum's Family Business Community, a member of their Stewardship Board.[6][7]

He was named one of the 100 most powerful Arabs by Arabian Business in 2019 and 2021.[8][9]

Early life and education

Badr Jafar was born and raised in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. In 1994, he continued his education at Eton College and graduated in 1999 from the University of Cambridge with a master's degree in engineering and additional studies in astrophysics.[10][11] Jafar subsequently attended the Judge Business School at the University of Cambridge.[12][13][14] Jafar is now a member of the Advisory Boards of the University of Cambridge Judge Business School, the American University of Beirut and the American University of Sharjah. He is also a Foundation Fellow of Eton College.[15][16][17][18]

Entrepreneurship

Jafar is Chairman of Endeavor UAE. He is also on the Board of Advisors for Sharjah Entrepreneurship Centre (Sheraa)[19] and Gaza Sky Geeks,[11] a startup accelerator and technology education hub that has assisted 30 start-ups in Gaza.[20][21][22][23] In 2014, Jafar launched the Arab World Social Entrepreneurship Program in partnership with Ashoka, a social entrepreneurship organization, to identify and help scale the region's social businesses.[24][25][26]

In 2011, Jafar partnered with music producer Quincy Jones to create Global Gumbo Group. The group is known for it's entertainment expo, 'Dubai Music Week'.[27]

Social initiatives

In 2010, he launched the Pearl Initiative,[11] a private sector-led non-profit initiative to promote corporate governance, accountability and transparency within the Gulf region of the Middle East.[28][29][30]

In 2011, he launched the Middle East Theatre Academy (META), a non-profit theatre academy.[31][32][33] Jafar and music producer Quincy Jones produced a charity single titled Tomorrow/Bokra,[34] featuring 26 Arab artists, to raise funds for educational arts projects for displaced youth in the Middle East.[35] They will be relaunching Tomorrow/Bokra with new artists for the 10th anniversary. [36]

In 2014, the Kennedy Centre honoured Jafar with a Gold Medal in the Arts in recognition of his efforts with cultural diplomacy to build closer ties between nations and regions.[37]

In 2015, Jafar was appointed by the United Nations Secretary General onto the High Level Panel on Humanitarian Financing, formed "to address the increasing gap between resources and financing for the world's ever-increasing humanitarian needs".[38][39]

In 2018, Jafar joined The Giving Pledge, a philanthropic initiative launched by Bill Gates, Melinda Gates, and Warren Buffett.[40]

In 2019, he was appointed to UNESCO’s Future of Education International Commission.[41]

Launched in 2020, Jafar is the Founding Patron of the Centre for Strategic Philanthropy based at the University of Cambridge.[18][42][43] Jafar is on the Board of Overseers of the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and the advisory board of the US-based Milken Institute for Strategic Philanthropy.[44][45]

Personal life

He is married to Razan Khalifa Al Mubarak, the Managing Director and board member of the Environment Agency Abu Dhabi. They have a daughter.[46][47]

References
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