MBI Al Jaber Foundation
MBI Trust at the School of Oriental and African Studies, SOAS
During the mid-90s, MBI Al Jaber recognised the need for a high-profile international forum for the study and understanding of the Middle East. He envisaged a centre of expertise and resources for academics as well as for the world of business, government, the media and NGOs. He set about the realisation of his aim by founding the MBI Trust at SOAS, where he initiated a scholarship programme aimed at nurturing leadership skills in young Arabs through studying at elite institutions in London. As founding patron of the London Middle East Institute at SOAS in 2000, MBI Al Jaber endowed the MBI Al Jaber Chair in Middle Eastern Studies and the Directorship of LMEI, which is directed by the MBI Al Jaber Chair.
The MBI Al Jaber Foundation
The MBI Al Jaber Foundation is a British Registered Charity, and has offices on the 5th Floor, 78 Wigmore Street, London. MBI Al Jaber is founder, Chairman and sole patron of the MBI Al Jaber Foundation, which emerged out of the MBI Trust's scholarship programme at the London Middle East Institute and quickly expanded to include programmes at elite institutions of higher education, including the American University of Cairo, the American University of Beirut, University College London, the London School of Economics, University of Westminster and other prominent universities in the UK and Europe.
Forging Partnerships
The main focus of the MBI Al Jaber Foundation is on educational and cultural projects, with a concentration on forging partnerships rather than simply giving grants. The Chairman, Trustees and administrators are a resource in themselves, in that they all possess specialist areas of knowledge which are used to assess applications for projects and to reach out to a network of like-minded institutions.
The project-based part of the MBI Al Jaber Foundation is continually increasing, and in addition to sponsoring academic conferences and cultural events, it has supported a range of activities from theatrical performances and art exhibitions to a Saudi/British arctic expedition.
Encouraging a greater understanding and awareness
In addition to being a grant giving organization, the Foundation views itself as a hub of knowledge and strives to create an environment in which to bring people together in the name of greater understanding and awareness of one another’s cultures. Through the Foundation’s long-standing scholarship programme, it encourages outstanding individuals who are committed to making a real difference within the region. The MBI Al Jaber Foundation Alumni body reaches from Yemen to Morocco and is active in contributing to their respective communities, countries and the region as a whole.
