Badr Jafar (Arabic: بدر حميد جعفر‎) is an Emirati businessperson and philanthropist.

Overview

He is the Chief Executive Officer of Crescent Enterprises, a conglomerate headquartered in the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia ( The Middle East). It is located at t ...

with operations in ports and logistics, power and engineering, and

venture capital Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to start-up company, startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth poten ...

. Jafar is also the President of Crescent Enterprises' sister company Crescent Petroleum. He is the Chairman of Pearl Petroleum, a five-member international consortium for the development of

natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...

assets in the

Kurdistan Region of Iraq Kurdistan Region ( ku, هەرێمی کوردستان, translit=Herêmî Kurdistan; ar, إقليم كردستان), abbr. KRI, is an autonomous region in Iraq comprising the four Kurdish-majority governorates of Erbil, Sulaymaniyah, Duhok ...

, and the Chairman of the Executive Board of

Gulftainer Gulftainer is a port operator with its corporate head office in the United Arab Emirates. It was established in 1976. History Gulftainer was formed in 1976 to manage and operate the Sharjah Container Terminal (SCT) on behalf of the Sharjah Port ...

, a port and logistics operator. Jafar is the Founder of the Pearl Initiative, an organization that promotes corporate governance, accountability and transparency within the

Gulf region The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The body ...

of the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

, launched in 2010 at the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

. In 2011, Jafar was named a

Young Global Leader Forum of Young Global Leaders, or Young Global Leaders (YGL), was created by Klaus Schwab, founder of the World Economic Forum. The YGL, a non-profit organization managed from Geneva, Switzerland, is under the supervision of the Swiss government ...

by the

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental and lobbying organisation based in Cologny, canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab. The foundation, ...

and is a member of its Stewardship Board. He was named one of the 100 most powerful Arabs by Arabian Business and Gulf Business in 2019 and 2021.

Early life and education

Badr Jafar was born and raised in

Sharjah Sharjah (; ar, ٱلشَّارقَة ', Gulf Arabic: ''aš-Šārja'') is the third-most populous city in the United Arab Emirates, after Dubai and Abu Dhabi, forming part of the Dubai-Sharjah-Ajman metropolitan area. Sharjah is the capital ...

in the United Arab Emirates. In 1994, he continued his education at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, ...

and graduated in 1999 from the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...

with a master's degree in engineering and additional studies in astrophysics. Jafar subsequently attended the

Cambridge Judge Business School Cambridge Judge Business School is the business school of the University of Cambridge. The School is a provider of management education. It is named after Sir Paul Judge, a founding benefactor of the school. The School is considered to be par ...

. Jafar is currently a member of the advisory boards of the Cambridge Judge Business School, the American University of Beirut and the

American University of Sharjah American University of Sharjah (abbreviated AUS; ar, الجامعة الأمريكية في الشارقة) is a private university in the United Arab Emirates. It was founded in 1997 by Sultan bin Muhammad Al-Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and ...

. He is also a Foundation Fellow of Eton College.

Other work

Jafar is Chairman of Endeavor UAE. He is also on the Board of Advisors fo
Sharjah Entrepreneurship Centre
(Sheraa) and Gaza Sky Geeks, a startup accelerator and technology education hub in Gaza. In 2011, he partnered with music producer

Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (born March 14, 1933) is an American record producer, musician, songwriter, composer, arranger, and film and television producer. His career spans 70 years in the entertainment industry with a record of 80 Grammy Award n ...

to create ''Global Gumbo Group'' to develop music and arts ventures in the Middle East. The group launched Dubai Music Week in 2013. In 2014, he launched the Arab World Social Entrepreneurship Program in partnership with

Ashoka Ashoka (, ; also ''Asoka''; 304 – 232 BCE), popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was the third emperor of the Maurya Empire of Indian subcontinent during to 232 BCE. His empire covered a large part of the Indian subcontinent, s ...

, a social entrepreneurship organization, aimed at identifying and scaling the region's social businesses. In January 2023, he was appointed as COP28 representative for business and philanthropy.

Philanthropy

In 2011, Jafar launched the Middle East Theatre Academy (META), a non-profit theatre academy. In the same year, Jafar and music producer Quincy Jones produced a charity single titled '' Tomorrow/Bokra'' (

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

: بكرا) featuring 26 Arab artists, to raise funds for educational arts projects for displaced youth in the Middle East. They announced the relaunch of ''Tomorrow/Bokra'' with new artists for its 10th anniversary. In 2014, the

Kennedy Centre The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the Potom ...

honored Jafar with a Gold Medal in the Arts "in recognition of his efforts with cultural diplomacy to build closer ties between nations and regions". In 2015, he was appointed by the

United Nations Secretary General The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or SG) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the six principal organs of the United Nations. The role of the secretary-g ...

onto the High Level Panel on Humanitarian Financing, formed "to address the increasing gap between resources and financing for the world's humanitarian needs". In 2018, Jafar and his wife joined

The Giving Pledge The Giving Pledge is a campaign to encourage extremely wealthy people to contribute a majority of their wealth to philanthropic causes. , the pledge has 236 signatories from 28 countries. Most of the signatories of the pledge are billionaires, a ...

, a philanthropic initiative launched by

Bill Gates William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American business magnate and philanthropist. He is a co-founder of Microsoft, along with his late childhood friend Paul Allen. During his career at Microsoft, Gates held the positions ...

Melinda Gates Melinda French Gates (born Melinda Ann French; August 15, 1964) is an American philanthropist and former multimedia product developer and manager at Microsoft. French Gates has consistently been ranked as one of the world's most powerful women ...

, and

Warren Buffett Warren Edward Buffett ( ; born August 30, 1930) is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is currently the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He is one of the most successful investors in the world and has a net ...

. In 2019, he was appointed to

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

’s Futures of Education International Commission. Jafar is the Founding Patron of th
Centre for Strategic Philanthropy
based at the University of Cambridge, which was launched in 2020. In September 2021, Jafar announced the launch of the Strategic Philanthropy Initiative at

New York University Abu Dhabi New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD, ar, جامعة نيويورك أبوظبي) is a degree granting, portal campus of New York University serving as a private, liberal arts college, located in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Together with ...

to promote philanthropy within the

MENA MENA, an acronym in the English language, refers to a grouping of countries situated in and around the Middle East and North Africa. It is also known as WANA, SWANA, or NAWA, which alternatively refers to the Middle East as Western Asia (or a ...

region. Jafar is on the board of advisors of the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and the US-based

Milken Institute The Milken Institute is an independent economic think tank based in Santa Monica, California with offices in Washington, DC, New York, Miami, London, Abu Dhabi, and Singapore. It publishes research and hosts conferences that apply market-based p ...

for Strategic Philanthropy.

Personal life

He is married to

Razan Khalifa Al Mubarak Razan Khalifa Al Mubarak ( ar, رزان خليفة المبارك) is the Managing Director of the Environment Agency Abu Dhabi (EAD), and the Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund as well as the current president of the International Un ...

, the Managing Director of the Environment Agency Abu Dhabi and the current President of the

International Union for the Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natura ...

(IUCN). They have a daughter.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jafar, Badr Living people 1979 births People from the Emirate of Sharjah Emirati businesspeople Emirati chief executives Emirati people of Iraqi descent Alumni of the University of Cambridge Giving Pledgers 21st-century philanthropists People educated at Eton College