The Dawood Foundation (TDF) is a not-for-profit family foundation based in

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. TDF has been working in Pakistan since the 1960s and has been heavily involved in establishing various formal and informal education institutions across the country. TDF is a civil society organisations for promoting social development certified by the

Pakistan Centre for Philanthropy The Pakistan Centre for Philanthropy (PCP) is an independent not-for-profit support organisation based in Islamabad, Pakistan. Founded in 2001, PCP is promoting indigenous philanthropy for social development across the country, and is probably ...

(PCP).

History

The Dawood Foundation (TDF) was founded in 1960 by

Ahmed Dawood Seth Ahmed Dawood (15 March 1899 – 2 January 2002) was a Pakistani industrialist and a philanthropist. Dawood founded several companies and The Dawood Foundation (TDF), which established the Dawood College of Engineering and Technology (renam ...

. It was envisioned to serve as an educational foundation whose main focus was to support and promote educational initiatives in the fields of science, technology, and research.

Board of trustees and leadership

The Foundation is governed by a board of trustees, namely

Hussain Dawood Hussain Dawood (born 20 September 1943) is a Pakistani businessman, investor, educationalist and philanthropist. Dawood is the Chairman of two publicly listed companies in Pakistan: the Dawood Hercules Corporation and Engro Corporation. Dawoo ...

(Co-Chair), Kulsum Dawood (Co-Chair), Sabrina Dawood (Vice-Chairperson), Shahzada Dawood (Trustee), Samad Dawood (Trustee), Christine Dawood (Trustee), Inam Ur Rehman (Trustee), Shafiq Ahmed (Trustee), and

Ghias Khan Ghias Uddin Khan is a Pakistani businessman and entrepreneur who is the 4th and current President and Chief Executive Officer of Engro Corporation. Education Khan received his early education in Karachi, Pakistan. He completed his O-Level from ...

. TDF operates on a daily basis under the leadership of Syed Fasihuddin Biyabani.

Education focus

TDF’s focus and contributions have predominantly been in the area of

formal education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Vari ...

. These informal learning projects have been designed to cater to people from all segments of the society, including those with learning or physical disabilities.

Formal education projects

Dawood College of Engineering & Technology (DCET)
TDF established Dawood College of Engineering & Technology (DCET) in Karachi in 1964 to cater to Pakistan’s growing demand for engineers and technology experts. This was the first major educational project undertaken by the Foundation. DCET was nationalised in 1971. In light of its commendable educational standards and accomplished alumni, DCET was granted the status of a university in 2013 and was renamed as the Dawood University of Engineering & Technology (DUET).

Karachi School of Business and Leadership The Karachi School of Business and Leadership (KSBL) is a premier and HEC recognized independent degree awarding business school located in the heart of Karachi, Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur ...

(KSBL)
The Karachi School of Business and Leadership (KSBL) is an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

graduate

business school A business school is a university-level institution that confers degrees in business administration or management. A business school may also be referred to as school of management, management school, school of business administration, o ...

located in

. The school was established in 2009 through a strategic collaboration between Karachi Education Initiative (KEI) and 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 ...

F. G. Dawood Public School
Federal Government Dawood Public School in

Muzaffarabad Muzaffarabad (; ur, ) is the capital and largest city of Azad Kashmir, and the 60th largest in Pakistan. The city is located in Muzaffarabad District, near the confluence of the Jhelum and Neelum rivers. The district is bounded by the Pak ...

was one of the schools which was destroyed during the

2005 Kashmir earthquake The 2005 Kashmir earthquake occurred at on 8 October in Pakistani-administered Azad Kashmir. It was centred near the city of Muzaffarabad, and also affected nearby Balakot in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and some areas of Indian-administered Jammu and ...

and was reconstructed by TDF. Inaugurated in 2008, the school was renamed as ‘F.G. Dawood Public School’. It caters to approximately 800 to 1000 students up to Matric level. Ahmed Dawood Government High School, Darsano
Ahmed Dawood School was one of the earlier initiatives of the Dawood Trust, later changed to The Dawood Foundation, built in 1959 in Darsano Village which is now a part of

Malir Malir Town ( sd, ملير ٽائون, ur, ) lies in the northern part of the city that was named after the Malir River. History Administrative status 2000 The federal government under introduced local government reforms in the year 2 ...

in Karachi. The school was handed over to the Government and is still operating today. It has around 400 students in the primary and secondary sections. Government Boys B.T.M. High School
To serve the community in the vicinity of the

Burewala Burewala ( Punjabi and ur, ), is a city of Vehari District in Punjab, Pakistan. The city of Burewala is the headquarters of Burewala Tehsil, an administrative subdivision of the district. Ahmed Dawood Chair,

Lahore University of Management Sciences Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) () is a private research university, located in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. In 1983, Syed Babar Ali, a renowned businessman in Pakistan, recognized the shortage of qualified managers in the countr ...

(LUMS)
The Ahmed Dawood Chair was established in 2003 by TDF for the SBA School of Science and Engineering Dean to maintain high standards of faculty and educational leadership at the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS).

Informal education projects

TDF’s informal learning initiatives include popularising science through its umbrella of TDF MagnifiScience, raising awareness about the environment through TDF Nature Series, and promoting informal learning spaces as well as heritage conservation through

TDF Ghar The TDF Ghar (''House in Urdu'') is an informal learning space situated in Karachi, Pakistan. It’s a house constructed in the 1930s and restored as a living museum. The Dawood Foundation (TDF) has retained the heritage architectural features o ...

. TDF MagnifiScience
Since 2016, TDF has been working to promote scientific literacy and thinking as well as increasing STEM (

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is an umbrella term used to group together the distinct but related technical disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The term is typically used in the context of ...

) skills. The Foundation has organised Pakistan’s largest

science exhibitions Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...

, established the first children’s science studio in the country, TDF MagnifiScience Children’s Studio. The studio was closed in September 2021 due to the establishment of a much bigger space, the country's first contemporary and interactive Science Centre, the

MagnifiScience Centre The MagnifiScience Centre (MSC) is an independent science center in Karachi, with a mission to develop among the populace an interest in scientific thinking, scientific literacy, and scientific methods through engagement with interactive exhibi ...

in Karachi. TDF Nature Series
The Foundation launched the TDF Nature Series in 2015 with the aim to raise public awareness about Pakistan’s degrading natural habitat. The series is a collection of documentaries which capture the broad variety of the natural habitats of Pakistan. These documentaries include

Margalla Hills The Margalla Hills () are a hill range within the Margalla Hills National Park on the northern edge of Islamabad Capital Territory, Pakistan, just south of Haripur District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. They are part of the Himalayas, Himalayan foothi ...

—Urban Wilderness, Cliff-walkers of Chitral Gol, Mangroves—Custodians of the Coast, and Frozen Giants of the

Karakoram The Karakoram is a mountain range in Kashmir region spanning the borders of Pakistan, China, and India, with the northwest extremity of the range extending to Afghanistan and Tajikistan. Most of the Karakoram mountain range falls under the ...

. These documentaries are free for public viewing and are screened at schools, public spaces, and film festivals across the country.

TDF Ghar
The Foundation’s informal learning initiatives include

(''Urdu for home''). This is an old building from the 1930s which was restored in 2017 as a ‘living museum’ of the past and an informal learning space. TDF Ghar showcases the myriad influences of cultures and ethnicities that belong or have previously belonged to Karachi. Each piece of furniture depicts the confluence of Muslim, Hindu, Christian, Parsi, and Jewish traditions in a home. TDF Ghar preserves and presents these heritage features to remind people of Karachi as a place of heterogeneity and harmony. At TDF Ghar, exhibitions are also curated about the history of Karachi and different events are hosted that promote art, music, and culture.

Health and disaster relief

As a philanthropic organisation, TDF has also been involved in relief work during

natural disasters A natural disaster is "the negative impact following an actual occurrence of natural hazard in the event that it significantly harms a community". A natural disaster can cause loss of life or damage property, and typically leaves some econo ...

such as the cyclones in

East Pakistan East Pakistan was a Pakistani province established in 1955 by the One Unit Scheme, One Unit Policy, renaming the province as such from East Bengal, which, in modern times, is split between India and Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India ...

in the 1960s, the Kashmir and

Balochistan Balochistan ( ; bal, بلۏچستان; also romanised as Baluchistan and Baluchestan) is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. ...

earthquakes in 2005 and 2008 respectively, the floods of

Sindh Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...

and

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

in 2010, and the Thar drought of 2012. It has also provided financial support to various hospitals and medical projects including the construction of the Al Shifa Eye Trust Hospital and buildings in Aga Khan University Hospital. It is primarily the Dawood Foundation along with the Engro Foundation which disburses the funds of the Hussain Dawood Pledge, one of the biggest private donations and initiatives to fight against the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

pandemic in Pakistan.

References

External links

The Dawood Foundation

Magnificence Centre
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dawood Foundation, The 1960 establishments in Pakistan Dawood Hercules Corporation Educational organisations based in Pakistan Foundations based in Pakistan Non-profit organisations based in Pakistan Organisations based in Karachi Organizations established in 1960