Shaping Philanthropy

Muna Al Gurg has blazed a trail for Emirati women in both philanthropy and business.
The vice chair and director of retail at the Easa Saleh Al Gurg Group, Muna plays a leading role in her family’s Easa Saleh Al Gurg Charitable Foundation and earlier this year, she launched her own philanthropic initiative.
Meem Foundation aims to bridge gender gaps, creating more economic opportunity and better access to both the workplace and health care for women and girls in the MENA region.In this interview, one of her first since launching Meem, Muna shares details about her scholarships for women at the London Business School, funding for Ureed.com to train women in the Northern Emirates in artificial intelligence and data annotation, and her support for a maternity hospital in the West Bank.
“Our vision is a world where all women and girls can achieve their ambitions,” Muna tells our host, Anissa Punjani. “Our goal is to find innovative, entrepreneurial approaches to address the unique challenges faced by women and girls in the region.”

Research – and funding for research – will be central to Meem’s work. Referring to a 2022 IMF study, Muna points out that while global investment into R&D has increased, in MENA its percentage of GDP is falling below global averages.
“With a young and fast growing population, this is the greatest risk the region faces today,” she says. “At Meem Foundation, we are looking for investments into MENA ideas that are relevant to the region and therefore also investing in their intellectual property.”
During the wide-ranging interview, Muna also reflects on how her late father, Easa Saleh Al Gurg, has influenced her giving, recalling how he would return from overseas trips and share albums with the family showing them pictures of his charity work.

Muna, who is also a founding board member of Endeavour UAE and an investor with Mindshift Capital, a gender-lens venture fund, and sits on various other charitable boards, cites her key values as: integrity; courage; personal growth; and innovation.

Sharing learnings from along her philanthropic journey, Muna reflects on the importance of listening to beneficiaries. “One of the biggest lessons that I've learnt over the years is that it’s really important to understand what beneficiaries need rather than dictate to them what they need,” she says. “Once you come to that understanding, and you're calm in your listening and getting that data out of them, you can create the best programmes and create the best impact.”

Muna also underlines the importance of sustainability and explains why philanthropy isn’t just about writing a cheque but rather seeing a project through its lifetime to ensure lasting impact.

Find out more about Meem Foundation here.

Discover more interviews like this at www.CircleMena.org

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Circle is a partnership between Philanthropy Age and the Pearl Initiative. It is supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

A philanthropist, an entrepreneur, and a humanitarian diplomat, Lynn Zovighian wears many hats - and all of them passionately.
In this wide-ranging interview for Circle, Lynn joins us down the line from Beirut (where the internet connection is not totally stable) to tell us about her personal philanthropic journey and what drives her to work with crisis-affected communities in Lebanon, Iraq, and the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Armenia.

Speaking to our host, Anissa Punjani, Lynn stresses the importance of community engagement, outlines why philanthropists need to work collaboratively with the people they are trying to help if they are to succeed, and calls on donors to relinquish their power.

Lynn also digs into the details of "Grounded in tradition, looking to the future”, a first-of-its-kind data report exploring next-gen giving trends in the MENA region, produced by Lynn’s Zovighian Partnership (ZP), in partnership with the Pearl Initiative.

One such trend was that when next-gen women are in positions on power in their family businesses and foundations, they are more like to support women and girls. But when men hold those positions, women and girls are not getting funding.

The data also revealed that many next-gen donors are choosing to give independently of their family vehicles. “They are personalising their giving and bringing in an entrepreneurial drive to their giving,” Lynn explains. “This is very different to our more anecdotal and our more traditional understanding of philanthropy in the region.”

As well as highlighting the findings from the report, Lynn makes the case for more support for research initiatives to create “grounded data” that can inform future giving and identify gaps in the philanthropic ecosystem.

In a heartfelt message to philanthropists starting out on their giving journey, Lynn concludes by saying: “Whatever you do, it's going to make a difference... Do not be overwhelmed by the magnanimous nature of the causes that you are serving, because every little help counts. Do not believe that you can save the world, but believe and know that you can make a difference then focus on your areas of excellence.”
Read Lynn's Circle article about the importance of data here.
For more about the ZP / Pearl Initiative research report, click here.

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Circle is a partnership between Philanthropy Age and the Pearl Initiative. It is supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

How did Covid-19 change philanthropy in the Global South?
Reimagining philanthropy in the Global South: from analysis to action in a post-Covid world is a new book that tackles this very question. Join one of its editors, Clare Woodcraft, to find out more about the lessons learned, and how global south philanthropists are rewriting the giving playbook.
"We wanted to contribute to the new discourse around shifting the power balance from the Global North to the Global South and give an opportunity not just for us as researchers, academics to talk about it, but also for practitioners to talk about it," Clare explains to our host, Anissa Punjani.
Clare, a former CEO of Emirates Foundation, and until recently the executive director of the centre for Strategic Philanthropy at the University of Cambridge Judge Business School, also gives her views on the state of Arab philanthropy, and the exciting developments she's seeing in the region, from innovative next gen strategies, to new partnerships and collaborations.
Reimagining philanthropy in the Global South: from analysis to action in a post-Covid world, edited by Clare Woodcraft, Kamal Munir, and Nitya Mohan Khemka, was published by Cambridge University Press in February 2024. Contributing authors include: Naina Subberwal Batra; Olivia Leland; Silvia Bastante de Unverhau; Natasha M. Matic; Maysa Jalbout; Katy Bullard; and Deval Sanghvi.
Read Clare's piece for Circle about de-mystifying impact assessment here.

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Circle is a partnership between Philanthropy Age and the Pearl Initiative. It is supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Shaping Philanthropy is a new podcast from Circle shining light on philanthropy and CSR in the Arab region and beyond. It is a new space to share ideas and inspiration for donors as they explore new pathways and strategies for effective giving.
Produced by Philanthropy Age and hosted by Anissa Punjani, the manager of the Governance in Philanthropy programme at Pearl Initiative, Shaping Philanthropy will give a platform to regional philanthropists, CSR professionals, and nonprofit thought leaders.

Join us for deep-dive conversations where we unpack the meaning of philanthropy and discuss practical steps for better giving and achieving deeper impact.

Shaping Philanthropy is a must-listen for anyone interested in learning more about philanthropy in the Arab region and / or those looking to shape their own giving strategies.

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Circle is a partnership between Philanthropy Age and the Pearl Initiative. It is supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Fadi Ghandour is a leading Arab entrepreneur, philanthropist, and social activist.
The founder of logistics company Aramex and start-up accelerator and investment platform Wamda, Fadi is also the brains behind Ruwwad, a pioneering nonprofit community development organisation engaging the private sector to work with disenfranchised communities in Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon and Palestine.
In this wide-ranging interview, he outlines why he favours "entrepreneurial engagement" over "passive grant giving" and the importance of grassroots community engagement and platform building.
UAE-based Fadi makes the case for long-term partnerships over box-ticking and explains why giving is about more than money.
"Change takes a long time, nothing happens overnight. You need to be in it for the long-term, you cannot just hit and run," he says. "You start with trying. Don't be afraid of the errors. Take the first step. The errors are where you learn and then you pivot... that's that's the "can do" mentality."
And he adds: "This is not about how much capital you have. This is about taking the initiative to go out and do... You don't need to solve the problems of the world with what you do, but solve a problem within your community, that's good enough."

Fadi also talks to our host, Anissa Punjani, about the war in Gaza and the needs of people in the West Bank and he calls on regional donors and businesses to think urgently about the "day after" and how they can help rebuild Palestinian lives and businesses.
Other topics covered in the interview include Fadi's optimism for the "new-gen" of regional philanthropists and the influence of his father, Ali Ghandour.
Find out more about Fadi Ghandour and the work of Ruwwad at Circle.

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Circle is a partnership between Philanthropy Age and the Pearl Initiative. It is supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.