Badr Jafar

Badr Jafar (Arabic: بدر حميد جعفر‎) is an Emirati business executive and social entrepreneur based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Educated in the UAE and United Kingdom, he is the Managing Director of the Crescent Group, President of Crescent Petroleum, the Crescent Group's oil and gas company; and Chief Executive Officer of Crescent Enterprises, the Crescent Group's conglomerate operating across multiple industry sectors. He is also the Chairperson of Gas Cities – a joint venture between Crescent Petroleum and Dana Gas; Chairperson of Pearl Petroleum – a joint venture between Crescent Petroleum, Dana Gas, OMV, and MOL Group; and Chair of the Executive Board of Gulftainer.^[1][2] Jafar serves as a board member for The Abraaj Group (UAE) and Growthgate Capital (Bahrain).^[2][2][3][4]

In September 2010, Jafar launched the Pearl Initiative at the United Nations headquarters in New York, an initiative in collaboration with the United Nations Office for Partnerships to jointly promote corporate governance, accountability, transparency, and good corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices within the Middle East.^[5][6] In March 2011, Jafar was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.^[7] In recognition of his efforts with cultural diplomacy build closer ties between nations and regions, Jafar was honoured with the Kennedy Centre Gold Medal in the Arts in 2014.^[8]

Early life

Badr Jafar was born in the northern Emirate of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, and lived there until the age of 15, when he entered Eton College in the United Kingdom, before going on to graduate in 1999 from Cambridge University in engineering in 1999, with additional qualifications in astrophysics, followed by a Masters degree from the same university. In 1996, Harvard University awarded Jafar the Harvard Book Award. The Harvard Book Award is presented to students who "display excellence in scholarship and high character, combined with achievements in other fields." Jafar subsequently attended the Cambridge Judge Business School at the University of Cambridge and currently chairs its Alumni Advisory Council.^[3]

Work

After graduation, Badr Jafar forayed into the fashion industry. He was mentored by Tomio Taki, a Japanese textile magnate and one-time owner of Donna Karan and Anne Klein.^[9] He established Collo Fashion that designed, manufactured and distributed neckwear. Within six seasons, Collo Fashion was selling its products in 42 stores across 11 countries. Three years after its launch, Collo Fashion was sold to Asian distributors.

In 2002, Jafar joined the family-owned Crescent Group. In 2005, he became Crescent's Business Development Director, and in 2007 was named an Executive Director of Crescent Petroleum ^[3] Jafar is currently Managing Director of the Crescent Group, President of Crescent Petroleum, and Chief Executive Officer of Crescent Enterprises.

In March 2011, Badr Jafar was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum,^[7] and in September later that year, he was appointed as Vice Chair of the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on Energy Security.^[10]

In late 2011, Jafar launched the Global Gumbo Group with music producer Quincy Jones, to develop multimedia opportunities across all entertainment platforms, including music, film, television, publishing and digital applications, in the Middle East and North Africa.^[11] In 2013, Global Gumbo Group launched its inaugural Dubai Music Week, the first music industry convention in the MENA region, bringing together music labels, artists and merchants, culminating in a week of innovations, panels and live concerts from artists from across the world.

Social activism

Badr Jafar currently serves as Ex-Officio Chair of the Emirates Chapter of the Young Presidents' Organization, a global non-profit network of chief executives. He is a member of the Global Board for Education for Employment and is a Founding Board Member of Endeavor, UAE. Jafar serves as a member of the Synergos Arab World Social Innovators Board of Governors. Jafar also sits on the Global Honorary Board of the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, an organization working towards developing sustainable solutions for female entrepreneurs.

Badr Jafar is a member of the International Advisory Board of the Cambridge Judge Business School.^[3] In January 2011, he was voted in to Chair its Alumni Advisory Council.^[12] Jafar also serves on the Advisory Board of the School of Business and Management at the American University of Sharjah, and is a member of the Research and Innovation Advisory Council for The Centre of Excellency for Applied Research and Training (CERT) at the Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT) in Abu Dhabi.

In June 2010, New York's CITYarts, Inc. honoured Jafar with the Making a Difference through the Arts award for "his outstanding philanthropic leadership within the private sector, and in particular his commitment and support towards children's rights."^[13]

In September 2010, Jafar launched the Pearl Initiative at the United Nations headquarters in New York — an initiative in collaboration with the United Nations Office for Partnerships to jointly promote corporate governance, accountability, transparency, and good corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices within the Middle East.^[5][13]

In February 2011, Hollywood actor Kevin Spacey launched a non-profit theatre academy in the Middle East together with Badr Jafar.^[12] The Middle East Theatre Academy (META) is a joint project with the Kevin Spacey Foundation, to provide a platform to nurture young actors, directors, and producers from the Middle East, and showcase their talent internationally.^[12] META recently launched Home Grown, the region's first innovative philanthropic programme in the Middle East to discover young artistic talent in the performing arts, and provide creative opportunities to youth in the region through intensive workshops and the production of a theatrical production in Arabic and English performed publicly.^[14]

On May 26, 2011, Badr Jafar and Quincy Jones jointly executive produced an Arabic charity single titled Tomorrow/Bokra, presented by international dancer Shakira, and featuring Akon, and 26 Arabic artists including Kadim Al Sahir, and Tamer Hosny to help raise money to fund educational arts projects for disadvantaged youth in the Middle East and North Africa.^[15] The Tomorrow/Bokra song and music video was released by Sony Music at a launch event in Dubai on 11 November 2011, and topped Arab and international Virgin charts in the Middle East for four weeks, and prompted over 11,000,000 views on YouTube.^[16] A documentary called Bokra The Film detailing the making of the song and music video, and the impact of the resulting arts programs in partnership with Save The Children for youth in the region was launched at Dubai International Film Festival on 17th December 2014. The film was directed by the Emirati filmmaker Ahmed Abdulqader and produced by Ali F. Mostafa, Badr Jafar, and Quincy Jones.

Honours

• International Achievement – Arabian Business Awards (2014)^[17]
• Male Champion of Change – Women In Leadership Achievement Awards (2014)
• Energy Executive of the Year – Oil&Gas Middle East Awards (2014)^[18]
• Gold Medal in the Arts by The Kennedy Centre International Committee on Arts (2014)^[19]
• Philanthropist of the Year – Campden Middle East Philanthropy Awards (2013)^[20]
• Entrepreneur of the Year – Esquire's 2013 Awards^[21]
• Young Global leader, World Economic Forum (2011)^[7]
• Making a Difference through the Arts (2010) ^[13]
• Middle East's Energy CEO of the year award (2010).^[22]
• Young CEO of the Year – 2009 Middle East CEO Awards (2009)^[1]

See also

• Crescent Petroleum
• Tomorrow-Bokra
• Pearl Initiative
• Gulftainer

References

External links

• Pearl Initiative