The Asfari Foundation

The Asfari Foundation was established in 2006 by Syrian British businessman Ayman Asfari and his wife, Sawsan Asfari. Since then, the Foundation has invested over £60 million in the Levant region and the UK, to primarily strengthen the sustainability of a resilient civil society infrastructure and empower youth through education, innovation, and entrepreneurship. As a philanthropic family foundation, we believe we are leading the way in this regard.

At the Asfari Foundation, partnerships are the cornerstone of our approach and we firmly believe in the transformative power of collaboration. In a world riddled with complex challenges, we understand that no single entity can address them in isolation. Hence, we actively seek out, support, and collaborate with like-minded partners who share our vision for a more equitable and inclusive world. It is our belief that by uniting our strengths, we can catalyze meaningful change and drive long-term impact. 

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Get to know us!

The Asfari Foundation is a UK-based grant-making charity set up by Ayman and Sawsan Asfari in 2006. The Foundation focuses its efforts in the Levant and UK.

Copyrights: ECD Lebanon

The Asfari Foundation is a UK-based grant-making charity set up by Ayman and Sawsan Asfari in 2006. The Foundation focuses its efforts in the Levant and UK.

The Foundation's impactful grant-making programs serve as a catalyst for sustaining a robust and empowered civil society infrastructure, as well as nurturing innovative young leaders. With the ability to lead positive transformational change in their communities and countries, these inspiring individuals are poised to make a real difference.

In partnership with esteemed collaborators, the Foundation is unwavering in its commitment to achieving its ultimate goal: creating a more equitable world where every person has the chance to improve their lives, invest in their communities, and help shape the future of their nations.

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Who Are We

A message from the founders of the Asfari Foundation

Letter from Ayman and Sawsan Asfari

We met away from our home countries and settled in England decades ago.  We are both keenly aware of how fortunate we have been in escaping the tragedy and destruction caused by war, occupation and poor governance.  We also realise the importance of a strong civil society and the rule of law, of exposure to diversity and tolerance and the lasting impact of a good education.

We established the Asfari Foundation in 2006, after years of reactive giving.  We wanted to create a long-term impact that focuses on the issues we felt most passionately about – education, and the building of a strong civil society which is the foundation for any fair, resilient, sustainable and productive society.

We are proud of what the Foundation has accomplished in its short life.  Whilst there is no limit to what should be done, especially in the countries we originally came from, through our partners we have provided scholarships, fellowships and training to hundreds of young people across the UK and the Middle East, established the Asfari Centre for Civil Society and Citizenship at the American University in Beirut and provided relief and education to tens of thousands of Syrians, displaced following the recent uprising, to name just a few programmes.

Young people deserve a good education and the right to live in tolerant and pluralistic societies.  So much ability cannot be wasted.  Hope for a better life will not die in the face of today’s grim realities, especially in the Middle East.  We want to play a small role in realising the potential of the youth, to make manifest our shared dreams of a safer, more inclusive and happier tomorrow.

-Ayman and Sawsan Asfari

Vision

The Foundation's vision is to create a world where justice is the norm, and every person has an equal opportunity to transform their lives, invest in their communities, and shape the future of their countries. With this vision at the forefront, the Foundation is committed to making a positive impact on society.

Mission

To fulfill this mission, the Foundation invests in and supports a resilient and empowered civil society infrastructure and innovative youth leaders. By doing so, the Foundation aims to create a transformative and positive change in communities and countries.

Values

The Foundation's values guide every aspect of its work.

Passion is the driving force behind the Foundation's efforts, as it strives to make a meaningful difference in the communities it serves.

Diversity and Inclusivity and its importance is vastly recognised in the foundation and works diligently to ensure all its partners are treated equally and fairly.

Partnership is also critical to the Foundation's approach. It values listening to its partners, sharing learning experiences, and creating connections to improve its work and that of its partners.

Excellence is what the Foundation strives for in all that it does and works hard to uphold a high level of professionalism and quality in partnership with its collaborators.

Fairness is placed with great importance within the Foundation. It aims to be transparent and open about its successes and failures, and it expects the same level of honesty and fairness from its partners. By adhering to these values, the Foundation ensures that its work is always conducted with integrity and the highest standards.

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Our Trustees

The Board of Trustees at The Asfari Foundation is a diverse and accomplished group of individuals committed to advancing the Foundation's mission of creating positive social change in the Levant. Led by its Chairman, Ayman Asfari, the Board brings together experts from a range of fields, including education, philanthropy, business, and civil society.

Ayman Asfari

Born in Syria, son of a Syrian Diplomat,  Ayman lived in Turkey and Czechia in his early life before completing his education in Aleppo, Syria. Having gained an MSc in Civil and Urban Engineering in 1980 from the University of Pennsylvania,  Ayman started his early career in Oman as a project engineer for a civil construction business.  Followed by 10 years managing a major civil and mechanical consulting co with focus on supporting the emerging oil and gas industry. 

In 1991 Ayman led Petrofac Ltd from a small US-based Oil and Gas company to a successful initial public offering (IPO) in 2005.  He stepped down in 2020, but remains on the Board of Directors, and Petrofac’s largest shareholder. In 2021 Ayman founded Venterra plc supporting the offshore wind industry’s rapid expansion, and he serves as it’s Executive Chairman. 

In 2010, Ayman was heralded Ernst & Young’s UK Entrepreneur of the Year and, in both 2011 and 2012, he was named Oil Services Executive of the Year at the World National Oil Company Congress. He was elected a fellow of the Energy Institute and a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in the UK.   

It was in 2006 that Ayman, along with his wife Sawsan, founded the Asfari Foundation to provide educational opportunities for young Middle Eastern scholars, and to promote civil society in the Arab world.  He serves as the Chairman of the Foundation and is its principle benefactor.    More recently Ayman established Madaniya, a Syrian led and funded initiative, independent of political and foreign influence aimed at supporting the Syrian civic space, where he is now serving as Chairman. 

Ayman is a member of the Board of Trustees for The American University of Beirut (AUB). He serves Panel of Senior Advisors for Chatham House and he also serves on the Board of Trustees for Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.  

Sawsan Asfari

Sawsan Asfari is a trustee and co-founder of the Asfari Foundation, and is an executive director of the Galilee Foundation, which supports the development of the Palestinian community in Israel.

Sawsan is active in various other charities and is a board member of the US Middle East Project. She co-founded the film production company Cactus World Films.

Adeeb Asfari

Adeeb is the Co-Founder of Energy Growth Momentum, a growth capital fund focused on investing in digital solutions as an enabler of sustainable energy infrastructure.

 Previously he was an investment professional at First Reserve Momentum, a platform with a focus on upstream equipment and services. He previously spent five years with Simmons & Company, a corporate finance advisory, having worked in Aberdeen, Oslo, and Dubai.

Adeeb holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and a BA in Economics from the University of Nottingham.

Kareem Asfari

Kareem Asfari is a junior legal associate with Guernica 37 Chambers with a focus on accountability for human rights abuses.

He holds an LLM in international law from SOAS, an MPhil in English Studies from the University of Cambridge.

John Ferguson

Formerly financial director of Shell Syria, John Ferguson has extensive experience of senior financial management.

Now retired, he is a trustee of several charities working in the Arab world and is a member of the Charity and Voluntary Group of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

Marwan Muasher

Marwan Muasher is vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment, where he oversees the Endowment’s research in Washington and Beirut on the Middle East. Muasher served as foreign minister (2002–2004) and deputy prime minister (2004–2005) of Jordan, and his career has spanned the areas of diplomacy, development, civil society, and communications. He was also a senior fellow at Yale University in 2010-2011. He was senior vice president of external affairs at the World Bank from 2007 to 2010.

He is the author of The Arab Center: The Promise of Moderation (Yale University Press, 2008), and The Second Arab Awakening and the Battle for Pluralism (Yale University Press, 2014). He is a member of the American University of Beirut Board of Trustees, Chair of an international jury on Global Pluralism Award, given bi-annually by the Global Centre on Pluralism in Canada, an ex-member of the Global Centre for Pluralism Board of Directors, and a member of the Asfari Foundation Board of Trustees.

Rasha Elmasry

Rasha Elmasry is a jewellery designer based in London. She earned a BA in journalism from New York University and a publishing certificate from Radcliffe College. Rasha worked for various magazine titles for many years before leaving the corporate world to focus on her family.

Rasha has been supportive of several organizations that help Syrian refugees. In London she came across Syrian refugee children at Newman Catholic College in need of academic support. With Newman's help, she organized an academic camp and helped recruit volunteer teachers in English, math and science. She also serves as Board chair of Karam Foundation, a US based organization that provides innovative education to Syrian youth, and supports families in Istanbul and the Hatay region of Turkey.

Rasha also volunteers with Human Rights Watch London dinner committee and was instrumental in launching the annual dinner auction.

Saba Almubaslat

Saba Almubaslat is the Regional Director of Middle East and North Africa. She has more than 25 years of international development and humanitarian response and experience with special focus on youth and women participation and civil society empowerment, particularly in the Global South. 
 
Prior to joining Ford, Saba was Chief Executive Officer of The Asfari Foundation, where she provided grants to ensure civil society organizational resilience and professionalization in the Middle East, as well as creating incubators and accelerators for youth innovation and entrepreneurship in the region.. She previously served as the Chief Executive Officer of the Humanitarian Leadership Academy, a subsidiary of Save the Children UK, where she oversaw the establishment of a network of 6 regional hubs in the Global South, focusing mainly on the designing and documentation of indigenous learning and knowledge at the local level, positioning local partners and connecting them to global decision makers as well as democratizing access to contextualized knowledge. Before that, Saba was with Save the Children International for 15 years, her last position was the Country Director in Jordan, leading the Syria Crisis Response and leading a consortium of INGOs to ensure coordination and responsiveness to affected populations, both from refugees and host communities.  

Saba has a Master’s Degree in Education from Framingham University, MBA in Executive Leadership, and a bachelor’s degree in Engineering from Jordan University.  

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Our Team

The Asfari Foundation's dedicated team of professionals has worked tirelessly to make a difference in the lives of individuals and communities.

Muna Abbas

Chief Executive Officer

Muna Abbas has more than 25 years of experience in the humanitarian and development sectors. Prior to joining The Asfari Foundation as Chief Executive Officer, Muna was the Country Director for Plan International in Jordan. She built programs to support both Jordanian and refugee communities across the country. Muna established a wide network of International Organizations, including Civil Society Organizations and Government Institutions with strong links to regional and global efforts playing a strong role in advocating for gender equality, girls’ and women’s rights, and youth empowerment. She also worked with Save the Children and UNRWA to design and lead programs responding to humanitarian needs of refugees and affected crises populations in the Middle East.

Anas Darkaoui

Director: Civil Society, Partnerships & Engagement

Anas joined the Foundation in 2015. He is a passionate international development and civil society practitioner and consultant with 20 years of experience in the non-profit sector supporting positive social change. He has a solid record of managing NGOs and grant processes and promoting organisational development, localisation, and sustainability. Anas has a BA in Economics from Damascus University, an MA in Youth and International Development from Brunel University and an MSc in International Management from Exeter University. Anas is a qualified personal performance coach.

Abdulrahman Alhalawani

Director of Programmes & Innovation

Abdulrahman joined the Foundation in 2016. He has worked on international development in the US, the Middle East and India, focusing on relief programmes, youth empowerment, social inclusion and mobilisation, and gender justice. In particular, he has worked on education and employment policies in Saudi Arabia, and on refugee response programmes in Jordan. Abdulrahman has a BSc in Computer Programming from the University of Jordan, a Post Graduate Diploma in NGO Management from Amity University in India, and an MA in Sustainable International Development from Brandeis University in the USA.

Shereen Daoud

Operations Manager

Shereen joined the Foundation in 2017. She has more than 20 years’ experience in business administration, operations, and project management working in various sectors including corporate and higher education. At the Foundation, Shereen is responsible for development and oversight of business governance framework for effective management of daily operations and regulatory compliance.

Mohamed Eisa

Grants & Awards Manager

Mohamed joined the Foundation in this role in 2019, having previously worked with the Foundation as a consultant. He has a varied background, having worked as a medical doctor in the NHS, a private tutor and, prior to joining the Foundation, as a Corporate Social Responsibility and Communication Specialist in a technology start-up company. Mohamed has previous experience of the UK third sector having served as a trustee for a youth performing arts charity (Albert & Friends Instant Circus) for 5 years.


Momodou Darboe

Financial Controller

Momodou joined the Foundation in 2020. An experienced member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), with an MSc in Accounting with Finance from London South Bank University, he has over seven years of extensive experience and a strong background in all areas of accounting systems, acquired through managing the financial affairs of both private and third sector organisations in West Africa and the UK. His role involves maintaining proper financial systems, day-to-day bookkeeping, overseeing spending on project budgets, financial management, reporting and compliance. Momodou has also volunteered and served as a trustee, board member and Honorary Treasurer overseeing the finances for the Restorative Justice Council (RJC, a UK registered charity).

Rania Ali

Communications Officer

Rania Ali is a Syrian journalist, filmmaker, public speaker, and human rights defender known for her impactful contributions to documenting the Syrian refugee crisis. Beginning as a freelance reporter, Ali covered the ongoing conflict in Syria, where she documented human rights violations in her hometown of Raqqa.

Since then, Ali has continued to work as a journalist and filmmaker, with the Guardian, BBC, and other media outlets, covering humanitarian issues and advocating for human rights. She has spoken at various forums and platforms to raise awareness of the situation in Syria and the need for international support. Ali has also worked with international organisations like Amnesty International, the United Nations, IFOUND, and Terre Des Hommes as a project manager, campaigner, and multimedia specialist.

Her work has earned her numerous awards, and she holds a degree in International Relations and Development studies. Currently, Ali serves as the Creative Coordinator for Madaniya and Communications Officer for The Asfari Foundation while expanding her work as a freelance filmmaker and peace-building experience.

Nada Hamad

Programs Officer

Nada Hamad is a Jordanian professional with extensive experience in the humanitarian and development sectors. She has a profound background in working with refugees and children and adults at risk in Jordan in addition to a proven track record of success in programmes management and networking.

She has joined the Asfari team recently as a programmes officer based in Jordan to support the program implementation in the Levant region using the set of skills she gained throughout her voluntary journey and career path.

Nada graduated from the University of Jordan with a bachelor’s degree in Spanish and English and then immediately joined the Lazord Fellowship for one year. During her fellowship year, Nada was part of a team that conducted groundbreaking research on period poverty among women in Jordan. She played a key role in analyzing the data and presenting the findings to stakeholders, and the research ultimately received widespread recognition and media coverage.

Nada hopes to make a change through the foundation’s programmes and support communities by providing them with the necessary tools in the 21st century.

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Where we work

As a small family foundation with limited resources, we choose carefully where to focus our efforts to deliver the best possible impact with our funds. In our current strategy (2018 – 2022), we focus our efforts predominantly in the Levant and UK.

As a small family foundation with limited resources, we choose carefully where to focus our efforts to deliver the best possible impact with our funds. In our current strategy (2018 – 2022), we focus our efforts predominantly in the Levant and UK. However, we recognise that the knowledge, practices, and innovations developed by civil society organisations (CSOs) in this regional context can have real value for communities in the wider MENA region and beyond. We aim to make this accessible to all who might benefit, regardless of geography.

Our Key Target Countries and Communities:

Syria and Syrians. We remain deeply concerned about the situation in Syria, about the impact of the crisis on Syrians and host communities in Lebanon and Jordan, and the prospects for the development of a just, prosperous, pluralistic and secular society in Syria. We will therefore concentrate a significant amount of our resources on supporting organisations addressing these challenges, and on building the foundations for such a society. We will not work with Syrian refugees outside Syria, Lebanon or Jordan.

Palestine and Palestinians. The Palestinians, whether in the West Bank or Gaza, Palestinian citizens of Israel, or refugees in Lebanon or Syria, continue to face a range of serious challenges. We will continue to support Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza, Israel and Lebanon through our Youth Empowerment Programme, and Palestinians in Lebanon and Syria through our Civil Society Programme.

Lebanon. We will support work in Lebanon by supporting organisations that focus on the priority areas of our Civil Society and Youth Empowerment programmes. We will be particularly supportive of organisations that also address the community cohesion issues arising from the fact that Lebanon and the Lebanese continue to host large numbers of refugees from Syria and Palestine.

Jordan. Given the welcome that Syrians have been given in Jordan, the Foundation will also provide help to Syrian refugees there through its Youth Empowerment Programme and occasionally through relief donations. These projects will include Jordanians, in recognition of the fact that many Jordanian young people also struggle to obtain an education and find decent work.

United Kingdom. When Ayman and Sawsan Asfari moved to the UK, they received a very warm welcome and they wish to continue to contribute to British society. We are concerned about the limited employment opportunities available to young people from disadvantaged backgrounds and will thus focus on supporting entrepreneurship among young people.

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what we do 


Our Approach

At the foundation we seek to add value to partners and potential partners at every stage of the grant process, we celebrate the importance of organisational development at every stage, even bringing it into our own practice by way of piloting new types of grant and intervention. Increasingly, we seek to move towards a more catalytic form of philanthropy, committed to enabling a robust, impactful, and diverse civil society in the Middle East, at the Ecosystem level, the Organisation level, and via innovation – what we refer to as the Lab level. The Foundation also seeks to promote localisation by offering long term, flexible funding and capacity building to its partners, awarding grants of up to £75,000 per year for up to three years.

How we work

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UNIT A, 1-3 Canfield Place, NW6 3BT, LONDON, United Kingdom

General Inquiry
info@asfarifoundation.org.uk

Phone
(0044) 207 372 3889