Islamic Relief Worldwide is today welcoming a new Chairman for its Board of Trustees.
Dr Essam El Haddad has served in various roles as a dedicated member of our Board since he co-founded Islamic Relief more than 26-years ago. He was elected by the Board as Chair at the weekend. He replaces Dr El Alfy, who remains a member of the Board.
Saleh Saeed, CEO of Islamic Relief Worldwide, said: “Our heartfelt appreciation and thanks to Dr El Alfy for his leadership and dedicated support of Islamic Relief over the years. During his time as chairman, Islamic Relief has helped many millions of the world’s most vulnerable people, as we strive to alleviate poverty and suffering across the globe.
There is an exciting year ahead, as Islamic Relief moves towards a new strategy to better deal with disasters and emergencies, engage in long term development and to tackle the root causes of poverty. I’m delighted Dr Essam will be contributing his experience and energy as our new Chair, in this next chapter of Islamic Relief’s history.”
During his time with Islamic Relief Worldwide, Dr El Alfy hosted the Chairman of the DEC in a visit to our post-floods reconstruction programme in Pakistan, helping to cement an even closer relationship between the two organisations. He also saw Islamic Relief supporting vulnerable communities in more than 33 countries, and responding to crises in the Middle East and North Africa, the Japan tsunami and the Haiti earthquake.
Dr Essam has previously served as a Trustee and as Chair of Islamic Relief. He is a graduate of the Faculty of Medicine at Alexandria University, where he was also Head of the Students Union. He has a Masters degree and doctorate in diagnostic microbiology, as well as a Masters degree in Management of Public Organizations. He served as Head of Islamic Students’ Society in Birmingham University.
Dr Essam, on returning to Egypt, joined the family business and started a new line for Event Management and organising Trade Exhibitions. He is now the Chairman of Arabian Group for Development (AGD), a leading company in the Middle East in this field, and a member of UFI board (World Association of Exhibition Organizers) in Paris. He is also a founding member of AUEIC (Arabian Union for Exhibitions and International Conferences). He works also as a Management Consultant for one of the leading Management Consulting and Organisation Development companies in the Middle East based in Dubai, UAE.
Dr Essam is member of the Board of Governors of the International Business forum (IBF) in Istanbul. He is also a frequent participant in the Friends of Europe Think Tank (Development Forum) in Brussels. In Egypt he is the founding member of the Egyptian Businessmen Association for TAKAFUL (solidarity) to support and promote Corporate Social Responsibility in business, and an active member in the British Egyptian Business Chamber Association (BEBA), German Arab Chamber (GAC) and the European Egyptian Business Chamber (EEBC).