The MBI Al Jaber Foundation is governed by a board of trustees, each chosen for their interest and expertise in education and development in the Middle East.
We draw upon their specialist areas of knowledge in shaping our strategic approach, assessing applications for projects and reaching out to a growing network of likeminded stakeholders.
Founder, Chairman and Sole Patron
Founder and CEO of MBI Group
Sheikh Mohamed Bin Issa Al Jaber is a self-made entrepreneur and philanthropist who has successfully built an international business empire spanning Europe and the Middle East. He is founder, Chairman and CEO of the MBI Group, and founder and sole patron of the MBI Al Jaber Foundation; a UK registered charity focused on education, good governance and cultural dialogue, dedicated to building bridges between the Middle East and the wider world.
Sheikh Mohamed was appointed UNESCO Special Envoy for Education, Tolerance and Cultures in 2005 and UN Spokesman for Global Forums and Reinventing Government in 2007. He has received numerous honours and awards for his philanthropic work, including Honorary Fellowships from SOAS, UCL and Oxford University, Aladdin Project Dialogue of Cultures Award and the ISESCO and ALECSO gold medals.
Sir Tim Lankester has always had a strong interest in the Arab world and in countries further East. His career began at the World Bank and he later joined HM Treasury in London. He served as private secretary to Prime Ministers Callaghan and Thatcher, and later became Britain's director on the boards of the World Bank and the IMF. He was permanent secretary of the Overseas Development Administration and also worked in the Department for Education before retiring from the Civil Service in 1994.
He is currently a member of the joint advisory board of the Georgetown School of Foreign Studies in Doha; an adviser to the consulting firm, Oxford Analytica, on South East Asia; and he has written and lectured on the political economy of Indonesia. His recent book, “The Politics and Economics of Britain’s Foreign Aid”, about British aid to Malaysia, was published in 2012.
Mashael Al Jaber
Mashael Al Jaber is a Company Director within the MBI Group. Originally educated in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Mashael studied Humanities at SOAS, University of London before graduating from King’s College London with a Degree in Business Management. She also holds a Masters Degree in Grant Making, Philanthropy and Social Investment from Cass Business School. Mashael has overseen philanthropic activity both within and beyond the MBI Al Jaber Foundation and was a speaker at the UNESCO Euro-Arab Dialogue Conference in Vienna in June 2012.
Bashayer Al Jaber
Bashayer Al-Jaber has always had a strong interest in promoting education and cultural dialogue. Born and partially educated in Saudi Arabia, she has continued her secondary education in London, where she graduated from SOAS with a combined honours Degree in Development Studies and the Study of Religions. She also holds a Masters Degree from UCL Institute of Education in Social Justice and Education. She aims to bring her combined interests of development, religion and education to the MBI Al Jaber Foundation, particularly projects surrounding girls and womens access to education in the MENA region.
Mohsen Al Jaber
Trustee Emeritus
Mr Steve Vogel
Mr Steve Vogel was on the Board of Trustees of the MBI Al Jaber Foundation from its inception until July 2023. He continues to support us in an ex-officio and advisory role. Mr Vogel was formerly a partner at international law firm Norton Rose Fulbright, having worked for the law firm for 30 years in Houston, Washington, London (as partner in charge) and since early 2007, in Hong Kong and Beijing. One-time Managing Editor of the Ohio State Law Journal, Mr Vogel is an expert on a wide array of commercial and tax planning issues and is qualified to practice law in both the US and the UK. He has held senior positions with British American Business Inc., a leading transatlantic business organization dedicated to helping companies connect and build their business on both sides of the Atlantic, and served as Chairman of the Society of English and American Lawyers for a number of years. He has delivered speeches on the subject of Enterprise Income Tax Law in the People’s Republic of China and has worked extensively in developing corporate governance strategies and good governance practice. Mr Vogel has a Joint Degree from Ohio State University, a B.A. from the University of Kentucky, and a Masters from New York University School of Law.
