Saïd Foundation Annual Lunch 2022

The Saïd Foundation’s annual lunch and prize giving ceremony took place on Saturday 14th May at the Institute of Directors in London. The gathering is an annual tradition to celebrate the work of the Foundation together with our scholars and partners.

The lunch was hosted by Mr and Mrs Wafic Saïd and was attended by over 200 guests including ambassadors, friends and representatives from partner organisations such as the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), International Rescue Committee, the Rhodes Trust, and our UK university partners. Current and former scholars made up half the guests.

The lunch was also a celebration of the achievements of our scholars including Saïd Foundation scholars from Syria, Palestine, Lebanon and Jordan who are currently being supported by the Foundation with their studies at UK universities, Saïd Rhodes scholars and the scholars studying for MBAs and DPhils at the Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford.

At the lunch, our Chairman Mr Wafic Saïd presented the Saïd Foundation Alumni Achievement Prize medals to the prize winners from the last three years. In 2020, the prize was awarded to Dr Maha Shuayb for her significant contribution to improving education policies in Lebanon. In 2021, the prize was awarded to Mr Sulieman Mleahat for his significant contribution to the development of preschool education in Palestine, and in 2022, the prize was awarded to Dr Kinda Alshaikhahmed for her significant contribution to scientific and medical research.

The 2020 prize winner, Dr Maha Shuayb, delivered a speech in which she shared the news of her recent appointment as the British Academy Chair in Education in Conflict at the University of Cambridge. In this role, she hopes to contribute to global debates around education and to highlight the contributions of scholars from the Global South.

Lord Powell of Bayswater, a founding Trustee of the Foundation, delivered a speech on behalf of the Foundation, in which he expressed the Trustees’ sincere gratitude to Professor Peter Tufano, the longest serving Dean of the Saïd Business School, for his dedication to the advancement of the school. Professor Tufano was presented with a gift from our Chairman in recognition of his remarkable service.

All photographs by Greg Hammond