I was recently asked why many of the major companies in the Kingdom lacked a sense of corporate social responsibility. I was told that morality and wealth were intertwined. The less money a man has, the more his moral standing, and conversely the more he possesses, the less his moral conscience is likely to be. This cannot necessarily be applied as a blanket statement to all individuals with a healthy bank account. There are many wealthy philanthropists who are globally recognized for their support of humanitarian causes. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is one of them, an organization dedicated to the betterment of mankind through effective participation and supervision of projects around the world devoted to improving the health, education and welfare of the impoverished. The Indian IT tycoon Azim Premji is high on the list of global philanthropists with donations to worthwhile social causes exceeding $8 billion. Premji is the founder and chairman of the Azim Premji Foundation, which works to reform India's school and examination systems. The organization operates through Premji's earmarked Wipro stock, and has introduced initiatives such as the Computer Aided Learning program, which provides computer training in 18 languages, and Azim Premji University, a nonprofit university that awards degrees in teacher training. Much closer to home is the Alwaleed Bin Talal Foundation in Saudi Arabia established in 1996 by Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal to regulate the philanthropic activities in this country and extend need-based assistance to the community. The Foundation has built homes for the country's homeless, provided electricity through massive generators to remote villages that are outside the national power grid and continues to conceive and sustain numerous programs to support women and their empowerment. Under the special projects unit, the Foundation offers healthcare and other types of social assistance to the people. The charitable deeds of the Foundation today have spread beyond the country's borders to countries worldwide in need of humanitarian assistance. Sulaiman Al-Rajhi, who cofounded Al-Rajhi Bank, is another Saudi humanitarian who shifted his focus to charitable deeds and endowed his holdings in the bank to the Sulaiman Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Rajhi Endowments Holding Company. This company supports educational, religious, health and social causes, including the Arab Institute for Arabic Language, National Guard Health Affairs, and the Sheikh Sulaiman Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Rajhi Mosque in Riyadh. Community Jameel was established in 2003 to continue the Jameel family's tradition of supporting the community, a tradition started in the 1930s by the late Abdul Latif Jameel, founder of the Abdul Latif Jameel business, who throughout his life helped improve the livelihoods of tens of thousands of disadvantaged people in the fields of healthcare and education. Today, Community Jameel is dedicated to supporting social and economic sustainability, across the Middle East and beyond, through a range of initiatives. Mohammed Jameel, Chairman and President of the Abdul Latif Jameel Group also spearheads the Abdul Latif Jameel Foundation (ALJ Foundation) which was established in 2009 in the UK to develop and promote a portfolio of "sustainable global projects and solutions" involving training, poverty relief, arts, culture, environment, conservation, heritage, employment and economic and community development. There are many others who have contributed with similar if not grander efforts than these Saudi individuals and who continue to try to make a difference in the lives of the needy. Granted, for the wealth of many in this land, the number of foundations is perhaps disproportionate and that is why I was asked this question. The author can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @talmaeena
