PRESS RELEASE: MIT Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship Launches Business Circle to Serve as Advisory Board and Drive Growth Market Innovation

CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts, April 23, 2025 – The Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is proud to announce the launch of its Business Circle, a community of business leaders and investors from across global growth markets, who will also serve as the Center’s Advisory Board. 

Founded in 2007 by Iqbal Quadir and the Legatum Group, the Center was built on the belief that entrepreneurship and innovation are key to fostering sustainable prosperity in global growth markets. Over the past 17 years, the Center has grown to be a global thought leader around the role entrepreneurship can in should play in creating prosperity. 

Dina H. Sherif | Executive Director, MIT Legatum Center

The launch of the Business Circle marks a pivotal moment, It signals our commitment to a more collaborative approach—where leaders from these markets play a direct role in shaping the strategy of the Center, ensuring that we at MIT, constantly learn from those who are actually in these markets building a better future.

As the Center enters a new chapter, it is it is building a future guided by business leaders and investors from the key regions we focus on. “The launch of the Business Circle marks a pivotal moment,” said Dina H. Sherif, Executive Director of the Legatum Center. 'It signals our commitment to a more collaborative approach—where leaders from these markets play a direct role in shaping the strategy of the Center, ensuring that we at MIT, constantly learn from those who are actually in these markets building a better future.”

The Legatum Center invites business leaders and investors who share a passion for advancing sustainable prosperity through entrepreneurship and innovation, to join its Business Circle and help redefine the future of growth markets.

For more information or how to get involved, please contact Rania Helmy, Senior Advisor for Strategy and Partnerships at rhelmy@mit.edu.

Members of the Business Circle

1. Dr. Adam Sharkawy – Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Material Impact
2. Africa Finance Corporation represented by Sameh Shenouda, Executive Board Member & Chief Investment Officer
3. Dr. Amr Awadallah – Founder & CEO, Vectara
4. Anuj Srivastava – Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Livspace
5. Dr. Bassim Halaby – Chief Executive Officer, Benchmark Development
6. Bunmi Akinyemiju – Partner, GreenHouse Capital Africa
7. Dee Poon – President of Brands and Retailing, Tessellation Group
8. Ehi Binitie – CEO of :brij, Co-founder of Rancard and Founder of Clear Space Labs
9. Ibrahim Sagna – Executive Chairman, SilverBanks Holdings
10. Dr. Maher Hakim – Founder and CEO, Innovation Foundry
11. Mohammed Hamad Alghanim – Chief Executive Officer, Hamad S. Alghanim & Sons Group
12. Nana Baffour – Chairman, CEO & Chief Culture Officer, Qintess
13. Obinna Ekezie – Founder, OBN Academy & OBN Academy USA
14. Randa Jamali Charamand – Chief Operating Officer, Benchmark
15. Ridzki Kramadibrata – Commissioner, Grab Indonesia
16. Sayuri Sharper – CEO, Kuo Sharper Initiative (KSI)
17. Dr. Ritesh Malik – Founder, Innov8 Coworking
18. Zaid Farekh – Founder/Partner, Propeller Inc. and Founder/CEO, SiTech