Room to Read is a global nonprofit working to address educational, gender and economic inequities affecting children around the world. Since its launch in 2000, the NGO has deployed almost US$1bn to deliver foundational learning to more than 52 million children, including thousands across Lebanon, Jordan, and Palestine.

Its literacy pillar comprises teacher training, the publishing of local language books, and the development of school and community libraries. And through its Girls Education Programme, it delivers life skills education, mentorship and other community engagement.

Room to Read’s latest initiative, She Creates Change, is a global multimedia storytelling campaign designed to empower adolescent girls with educational content and life skills.

For CEO, Dr Geetha Murali, the mission to empower girls is deeply personal. Both her grandmothers were child brides, but her mother, the eldest of seven, refused. “She redirected an entire lineage towards alternative futures, and I am a living example of the ripple effect,” Murali tells the Shaping Philanthropy podcast.

“If it's not enough to see educating girls as a moral imperative, it is also just smart economics,” she explained. “Every extra year of school increases a girl's future income.”

Room to Read has been working in the Middle East for several years and has recently scaled up its work in response to regional conflicts.

In Gaza, the NGO partnered with ANERA to distribute locally-authored Palestinian children's books and educational materials to displaced families. In Lebanon, Room to Read has supported 125 non-formal education centres, providing 69,000 children with both books and safe spaces for learning.

And in Jordan, through a partnership with the Queen Rania Foundation, it has established 43 public school libraries and adapted 40 Arabic storybooks for national use.

In November, Room to Read announced it was launching a US$75m fundraising initiative to expand its African programming (currently in South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, and Zambia) and deliver foundational literacy and life skills to eight million children on the continent.

Listen to the full interview with Anissa Punjani to hear more from Murali about how reading transforms lives and why investing in girls’ education is the smartest move for global progress.

Read more about Room to Read on the Circle website here.

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Circle is a partnership between Philanthropy Age and the Pearl Initiative. It is supported by the Gates Foundation.

In this special live recording of the Shaping Philanthropy podcast, Nafez Dakkak, shares the story behind launching Anara Impact Capital, a groundbreaking US$50 million fund to support startups across MENA focused on learning, climate, and well-being.

Anchored by Alfanar Venture Philanthropy, Anara is the first regionally-backed impact investment fund of its kind.

The episode opens with a personal reflection on growing up in occupied Palestine and Dakkak’s decision to pivot from neuroscience to economics at Yale. “I realised that if I became a neurosurgeon, I'd be saving one person at a time, but if I could do something at a societal level, it would be a lot more important.”

Speaking to an audience of practitioners, advisors, entrepreneurs, foundation staff, and humanitarians at the Sharjah Research Technology and Innovation Park (SRTI), Dakkak outlined Anara’s investment strategy and the importance of working closely with founders to help them scale regionally and beyond. “The best way to predict the future is to create it,” he said.

While acknowledging the growth of the region’s venture capital scene, he highlighted that only 5 percent of funding currently goes to learning, climate, and well-being—compared to 20 percent globally.

Drawing on his experience at the Queen Rania Foundation, where he led the creation of the Edraak learning platform, Dakkak spoke passionately about the need to raise literacy standards and move beyond flashy tech solutions. “We learn to read, but then we read to learn—and if our kids can't read to learn, then what?”

Funders include Dara Holdings, the family office of Saudi businesswoman Lubna Olayan, several other family offices, and a European development bank providing first-loss capital. Dakkak acknowledged the challenges of securing regional backers, citing cultural hesitations around publicly discussing impact. “We're trying to create a movement and start something new—and that doesn't happen unless we can share these stories.”

He also addressed the recent withdrawal of USAID funding, describing it as painful in the short term but potentially beneficial in the long run. “I hope it’s going to create more sustainable and locally-based solutions that are culturally attuned.”

Finally, Dakkak emphasised that impact investing is not a panacea. “There will always be a need for philanthropy. I'm not asking an entrepreneur to come and figure out the capitalist market-based solution to famine in Sudan—that needs direct humanitarian aid.”

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Circle is a partnership between Philanthropy Age and the Pearl Initiative. It is supported by the Gates Foundation.

Yousuf Caires is the executive director of Expo City Dubai Foundation, a new nonprofit organisation established by Expo City Dubai Authority to take forward the legacy of the Expo Live programme.

In this episode of Shaping Philanthropy, Yousuf talks about why Dubai is so committed to supporting social entrepreneurs and how the new foundation is giving UAE university graduates the chance to launch new ventures through its Changemakers Academy.

“We are trying to create a new wave of grassroots entrepreneurs and create a bridge for graduating students who feel like it’s the right time to start their own business,” he says.

“If you've ever been an entrepreneur, even if you failed many times, that experience is forever and it will benefit you whether you continue on that path or change paths because it is a great learning process, so I really think more people should give it a try.”

Expo Live supported 5.8 million people and Yousuf says the plan is to double that in the next four years, with a renewed focus on MENA, where he says opportunity sits alongside crisis.

“The mission of Expo City Dubai Foundation is to focus on the right ideas, in the right hands, doing the right thing, creating a positive impact in our society or in the environment, whether it's in the UAE or abroad,” he explains.

On creating a “triple bottom line”, he says: “I would love that all future businesses are social enterprises.. .with an equal commitment to driving financial returns for investors, but also driving a positive impact in society.”

During this wide-ranging conversation with Anissa Punjani, Yousuf also talks about his own entrepreneurial journey with Palmade, a social enterprise he runs with his wife, using discarded palm leaves to make biodegradable cutlery.

“The idea came from wondering how can we replace single use plastic and deal with that global problem using a local solution, using a raw material that's right here,” he says.

Yousuf is also the founder of the Milele Zanzibar Foundation, the largest NGO in Zanzibar, whose mission is to better channel diaspora and Gulf funding to accelerate progress in health, livelihoods, and education.

He shares the origin story of the foundation and describes how its programmes are supporting economic growth but within the wider context of social development and women’s empowerment.

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Circle is a partnership between Philanthropy Age and the Pearl Initiative. It is supported by the Gates Foundation.