Supporting Our Communities
Our founder believed that truly impactful philanthropic initiatives focus on long-term, sustainable impact, as opposed to providing immediate short-term relief; he believed one of the best ways to provide this long-term support is to empower individuals, and communities, so as not to perpetuate cycles of dependency.
Our Ongoing Initiatives
- Scholarship Programs.
- Healthcare Initiatives.
- Community Outreach Programs.
Results at a Glance
300+
Scholarships
4625+
Healthcare Beneficiaries
20K+
Beneficiaries of Community Outreach Programs
“Philanthropy today is looked at as an investment, the reward is not necessarily financial, it expresses itself in many different ways.”
Suliman S. Olayan
Founder
Our Journey Ever Forward for Future Generations
A Philosophy Passed Down From our Founder
Our founder, Suliman S. Olayan, measured his success by the positive impact his efforts had on others. He believed that any business afforded the privilege of operating within a given community has an obligation to serve it.
Our Founder’s Considered Approach to Philanthropy
He was deliberate, thoughtful and measured when it came to charitable initiatives and embraced those with the promise of a lasting impact for generations to come.
How We Continue Our Founder’s Legacy
We are committed to continuing and honouring our founder’s legacy. His values and ethics are core to our approach in business and philanthropy. We continue supporting educational and healthcare initiatives which he heralded as providing long-term benefits to communities, assisting in breaking cycles of dependency. We encourage our people to partake in these initiatives through our volunteer programs in order to embody our founder’s philosophy and ensure it lives on through the future leaders at Olayan.
Some Initiatives we are Proud of
Community Rehabilitation
We launched an initiative in collaboration with two of our operating companies, ENAYAH and GUC in 2020. The mission is to support female inmates through occupational skills training, providing them with a chance to earn an income and improve their future job prospects.
Upon completion of the programme, trainees were offered work opportunities that provided them with a steady income and the opportunity to improve their skills and boost their productivity whilst incarcerated. The prison later reported an overall improvement in inmates’ mental health.
Following this, these individuals were offered employment in ENAYAH’s factories, offering job security that may have otherwise been difficult for them to obtain.
Scholarship Programs
Our founder repeatedly stressed the transformative potential of education. He was a firm believer that, “whatever you learn, you elevate yourself” and encouraged the pursuit of all opportunities to learn. As a result, education became a core focus at the foundation, and hundreds of scholarships have been awarded to students since the late 1970s. In 2013, we officially launched the Suliman S.Olayan Scholarship Program.
Supporting Our Communities
Our Ramadan Program is an annual tradition that was started by our Founder, and it remains especially close to our hearts given it falls during a period that invites deeper reflection, connection, and compassion. The objective of the program is to seek out and support causes most in need at that given time.
A meaningful legacy we continue with today, our Ramadan Program contributes to impactful initiatives on a project-by-project basis, serving as many disadvantaged communities as possible when assistance is most needed.
Bettering Communities One Life at a Time
We believe that when it comes to making a positive change, every effort – great or small – can have a continuous ripple effect, with the potential to grow and gain momentum.