Dina Sherif

Dina Sherif is the Executive Director of the Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship at MIT.

Over twenty years of international and regional experience in women’s economic inclusion, integrated sustainable development, youth civic engagement, social entrepreneurship, impact investing, strategic philanthropy and responsible business practice (including corporate governance, inclusion and diversity, philanthropic activities and environmental risk management). Dina holds a Masters of Public Administration and Management from the Harvard Kennedy School, an MA in Economic Development Studies from the American University in Cairo, and a BA in Political Science and International Relations from the American University in Cairo. She is also a graduate of the non-credit leadership program at the THNK School for Creative Leadership in Amsterdam.

Committed to building sustainable, inclusive, and diverse societies through the application of a more ‘conscious’ form of capitalism, she co-founded Ahead of the Curve (ATC) in 2012 to further that goal – (www.ahead-ofthecurve.com). Dina formerly held the endowed Willard Brown Chair for International Business at the American University in Cairo (AUC), where she also founded the Center for Entrepreneurship, and taught Business Ethics and Social Entrepreneurship. Dina also helped establish the John D. Gerhart Center for Philanthropy and Civic Engagement at AUC in 2006.

Dina is recipient of the Woman Entrepreneur of the Year Award for Egypt by the American Chamber of Commerce in 2016; was recognized by the Embassy of India as a “Woman of Substance” in 2016; was chosen as one of 10 United Nations Global Compact Sustainable Development Goal Pioneers in 2016; and was most recently named as one of the top 50 most influential women by the Amwal Al Ghad Magazine.

Dina is the lead author of From Charity to Social Change: Trends in Arab Philanthropy and key reports including a 7 country study on trends in responsible business practice in the Arab region, and the 2015 UNDP Business Solutions Report.