From Ideas to Global Impact
AKSOB joins the GEMS World Dialogue to connect students, researchers, and global leaders in advancing sustainable development across 50 countries.
What does it take to turn bold ideas into lasting global impact?
According to leaders from academia and industry, it requires more than innovation. It demands partnerships that bring together business, academia, and leadership to transform ideas into solutions.
That shared vision brought together the Adnan Kassar School of Business (AKSOB), VIPMINDS, led by CEO Nora Abou Chakra, and Growth Holdings, led by CEO Philippe Ziade, on June 23, 2026, at the LAU Beirut campus, where they signed a memorandum of understanding establishing AKSOB as a strategic execution partner in the GEMS World Dialogue – Beverly Hills 2026, an international initiative founded by Abou Chakra to advance leadership, knowledge exchange, and sustainable development across 50 countries.
The three-year agreement will connect AKSOB to the initiative through research, leadership development, and international collaboration while creating new opportunities for students, faculty, and global partners to contribute to projects with measurable social impact.
At the heart of the initiative is a commitment to identifying and supporting “Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Guardians”—individuals driving meaningful progress toward the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in their communities—while connecting them through a global network built on the United Nations Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME).
The agreement also launches Impact Talks, a co-branded podcast platform with GEMS, hosted and operated by AKSOB, that will amplify the initiative’s global reach through conversations with influential business leaders, innovators, and changemakers while fostering dialogue around leadership, innovation, and sustainable development.
As co-architects of the initiative, Abou Chakra and Ziade designed the framework to leverage the collective strengths of the corporate, academic, and diplomatic sectors in advancing sustainable development worldwide.
In his opening remarks, Special Envoy Philippe Ziade, CEO of Growth Holdings, described GEMS as a platform designed to unite sectors that too often operate independently.
“For far too long, the world’s most powerful forces have worked in isolation,” he said.
“Business has capital, government has authority, civic organizations have purpose, and academia has knowledge. Yet real progress remains slow because these worlds rarely move together.”
While ideas can inspire change, Ziade argued that execution is what ultimately creates impact.
“Every breakthrough eventually faces the same question: Who will build it? Who will test it? And who will turn vision into reality? That is where AKSOB comes in.”
The discussion that followed, moderated by Dr. Hasan Youness, assistant professor of practice at AKSOB, explored how partnerships between academia, industry, and global leaders can transform that vision into measurable impact.
For AKSOB Dean Dima Jamali, the collaboration reflects the business school’s ambition to combine local engagement with global relevance.
“We are a locally rooted school, but we want to be globally relevant,” she said.
Dr. Jamali explained that the initiative builds on AKSOB’s expanding international engagement through the United Nations Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME), the MENA Business Schools Alliance for Sustainability, and the Global Business School Network. She added that the agreement is particularly meaningful because it centers on “an identifiable project” with tangible outcomes rather than broad aspirations.
“They are identifying people across 50 countries who are creating a positive impact in their communities. We want to capture these stories, engage these leaders, and create a movement that continues across generations.”
Through the agreement, AKSOB will leverage its academic expertise and international network to identify SDG Guardians, expand global outreach, and engage students and faculty in projects that address real societal challenges.
It will also use Impact Talks to connect students with influential leaders while showcasing ideas that inspire positive change.