The British Council announced the recipients of the Study UK Alumni Awards 2019-20 in Qatar at an awarding ceremony in Doha that took place on Saturday 7 December at Marsa Malaz Kempinski. In total, three UK alumni in Qatar were recognised for their outstanding achievements as business professionals, entrepreneurs and community leaders, and for their important contribution to strengthening collaborative ties between the UK and Qatar.

For the second time in Qatar, the awards are hosted at a national level to celebrate the achievements of alumni in Qatar across three award categories: Professional Achievement, Entrepreneurial, and Social Impact.

The Entrepreneurial Award, which highlights alumni who have played a leading role in business innovation, was presented to Mr. Khalifa Al Haroon, a graduate of Anglia Ruskin University. Mr. Khalifa is the Founder and CEO of ILoveQatar.net and the I Love Qatar (ILQ) Network, which is Qatar’s first Qatari social website. Khalifa, also known as Mr. Q on his blog/vlog, has a background in law, investment banking and social media management. He has launched a number of television and online shows and often appears on international news channel to provide commentary. Khalifa obtained his law degree from the Anglia Ruskin University in the UK, which is where he began as an entrepreneur and set up his first business as a student, gaining great experience which he has since applied in Qatar in many successful business ventures.

The Professional Achievement Award, which recognises alumni who have distinguished themselves through exemplary leadership in their professional field, was presented to Dr Alla El-Awaisi, a graduate of University of Strathclyde and Robert Gordon University (RGU). Dr Alla is the Assistant Dean of Student Affairs at Qatar University College of Pharmacy where she provides guidance and leadership to enhance students’ learning experience. Since 2014 she has also been the Chair of the Interprofessional Education (IPE) Committee. Dr Alla’s Masters and PhD from the UK had a major influence on her approach to the promotion of ‘interprofessionalism’ and has contributed to the development of IPE in Qatar with many successful IPE initiatives since 2014.

The Social Impact Award, which acknowledges alumni who have made an exceptional contribution to creating positive social change, was presented to Ms. Reema Al-Merekhi, a graduate of Newcastle University. Ms. Reema is the first Arabic female to join the IFRC Field Assessment and Coordination team (FACT), a first response disaster assessment team that are deployed within the first 24 hours.

For the first time in Qatar, public were able to vote for their favourite inspirational story by nominating online one of the finalists for the "People's Choice Award" which ran over a 10-day campaign. The recipient of the People’s Choice Award was Ms. Reema Al-Merekhi who received 1,728 votes (34 per cent of total votes). Qatar is one of the first countries to host the awards this year and will be followed by awarding ceremonies in a further twelve countries, including Azerbaijan, Kuwait and Turkey.

To read more about this year’s inspirational winners and finalists, please click here.

For more information, please contact:

Rawan Khir, Qatar’s Deputy Head of Programmes and Partnerships, [email protected]

Follow the Alumni Awards on Study UK Twitter, Facebook and Instagram

Source: Press release

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Binu Cherian

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