Spring 2017 Undergraduate Commencement Keynote Speech | Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair

Thank you, member of the board of trustees, President Richardson, faculty, and most of all, Class of 2017. I am honored to be here with you at this American University in Cairo, one of the finest universities in the region. I'm also energized to be in this great city of Cairo. I'm also humbled to receive this degree in the company of so many accomplished young adults.

Class of 2017, congratulations! You make your professors, your parents, your family proud of you. You aspired to study at a great university, you worked hard, you have reached one of the most important goals in your life — earning a great degree from a great university.

But like all accomplishments, they are not yours alone. Tonight and hopefully for the rest of your life, you will take time to give gratitude where it's due. First to your first educator — to your parents and to your families. While this is your night, dear graduates, but also it's their night.

So take a moment and look at their faces — full of pride, love, and perhaps a touch of sadness. As a parent myself, I have had the satisfaction of seeing four of my children graduate from a university. I know firsthand what it's like to live through this transition — your child moving from high school to a university and finally to independent life.

So allow me to just take a moment and thank your parents. Not just for the hours they have spent tutoring the children, nor for the sacrifice you made as parents to send your kids to this prestigious university. I want to thank them most of all for the gift they are now giving to Egypt and the Arab world.

Your children, the Class of 2017, each and every one of the 634 young adults we are celebrating today, is now our region's most important resource, our strongest defense, and ultimately our future for a great hope for the region.

Graduates, as I look at you tonight, I see happy, determined faces with just a hint of worry. And I don't blame you. I understand why you might feel this feeling. You live in a turbulent time where some of your most cherished values, beliefs as a young Arab are being tested — everything from standing up to your neighbors to finding your place in this great world.

Yet this is a most exciting time, as the pace of change and the tech advancements have opened up unlimited opportunity for young men and women like you. As millennials, you must navigate a very different life path than my generation.

When I graduated from an engineering school at Cal Poly in the US, Class of 1977, none of you were born. And that's good, because you would not know what to do without your mobile phone. My parents and my friends had to wait months to receive their photo of my official graduation, where your entire network now can watch you graduate live on Facebook, Snapchat, and maybe YouTube.

When I graduated, I had fewer choices than you do today. My career path had already been drawn for me. I joined my family business that my father had built, without hesitation, without any question about what else I might have wanted to do or achieve, and ended up staying in my entire career.

You, on the other hand, are expected to change jobs five to seven times in your life. When I started my career, the opportunity for young Arabs with education were immense — in petroleum, construction, retail, banking, etc.

Today, these industries forever are changing or quickly replaced by advanced technology, robotics, giving way to a new way of working — from the blockchain to the gig economy. Yes, my life as a 21-year-old, nothing looks like yours today. This is a fact of life. No generation lives through exactly what the generation before it lived.

Graduates, today you're entering a new phase of your life. You may have many decisions ahead of you, many choices to make. I have full confidence in your ability, but I impress upon you to remember three pieces of advice I'd like to share with you today.

First, always challenge the status quo. Whatever career you choose, whatever job you do, do not be afraid of rocking the boat. Do your research, prepare yourself, and once convinced, do not hesitate to challenge the status quo. Initiate and embrace change. Welcome change as a permanent state of life.

I can tell you from my own personal experience that you cannot make significant improvement unless you challenge the status quo. I took over as CEO of Mashreq Bank in 1991 when I was 34. I was the youngest member of my management team. I had a vision to reposition Mashreq as a world-class organization.

To achieve my vision, I needed to transform the bank from a traditional, nondescript bank to a market leader. I challenged all the established norms and set in motion organizational transformation — by changing its strategy, structure, system, organization. Transformation followed by image transformation, and finally concluded with culture transformation.

During this process, I faced countless hurdles. I was scoffed at by my peers, I was accused of damaging a healthy institution. Still, I was not deterred by criticism and single-mindedly continued the transformation. Challenging the status quo not only repositioned Mashreq as a leading bank in the region, but all other banks followed us and embraced change we have initiated.

Today, Mashreq Bank is known as the most innovative trendsetter in banking in the UAE.

Second advice, this is from my experience: persevere in the face of adversity. At times you may find yourself isolated, or the pressure on you to back down is immense. But I appeal to you to persevere.

In my experience, the ability to persevere is one of the biggest differences between people who succeed and people who don't. I am sure most, if not all of you, have persevered in the face of life's harshest circumstances — illness, death, hard economic times, or more.

I'm always amazed at young people who persevere despite all the odds stacked against them in the journey to succeed. Sometimes I am compelled to think that it is not despite, but actually because of the challenges they face.

If you allow me, I want to take a moment to pay tribute to the 100 Al Ghurair STEM scholars here at AUC who are studying at the university from the Abdulla Al Ghurair Foundation for Education. They have, in many ways, shaped how I come to think about perseverance.

I should mention that while we have selected these brilliant Arab youth because of the need for financial support, the most important criteria are their achievement, irrespective of their nationality, religion, or gender. Our scholars have been everything we hoped for and more.

They are excelling at the university despite the personal, political, economic challenges they faced while studying engineering, science, and technology. I recently learned about two stories of incoming scholars supported by the Abdulla Al Ghurair Foundation for Education, which I'd like to share with you this evening.

The first story is a young woman from Egypt, Manar. Her mother had cancer. Her mother's illness motivated her to study pharmacy. She began working on research to reduce the effect of chemotherapy as early as her first year of undergraduate studies.

Despite the heavy academic load and her research, Manar also carried the burden of providing for her family. She worked at the local pharmacy as a translator throughout her degree to fund the education of her siblings. Manar is a truly shining example of what it means to persevere.

We hope to enroll her at AUC in a master's degree over nanotechnology while completing her cancer drug research. Well done, Manar.

The second story is a young man from Somalia, Jama. Jama had made it through all the interviews of the foundation — a very highly competitive selection criteria. He missed two Skype interviews. When the foundation finally reconnected with him, the team found out that he had been traveling on foot for one month with over a hundred family members displaced by the recent drought in Somalia.

Jama was awarded the Al Ghurair STEM scholarship because he's already a community leader working on ways to reduce the impact of climate change in his country, but also because he had persevered against many odds that came across him.

Just to be able to sit for exams, Jama had to take a bus ride from his home to Ethiopia for five days. He was riding the bus. Jama hopes to begin a master's degree in sustainable development in September at AUC.

These scholars are a true inspiration for me. Their perseverance is taking them from success to another. Like you, they are not only writing their own future — they are writing the story of the Arab youth. I'm sure there are those among us today who have stories as inspirational as the stories of Jama and Manar.

Third and final advice: give back to your country and region. In addition to challenging the status quo and always persevering, I hope you will find time to share what you have been blessed with — by way of opportunity, good health, and good fortune — with those who don't.

I believe that success in life cannot be measured by how much money we make or what position we have achieved, but rather by what we have done to improve the lives of other people who needed help. I think the Egyptian poet put it beautifully.

Giving is not all about money, although donating money is very important. There are many ways to give back to your community. Each of us, his or her way, must contribute in enhancing the life of others in a sustainable manner.

Two years ago, my father gave me the biggest privilege of my life — to chair the Abdulla Al Ghurair Foundation for Education. In this position, I began to dig deep into issues I had never imagined. I am applying my business knowledge to everything — from how to ensure that our investments have real impact, to how to disrupt our education system, and how to encourage a new generation of philanthropic leaders.

Our foundation work has been fulfilling, not only for me but also for the entire family. Only my regret is that we had not started the foundation earlier, that we had not engaged sooner in solving our region's most critical inequality — access to quality education.

It is my firm belief that everyone in the region, no matter how little they have or how young they are, needs to be engaged. You graduates — you must lead the charge. We need you. You already have so much to give. Whatever you learned at this great university, your energy, optimism about the future — we need it all.

Class of 2017, you are among the best-positioned young people in our region. I urge you to begin your journey of giving early. Volunteer your time to a great cause, be an ambassador for education, mentor a young person with potential, or invent a tech solution for a challenge that affects somebody you love.

Just please start early. Start now, in these holiest days of Ramadan, and keep it up for as long as you can.

Before I close, I want to mention a special thanks to President Richardson and all of AUC for opening their doors to Al Ghurair scholars from Egypt and the rest of the Arab world. We all share the vision that philanthropic foundations, education institutions, and others must and can come together to open access to education for those who need it most.

This is why I'm so pleased that AUC is one of the first to step up to work with the Abdulla Al Ghurair Foundation for Education to offer scholarships to high-achieving refugee youth. This is part of my drive — I'm personally championing to ensure that no young person uprooted by conflict in our region should go without education.

Thank you for your leadership. Thank you — your leadership has set an excellent example for students, graduates, other university graduates, parents, and faculty. One more time — congratulations!

Thank you for inviting me to participate in this special evening celebrating the graduation of your university. Remember: always challenge the status quo, persevere in the face of adversity, and give back to your community, your country, and the region. Keep succeeding!