Mohamed Ashraf Abdel Samad is a social entrepreneur who is trying to promote the concept of responsible, proactive capitalism. This is when firms avoid activities that negatively affect the community, striving to create shared value where the firm and community both profit. He acquired his bachelors’ and masters’ degree in business in Belgium.
In 2011, he started Shagara, a multidisciplinary design studio that employs design thinking and green architecture techniques to integrate vegetation into human life in order to mitigate climate change and build sustainable communities. Shagara’s leading shared value project is Shagara at School. It attempts to provide a green take on the issue of overcrowded classroom in Egyptian schools through employing its rooftops for building Green Roof Classrooms. In 2015 he founded Nutrients Recycling, a bio-tech startup that employs living organisms to treat wastewater, while producing energy and protein rich biomass.
Mohamed is also a member of the World Economic Forum Global Shapers Community, a Synergos Social Entrepreneur and The Switchers Network. Further he is a Climate Leader with AlGore’ Climate Reality Project.