THE RUMI FOUNDATION

The Rumi Foundation

— The Rumi Foundation is a UK charity that serves as the channel for the Verjee family’s ongoing philanthropic work.

The Foundation was formally established in 2006. The initiatives it supports are diverse, but all share the same goal of humanitarian work through education, innovation and knowledge building. To this end, the Foundation works closely with leading educational institutions in the UK. It endowed a Chair in perpetuity at Downing College, University of Cambridge to research early detection of cancer in children. Most recently, it has endowed the Annual Lecture at the Royal College of Art for the next five years.

While the majority of the Foundation’s work is based in the UK, it also supports projects in India, East Africa and South America. See Initiatives Supported for more details.

Our Remit

— We believe innovation and learning are by far the greatest agents for positive social change. It is this belief that informs our aim as a Foundation: to nurture fresh thinking and extend its influence beyond the usual institutional and geographical boundaries. We want to help create the space to think, question and explore – and to develop the ideas that arise as a result.

Educational institutions of excellence offer an ideal platform to achieve this. While they can provide the reach, the Foundation can contribute its global network, funds, and the freedom to take risks. Bring all these elements together and we can create an ideal space to spark new ideas, share knowledge and make a lasting contribution to our world.

While our primary focus is on the field of education, it is not limited to it. The Rumi Foundation shares the entrepreneurial spirit of its founder, and seeks new opportunities to create social capital wherever such opportunities arise.