Associate/Lecturer
Farouk is a social entrepreneur and expert in international economic and enterprise development. He is the co-founder of two innovative and award-winning social enterprises – Farm Shop and Honey Care Africa. Farouk spent a decade working with CARE International, during which time he helped to establish CARE Canada’s Social Venture Fund. In his subsequent role as Senior Advisor for Economic Development at CARE USA, he supported the development and implementation of a wide range of successful and innovative market-based development programs and helped to incubate and catalyze a number of social enterprises across Africa and Asia.
He has received a number of prestigious awards for his work in social entrepreneurship and advancing sustainable poverty reduction. This includes the UNDP Equator Initiative Prize, the International Development Innovation Award from the World Bank and the World Business and Development Award from the Prince of Wales International Business Leaders Forum. Farouk is also a Senior Ashoka Fellow and a Gates Foundation Rural Innovation Fellow. He is also the recipient of the Bryden Alumni Award and the Queen’s Alumni Humanitarian Award and has been named among the Top 100 Social Entrepreneurs by the Schwab Foundation at the World Economic Forum.
Farouk holds a Master’s in Environmental Studies from York University, a Post-Graduate Diploma in Business and Sustainability from the Schulich Business School, and a BSc. Honours, First Class in Environmental Biology from Queen’s University, all in Canada.