Tariq H. Cheema is the founder of the World Congress of Muslim Philanthropists, a global network of affluent individuals, foundations and socially conscious corporations dedicated to advance effective and accountable giving. He received his M.D. from the University of Istanbul, earned a Certificate of Advanced Study in Philanthropy at Loyola University Chicago, and awarded fellowships by the Rockefeller Foundation’s prestigious Next Generation Leadership Program, the Bellagio Initiative, and the Salzburg Global Seminar. He holds expertise in the areas of strategic philanthropy, impact investing & entrepreneurship, corporate sustainability, and grantmaking management. The Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Center named Dr. Cheema one of the 500 most influential Muslims impacting the world today.
Dr. Cheema has extensive experience of working with world leaders, grantmakers, corporations, and financial institutions. As an expert on Muslim philanthropy he offers advice to policymakers, speaks at high-level forums, and sits on multiple nonprofit boards. He is a member of Committee of 100 of Lingshan World Philanthropy Forum that promotes engagement between China and the World on social and development issues. In addition to his philanthropic endeavors, he is the principal shareholder of Southeast Business Group (SBG), a unique commercial and industrial coalition dedicated to promote trade between the emerging markets.
Over the past two decades, Dr. Cheema has contributed to the development of several successful social initiatives such as Doctors Worldwide, a disaster response agency; Network of Islamic Activists Against Tobacco (NIAAT), a Geneva-based advocacy group to rally support for the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control; Diversity Forums, a project to encourage dialogue and understanding across critical social divides; Indo-Pak Peace Network, a people-to-people movement to promote goodwill among the two rival nuclear nations; and National Network for Diaspora Giving, a capacity-building resource and clearinghouse for US diaspora philanthropies