Badr Jafar, Executive Director at the Crescent Petroleum Group of companies and CEO of Crescent Investments, was honored with the CITYarts' annual Making a Difference through the Arts award, during their 42nd Annual Benefit in New York.
At the award ceremony, Tsipi Ben-Haim, CITYarts' Executive and Artistic Director described Badr Jafar as "an ideal honoree for this unique award", chosen for his "outstanding work for Crescent Investments and Crescent Petroleum and his extensive philanthropic and social entrepreneurship interests."
The award – previous recipients of which according to CITYart's website include NBA Hall-of-Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Sheikha Manal bint Mohammad Al Maktoum, President of the Dubai Women Establishment, Lisa Dennison, Chairman of Sotheby's, and Deepak Chopra, renowned Indian physician and author, was presented against a backdrop of CITYarts' travelling exhibition, Pieces for Peace with Youth from Around the World.
Cityarts was founded in 1968 and has as its mission to build bridges of cultural understanding, giving youth the opportunity to take an active role in shaping their own future. Since its beginning, CITYarts has created almost 300 projects that have transformed communities and impacted over 100,000 children, collaborated with more than 500 artists, partnered with over 1,500 sponsors, and engaged over 500,000 volunteers in the process.
The Cityarts award event in New York City involved was attended by over 400 guests, including business leaders, philanthropists, collectors, ambassadors and cultural commentators. Collecting the award on his behalf, Robert Dunn, President and CEO of the Synergos Institute, said: "Badr falls into the whatever category, because whatever he does, he does as an artist."
Says Cityarts' Ms. Ben-Haim, "It was a magnificent event, and it was a special opportunity to raise awareness of the issues of world peace and climate change".
