Ahmad Ashkar

Ahmad Ashkar is a decorated American-Palestinian entrepreneur and movement-builder, recognized by Arabian Business and Gulf News as one of the “100 Most Powerful Arabs in the World.” His work has been featured on the front cover of TIME Magazine, where one of his ideas was named one of the five ideas changing the world. A recipient of GQ’s Entrepreneur of the Year and Esquire’s Man of the Year awards, Ashkar is known for building platforms and companies that mobilize millions and redefine what global impact looks like at scale. Today, Ahmad operates at the intersection of leadership, culture, and value-driven enterprise. He is the co-founder of the Forerunners Foundation, a pioneering platform shaping a new generation of leaders grounded in the timeless values of Islam—courage, integrity, service, and excellence. His work reflects a core belief that the greatest competitive advantage in the modern world is a commitment to values that transcend profit. Ahmad is also the founder of Falafel Inc, America’s largest privately owned falafel and hummus chain, celebrated for its fusion of world-class flavor and world-changing purpose. Built on the philosophy of “Eat for Good,” Falafel Inc uses food as a universal language to empower refugees, elevate Palestinian culture, and build global solidarity. The brand has earned national acclaim—including Yelp’s Top 100 Restaurants in America, USA Today’s Best Sandwich in America, and Washington City Paper’s Best in DC for eight consecutive years (2017–2026). With more than 20 locations across the U.S., Falafel Inc stands as proof that purpose-built brands can scale with impact, relevance, and enduring cultural resonance. In partnership with The World Food Program, World Central Kitchen and Anera the company has fed over one million refugees. Before building his current ventures, Ahmad spent more than a decade leading one of the world’s largest private education organizations as its founder, where the global learning systems he designed graduated over one million students across 100 countries. This work established him as a leading authority on startup ecosystems, human-centered program design, and large-scale youth mobilization. He is also the author of The Pursuit of Impact, a widely referenced guide for next-generation founders. During this period, Ahmad also founded and built the Hult Prize, which evolved into one of the world’s most influential youth entrepreneurship movements. What began as a simple idea grew into a global innovation engine that struck partnerships with more than 3,000 universities across 100 countries, empowering millions of young people to launch impact ventures addressing humanity’s most pressing challenges. In parallel, Ahmad worked directly with heads of state and senior government offices across the Middle East, Africa, and the Americas—including the Prime Minister’s Office of the UAE, the Emir of Qatar, the Crown Prince’s Office of Jordan, and the Presidents’ Offices of Lebanon, Palestine, Kenya, Mexico, and Colombia—to design nation-building, youth empowerment, economic development, and job-creation programs at national scale. Ahmad orchestrated the single largest startup program in history in partnership with the United Nations and President Bill Clinton, creating the first entrepreneurship challenge ever to be formally aligned with the UN and its Sustainable Development Goals. Under his leadership, the Hult Prize was named to Fast Company’s “Most Innovative Companies in the World”, placing it alongside the world’s leading social innovation institutions. He also co-founded UN Week with the UN Foundation, where from 2017–2020 he led the first-ever entrepreneurship opening ceremony and awards gala held inside the United Nations Headquarters—a historic milestone that had never been done before. Across every chapter of his career, Ahmad Ashkar’s work is united by a singular throughline: building platforms—businesses, movements, and leadership systems—that unlock human potential and create lasting change. He continues to demonstrate that impact is not a sector; it is a way of building, leading, and living.