Continuing a Noble Legacy
Our 75th anniversary presented an opportunity to express our ongoing commitment to our founder’s vision to create lasting impact, and to continue his legacy in a way that we believe would have been particularly meaningful to him. We began this milestone year by creating a visual representation of what we were setting out to accomplish; an emblum that was created through an algorithm that translates letters into images. This seemingly simple image shown here is a mathmatically representation of the word “future”. A word that guided our efforts throughout the year.
“At Olayan, we recognize the significance of embedding sustainability principles into our daily operations and future investments. Preserving the environment while fostering diverse and equitable opportunities stand as imperative pillars for us. These commitments go beyond achieving business prosperity, they extend to ensuring a positive and inclusive impact for generations to come.”
Lynne M. Fleifel
Vice President of Sustainability and Diversity
Our Ongoing Initiatives
We commemorated our 75th year by identifying causes dear to our founder
and launching projects chosen for the scale of their impact and their
potential to carry forward for generations to come.
Health Initiative
Our Founder placed great importance on health initiatives due to their immeasurable impact on the quality of life of both patients and their families. He was particularly passionate about ophthalmic causes having lived in a time when ophthalmic diseases caused preventable blindness for many.
Retinopathy Screening Devices
We contributed 12 Ret-Cam Digital cameras in support of the Ministry of Health’s Retinopathy of Prematurity National Program, administered by King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital. These screening devices have been distributed to all MoH centers Kingdom-wide and will help prevent over 400 newborns from going blind every year due to misdiagnosis.
Education Initiatives
Another area our Founder was passionate about is education; he believed in the profoundly positive impact education can have on multiple generations and its potential to cultivate independence, empower individuals, and elevate communities by and large.
The SSO Institute at KAUST
The groundbreaking for the Suliman S. Olayan Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship took place at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in 2022; the Institute will foster innovators and entrepreneurs poised to carry the torch of our Kingdom’s transformative journey.
75 Scholarships
We sponsored the higher education of 75 deserving underprivileged students throughout the Kingdom.
Environment Initiative
In light of the planet’s current state, and in pursuit of our Founder’s vision to safeguard the wellbeing of our communities and to contribute to a better future for the coming generations, we felt it incumbent upon ourselves to support truly impactful efforts that focus on tackling the environmental crisis and bringing balance back into the natural world.
A Million Mangroves
Chosen for their many benefits such as high carbon sequestering capabilities and immense contribution to biodiversity, we pledged to plant 1M mangroves off the west coast of Saudi Arabia. These mangroves are estimated to offset 25k tons of CO2 per year.
Culture Initiative
With Saudi bees becoming an endangered species of late, we felt an emerging need to re-engage our natural resources to provide for our communities. We set out to bring local artisans into the fold to resuscitate our dwindling bee populations and revitalize a rich cultural heritage that we hope will be passed down for generations.
Program for Local Artisans
A year-long educational program for twelve local artisans that focuses on sustainable practices in the production of beeswax products and how to utilize by-products that would otherwise be discarded. Through establishing a culture of zero-waste production in an existing local industry, this initiative has the potential to continue to benefit local businesses, diversify the range of local products and generate a wealth of local content.