Helmy Abouleish

CEO of the SEKEM Initiative, President of Demeter International

Helmy Abouleish, born 1961 in Graz, Austria, is CEO of the SEKEM Initiative in Egypt, founded by his father Ibrahim Abouleish in 1977. Sekem is the  Initiative for Sustainable Development in the Egyptian desert, which works holistically in the four pillars of sustainable development: Ecology (biodynamic agriculture and its promotion), Economy of Love (production of phytopharmaceuticals, organic textiles and food), Social Life (sustainable community development) and Cultural Life (individual potential unfolding in Schools, University, Medical center). SEKEM is regarded as the Egyptian pioneer in organic farming, and was awarded the Right Livelihood Award (‘Alternative Nobel Prize’) in 2003.

Helmy Abouleish has been deeply involved in SEKEM since it was founded. He studied economics and marketing in Cairo and was for a long time campaigning in national and international politics to promote responsible competitiveness, social entrepreneurship and tackling the greatest challenges of the 21st century, such as climate change and food security. Helmy Abouleish is the Chair of the Board of Trustees of Heliopolis University for Sustainable Development in Egypt. He is also the President of the Biodynamic Federation – Demeter International, in which he has been involved since its founding and contributed to defining the Demeter International Vision Mission Principles Values. He is a board member of C2C (Cradle to Cradle ) and a member of the Schwab Foundation (World Economic Forum).

He is a Councillor of the World Future Council.