Welcome George Khalaf, Overdeck Family Foundation’s New Program Director

Today, we’re excited to announce a new addition to the Overdeck Family Foundation team: George Khalaf has joined us in the newly created role of Program Director. George brings with him over two decades of experience in the nonprofit, social entrepreneurship, education, and management consulting worlds.

As Program Director, George will oversee and manage the work of our growing Program team, which spans four portfolios: early childhood, informal STEM education, and K-9 efforts that include supporting educators and student-centered learning environments. In partnership with the Program team, George will define and drive strategy and execution, working hand-in-hand with portfolio leads to guide pipeline development, diligence, ongoing management and evaluation of grants, and strategy review and creation. Additionally, George will be responsible for determining and developing our Foundation’s strategy for increased non-monetary grantee assistance and support, a key area of feedback from our 2019 Grantee Perception Report.

"This work could not be more timely, and I’m excited to guide our team as we continue unlocking innovation, evidence, and scale in the education sector."
George Khalaf, Program Director, Overdeck Family Foundation

George’s track record of operationalizing a vision and launching and scaling high-impact nonprofits and social enterprises will allow him to add a unique perspective to the Foundation’s work and its support of grantees.

“We’re excited for George to bring his strategic and analytical skills, as well as a grantee perspective, to the forefront of each investment we make at the Foundation,” said Anu Malipatil, Vice President of Education. “George will be a key player in ensuring that we’re upholding our commitment to measurably enhancing education for children and families with every investment we make.”

As the Foundation continues to expand its focus on helping grantee organizations innovate, build evidence, and grow, George’s first-person experience as a nonprofit operator will play a crucial role in informing and leading grantmaking efforts.

“It’s an honor to join the Overdeck Family Foundation team and lead programmatic efforts aimed at improving children’s socioemotional and academic outcomes,” said George Khalaf, Program Director, Overdeck Family Foundation. “This work could not be more timely, and I’m excited to guide our team as we continue unlocking innovation, evidence, and scale in the education sector.”

Most recently, George was the founder and executive director of Empatico, a free digital platform that connects children around the world to build relationships, deepen empathy, and bring learning to life. Empatico, an award-winning digital platform that was the recipient of a 2018 Fast Company World Changing Ideas Award, reaches over 1 million students across 140 countries.

Prior to Empatico, George was the director of the Middle East and North Africa region for The Synergos Institute, a nonprofit poverty alleviation organization. In this role, he directed all programs and activities in the MENA region with the aim of connecting people, ideas, and resources to tackle the underlying causes of poverty and inequality. His projects included designing, building, and implementing the Arab World Social Innovators Program, which is the Arab world’s largest network of social entrepreneurs. He raised $7.8M for this effort, empowering a network of over 500 social entrepreneurs to pioneer original solutions to social and economic problems facing their communities in a variety of sectors including youth employment, education, health, economic development, and the environment. George has also worked for Dalberg, Accenture, American Institutes for Research, and The World Bank.

Please join us in welcoming George to the Overdeck Family Foundation team!