APJ

Education lies at the heart of every society. In Lebanon, a country weakened by successive crises, providing young people with the opportunity to pursue their studies has become both a major challenge and an urgent necessity for building a brighter future.

It is with this conviction that the Association Philippe Jabre (APJ) and ALAM Suisse have joined forces. Their partnership is built on a shared belief: sustainable development is impossible without guaranteeing the next generation access to quality education.

A Shared Mission

For 25 years, APJ has been dedicated to supporting students, particularly those pursuing master’s degrees—often overlooked by traditional financial aid programs. “Education is the key to everything,” emphasizes APJ’s manager, Joumana Sabbagh. Philippe Jabre also insists on the importance of going beyond dreams: “Having a dream is not enough. You need to have a vision of what you want to become in 3, 5, or 10 years. Education makes that possible.”

ALAM Suisse carries the same commitment. As its Lebanon representative Gabriel Sawaya explains: “A better future in Lebanon cannot be achieved without improving access to education for our youth.” The association has always relied on transparent and solid partnerships with trusted local organizations to ensure real and lasting impact.

Amplifying Impact

The collaboration between ALAM Suisse and APJ significantly strengthens the support offered to Lebanese students by expanding access to scholarships and academic resources. Together, the two associations are building bridges between the diaspora, international donors, and Lebanon’s youth.

Philippe Jabre at The Maronite Foundation in the World - The Maronite Academy Initiative: "Coming Home and Commitment to Lebanon's Future"

On August 14th, 2025, Philippe Jabre delivered a keynote speech at The Maronite Foundation in the World - The Maronite Academy Initiative's 8th annual session during their Summer Program in Lebanon. The session, held in honor of the late H.E Mr Michel Edde, provided a meaningful platform for Philippe Jabre to share his personal vision of returning to one's roots and civic engagement. In a speech filled with emotion and conviction, he traced his exceptional journey and explained the deep motivations that led him to return to Lebanon after more than four decades abroad.

An international journey in service of a vision

During this intervention at The Maronite Foundation in the World - The Maronite Academy Initiative, Philippe Jabre had the opportunity to deliver the following speech

"Good morning to you all

Dear Sirs, Father Moukarzel, members of the board, ladies and gentlemen.

Thank you Hiam for such an elogious introduction. It is an honor to address you today, especially after the extensive meetings you had the last two weeks with ministers, politicians, religious people.

I’m present here today to talk about career and values which I would say define and differentiate each one of us.

Lebanon is a land of emigration and also a land of coming back, blessed, holy, cursed at some times, but this is where our identities are being or have been forged.

My late grandfather Michel Jabre emigrated in the late 1800s to Argentina, Senegal, France and came back to Lebanon after more than 40 years. He did not retire in Lebanon, he invested in industries, beer, textile, insurance were all created under his helm.

Why am I talking about him, because in my personal case I was born in Lebanon and had to leave at age 16 to continue my studies abroad. I lived in Canada, the USA, France, England and Switzerland.

Same as my grandfather I came back three years ago after more than 45 years abroad. I was fortunate to be able to complete higher studies abroad, worked in finance, asset management particularly, and ended up running and operating my own company with hedge funds and other types of investment.

I succeeded in having all what one can dream of: success in my work, established positions, nice properties, but that was not enough — I was always a foreigner in foreign lands.

In the worst of economic and political moments in Lebanon, I was fortunate to reacquire the family business which had been put up for sale by Heineken. Four years ago, lots of people thought I was brave but crazy.

I did not hesitate, I invested, I moved back to Lebanon where my identity, culture and heritage lie!!!

I believe that success in one's life is how one can use his health, skills, means to help improve the less fortunate around us and make a difference in their lives, in particular and in the society as a whole. Just by existing you can touch other people’s lives.

More than 25 years ago, the association I created helped fund thousands of students, high schools and universities, cure hundreds of medical cases, support educational institutions, cultural events through art exhibitions. I strongly recommend you, if you have time, to visit the National Museum, the newly refurbished Pavillion with lots of old travel and fun posters about Lebanon.

The objectives between all these efforts and the Almaza investments were to stabilize the social fabric of society, provide help, hope, job opportunities in extremely difficult moments in Lebanon's political landscape.

Today, all these works and commitments take full sense. We are getting our country back — you all met the best people we could have dreamt of, not long ago, in positions of political responsibilities. President, Prime Minister, ministers, and many others are the best in this transitional period.

I recently met in Europe a Jewish friend talking about Lebanon, Israel and the region. He then told me: 'You in Lebanon have more than 2500 years of history, with Israel we have only 75 years.'

This history has made us what we have today: extraordinary cultural identity, great food (one of the top 5 in the world). You will find kindness, hospitality, warmth everywhere in Lebanon, even in the most remote places irrespective of religion or social backgrounds.

After more than 50 years of upheavals and troubled moments in Lebanon, we have ahead of us a period where we are in control of our destiny. You are all welcome to enjoy and share these years ahead altogether.

P.S.: Thank you Hiam and all the board members for all your efforts to organize this conference and make possible these meetings and exchanges."

Philippe Jabre carried Lebanon with him on his travels around the world, like a pain that doesn't subside and a nostalgia that doesn't cool down. Forty years of exile, between New York, Paris, and Geneva, didn't extinguish his passion for a country he loves like one's first love... with violence and without conditions. He wasn't attracted only by professional glory, but continued to search for Lebanon's beautiful face through time, gathering fragments of his memory, piece by piece.

Today, in a quiet corner of the National Museum of Beirut, part of his vast collection of travel posters is exhibited in the "Nihad Said for Culture" wing. There, the old posters don't just decorate the walls... they whisper like spirits returning from a glorious era, telling the story of a country called the "Switzerland of the East".

From the 1920s to the 1970s, this invaluable visual archive extends, because it's not just an art collection... but a silent pulse of nostalgia, written by Jabre through images so that Lebanon wouldn't be forgotten. And through reservations at the museum he owns in Beit Chabab, one can see thousands of paintings, drawings, photos, and more.

Philippe Jabre was born in 1960 in Beirut, at a time when Lebanon was still playing the symphony of life with its beauty and uniqueness. When he turned sixteen, fate took him far away... to a different world, under different skies, but he carried with him the image of Lebanon as he loved it, and decided to redraw it, piece by piece, in everything he accomplished during his long exile.

Philippe, who received his education between Lebanon, Canada, and the United States, saw that immigration melted humans into a mold of equality. "In exile, there are no privileges for anyone. We all start from scratch," he says. But despite his successes that followed him from New York to Geneva, nostalgia for Lebanon remained an ember under his skin that didn't cool down.

Art in the language of the homeland

"The lucky merchant is the one who collects maybe Picasso's paintings, then witnesses a market explosion. But if he didn't collect them with love, he wouldn't have benefited"... that's how Jabre tells his passion for art. But he didn't collect for profit, but for memory. For Lebanon, which he wanted to keep alive, not just in images, but in people's souls.

Jabre's art collection isn't a museum. It's a ribbon of life. Travel posters, film posters, old advertisements for Middle East Airlines and the Ministry of Tourism, tell a story of a time when Lebanon was the destination of dreamers. Beirut, Baalbek, Jeita, the sea, the cedars, the evenings... all of this appears behind the paper as if it's saying: we are here, don't forget us.

When he returned to the family villa in the village of "Bwa de Boulogne" or "Boulonia", the walls were screaming in pain. The villa, which had been occupied by the Syrian security regime and turned into a surveillance headquarters, seemed like a miniature image of the wounded country. But Philippe didn't pay attention to the destruction, he saw a seed of life in it. Seven years of renovation, more than $10 million, and 120 artisans brought the pulse back to a stone heart.

"I wanted to say that Lebanon can rise again," he whispers.

And today, the villa, surrounded by a thousand pine trees, jasmine, and lavender, houses art, tranquility, and prayer.

Almaza... roots don't die

Among the projects closest to his heart was the acquisition of the majority stake in the company "Almaza", the historical Lebanese brewery. He didn't do it out of greed for gain, but out of a desire to return the institution to the family after ninety years. "Almaza is not just a beer... it's a memory," he says.

From Jeita to Qobayyat, from summer concerts to supporting tourism, Philippe doesn't hesitate to say: "Our country must remain open to the outside world, and must return to being a destination for the world."

Since the establishment of the "Philippe Jabre Charitable Association" in 2001, hundreds of educational grants and medical and social assistance are provided silently, without spotlight. "Helping others is the most important success you can achieve," he once said, and it continued to light the way.

He loves helping youth, believes in social justice, and confirms that society is not built on salaries alone, but on culture, education, and dignity.

Despite his brilliant financial career, which earned him the nickname "hedge fund legend," Professor Dakash chose to give him another title: "missionary of social solidarity."

Perhaps because Philippe Jabre resembles the beautiful Lebanese, the one who still believes in love, light, and dignity. A man who sees that tourism, culture, and institutions are all links in one chain: "If one member of the body becomes sick, the whole becomes ill."

And perhaps for this very reason, Jabre remained, despite everything, trying to repair what was broken. To gather what was scattered. To redraw the homeland, anew, poster after poster... and nostalgia after nostalgia.

Source: annahar.com