2018 Harvard Islamic Finance Conference

October 26 - 27, 2018 Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

Notes from the conference can be found here.

We explore the role of Islamic finance from a social impact point of view and showcase successful ethical businesses and their positive impact on a wide variety of stakeholders. We also focus on how the theme relates to students and professionals who want to learn more, build their networks and become engaged within the field by starting a business or meeting potential employers. For more details, please visit the conference website

Conference Plenary Tracks​

• Islamic Finance: Introduction to the field & the role of multilateral institutions in promoting social impact finance. Various ethical investment models explored, including blockchain technologies and fintech.
• Islamic Economy: The ecosystem of businesses that embody Islamic ethics and target Muslim consumers.
• The Muslim Professional: Addressing the challenges & opportunities that young Muslims face while creating spaces to develop networks and deep engagement within the field of Islamic finance, ethics, and economy.

About the Organizers

This conference is organized by a steering committee of Harvard students and alumni under the auspices of the Harvard University Muslim Alumni (HUMA) Association. HUMA is an active alumni organization founded in 2004, focused on alumni networking, supporting the Muslim community on campus, increasing Islamic resources on campus and increasing access to Harvard for Muslims.

Please direct all your conference inquiries to: ​islamic.finance@harvardmuslimalumni.org.

Sponsors

The conference was sponsored by the following institutions:

2016 Harvard Islamic Finance Conference

In 2016, HUMA hosted its first Islamic Finance Conference - a member-guided event that leveraged our members' interest and expertise in the field of Islamic Finance.

The 2016 Conference aimed to bring together thought-leaders, practitioners, scholars and students in a critical and productive dialogue to assess the role that Islamic Finance can play in realizing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Conference examined the functions that Islamic finance, with its risk-sharing approach, can perform in achieving the SDGs, while also critically probing the institutional constraints and the product limitations that may challenge the Islamic finance industry in making a meaningful impact.

The program conference has details on the discussion topics of the 2016 conference.

2016 Sponsors

The conference was sponsored by The Alwaleed Bin Talal Islamic Studies Program, MASIC (Mohammed I. Alsubeaei & Sons Investment Company), and Wahed Invest. Please see the program below for details on the discussions at this conference.