Qatar Foundation (QF) has, across its 30-year lifespan, provided opportunities for individuals to define their life paths, contribute to building a stronger society, celebrate and perpetuate Arab and Islamic cultural heritage, and ensure that people of all abilities, ages, and interests can thrive. The embodiments of QF’s mission to support the continuing journey of Qatar’s development are those who have become leaders, drivers of change, and ambassadors of service and citizenship. Their full stories can be explored through ‘The QF Generation’, an immersive platform where 30 people whose lives have been shaped by QF relive their personal journeys, available at https://link.qf.org.qa/generation.As 2025, QF’s 30th anniversary year, draws toward its close, here is a snapshot of how some of those who illustrate QF’s true legacy have played, and continue to play, their part in the advancement of Qatar’s community. Maryam al-Homaid’s father, Yousef Ahmad, is one of Qatar and the GCC’s leading artists. As a child, his studio was her playground. Now, the associate professor at QF partner university, Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar, is an artist herself, turning carpets into cultural archives of Qatar’s history, identity, and journey.“Carpets are part of our identity. We pray on them, sit on them, live with them. I wanted to take something so familiar. People see a pattern and say: ‘That reminds me of my old neighbourhood’. That’s the power of art and design. It connects us to memory. “My art is about weaving memory into change – holding onto the details that make us who we are, even as we evolve.” Through QF partner university Georgetown University in Qatar and QF-founded QatarDebate, Moza al-Hajri became a world champion debater and a leading voice in taking discourse in the Arabic language to the global stage, exemplifying how young people with passion and purpose can shape conversations about the future of their societies. Now, as a QatarDebate mentor, adviser, and ambassador, she helps young students find their voices, as she found hers. “QF didn’t just support debate; it raised the bar for everyone. The level of training, the exposure, the coaches – no one else was doing it like that. We weren’t translating Western frameworks. We were thinking in our own language, on our own terms. “QF didn’t just give me access. It gave me belief in myself, in the value of speaking up, and that someone would listen.” For three decades, Raja’a Shalabi has been at the forefront of inclusive education at QF. She helped transform the Learning Centre at QF into a full K-12 school, now Awsaj Academy. Shalabi wrote Arabic-language curricula, trained teachers, and built dual-language inclusion programmes. She now works at Warif Academy, a specialised school catering for children with profound disabilities, established by QF and the Ministry of Education and Higher Education. “It wasn’t just Qatar Foundation that grew from one school to an entire city of schools, universities, and research centres. I grew, too, and so did many others. We grew in ways we never imagined, because we were given opportunities and shared a drive to build something better. “Sometimes, our entire goal is simply to teach a child to lift their head. But even that is progress. Even that is worth everything.”She is a national volleyball player and QF sports ambassador. She is also a volunteer, a mentor, and a biological sciences student at QF partner university Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar. Hana al-Khater’s journey stemmed from her own courage to take a bold step – and has been supported every step of the way by the environment of support and empowerment she found within QF.“I wasn’t always confident. I was shy. I didn’t think I was good enough to put myself out there. But my mom kept telling me: ‘Hana, take the first step. There are so many opportunities waiting for you’. And she was right.“The beauty of getting an education at QF is that it’s not just academic. It’s about becoming well-rounded, learning how to lead, how to give back, and how to grow as a person. QF gave me the space to grow into all these roles. It’s not just a school or a university – it’s a community that sees your potential and helps you rise to it.”