A Chat with Anthony Stephan: chair Cornerstone Development, top award winning chief executive, investor, innovator—about his ongoing incredible success history; work in pioneering sustainable cities and real estate developments; investments and leading with globally top companies and programs leveraging sustainable green energy, metaverse, mobile, education, inclusion for 2 billion with limited access; lessons with top leadership organizations; inspiring stories of people transforming the world

This week, Stephen Ibaraki has an exclusive interview with Anthony Stephan.

Anthony Stephan
Global impact investor and visionary for tech-enabled innovations in green energy, youth empowerment and education, impact reporting efficiency, tokenization and metaverse, backed by the inspiring track record in sustainable real estate development and social economy initiatives in the Middle East.

PIONEERING SUSTAINABLE REAL ESTATE

Anthony Stephan is the chairperson of Cornerstone Development (www.cornerstonehldg.com), ranked amongst the Top Real Estate Companies in the Middle East by Forbes. He was instrumental in the real estate development of many projects including District//S, a pioneering sustainable microcosm city in the Mediterranean Basin, earning global recognition by winning the Urban Design Group's Francis Tibbalds Prize for the Best Practice Project and gaining a regional reputation after winning the two top prizes at the 2014 Real Estate Awards (Leading Design & Architecture and Most Eco-Friendly & Sustainable Project) and the SDG11 (Sustainable Communities & Cities) Award.

Additionally, Anthony has conceptualized and launched the "1 Tree per Square meter sold" initiative in all his real estate projects, contributing to greening the planet.

IMPACT INVESTING AND TECHNOLOGY ENHANCEMENT ACROSS INDUSTRIES

Despite his rigorous engagement in the real estate sector, Anthony is actively involved in many life-enhancing initiatives and forward-looking technology platforms through investments in the disrupting impact tech companies, including:

• BBOXX (www.bboxx.com) – Next Generation Utility platform
• Goodwall (www.goodwall.io) – Next generation virtual empowering youth community
• Proof of Impact (www.proof.io) – Digital impact performance data tools platform
• Minexx (www.minexx.co) – Digital blockchain marketplace for mineral supply chain
• Pyrpose (www.pyrpose.io) - Democratising impact investments
• Impact District (www.impactdistrict.io) - Bringing impact experiences into the metaverse

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS AND COMMUNITY INFRUSTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT

Anthony's passion for community building is reflected in his engagement as a board member/active member in visionary organizations such as the Young Presidents Organization (YPO), YPO Global Ambassador, the Chief Executives Organization (CEO), the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Lebanese American Chamber of Commerce, the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), the Lebanese SDG Council, the Lebanese Franchise Association (LFA), the Order of Engineers and Architects of Lebanon.

In 2018 Anthony was granted the Social Economic Award in Lebanon as a recognition to his professionalism and innovation.

EDUCATION

Anthony holds a master's degree in civil engineering from ESIB and has completed the executive programs in Singularity, The Stanford Graduate School of Business, IE Business School and London Business School.