Charlotte Alum Richard Best Donates 100k From Reality Show

American architect Richard Best, ’79, winner of “The Hydra Executives,” an Apprentice-style real-estate reality show that took place in the United Arab Emirates, has donated $100,000 of his share of the $1 million cash prize to the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Institution for the use of Micro-algae Spirulina Against Malnutrition (IIMSAM). He received a Certificate of Recognition for his donation at the Intergovernmental Renewable Energy Organization’s (IREO) Event on June 11th, where he also received an IREO Best Practices Renewable Energy Award at the United Nations headquarters in New York for his commitment to eco-friendly architectural and interior designs. The prize is in the field of sustainable and renewable energy and recognizes those at the forefront of energy innovation.

Best, spent five months in Abu Dhabi, where he first learned about IIMSAM while working with Dr. Sulaiman Al Fahim, the CEO of Hydra Properties and host of “The Hydra Executives,” the show on which Best competed. “The Hydra Executives” pitted eight American against eight United Kingdom entrepreneurs to see which individual contestant had the best business mind, and business plan, to earn the $1 million cash prize, which would go toward a new business venture Dr. Fahim would partner with them on. Taking place in the capital city of Abu Dhabi, the contest was created as a way to introduce international entrepreneurial talent to the fast growing real estate market in the United Arab Emirates.

IIMSAM works to promote the use of Spirulina against severe malnutrition. Each day around forty thousand children die because of severe malnutrition and related diseases across the world. Malnutrition disempowers and affects the lives of around 852 million people globally in a drastic way. Malnutrition-the deficiency of micronutrients (vitamins, minerals and essential amino acids), severely diminishes the body’s ability to ensure growth and maintain its vital functions. Rich in essential vitamins such as A, B-vitamin complexes, iron and essential fatty acids, Spirulina offers remarkable health benefits to an undernourished person. These health benefits have made it an excellent food for rapid recovery of children from malnutrition related diseases in Mexico, Togo, Romania, China, Rwanda, Zaire, India, Ukraine, and Belarus.

“This may very well be the solution to our world-hunger problem,” Best said. “Easy to grow, more than environmentally friendly—the algae can actually help combat global warming—and more nutritious than most other comparative food sources; once I learned about it, I couldn’t help but feel there had to be some way I could contribute, and I had just won this huge cash prize…it was a natural next step to make a donation to IIMSAM.”

Best has made a career-long commitment to eco-friendly designs, and it is for this commitment that IREO is awarding him with their prestigious “Best Practices” Renewable Energy Award. Richard’s architecture firm has come to specialize in eco-friendly design, and two of Richard’s recent projects are in-process to receive a rarely attained Gold LEED certification from the US Green Building Council. Dr. Sulaiman Al Fahim, IREO Gala Event Chair, will be presenting the award to Best.

“It is the goal of the IREO to support and engage in the development of renewable energy programs around the globe,” Dr. Fahim said. “We strive to encourage governments and business leaders to embrace the future of renewable energy and recognize the growing demand for a wide range of fuels on a sustainable basis. IREO is taking a leading role to meet these challenges.”

“I had the pleasure of watching Richard in action while he competed in my Hydra Executives competition and reality television program, and I was impressed by his leadership skills and his business concepts,” he added. “Richard is a forward thinker with fresh innovative ideas – the kind of leader that meets the standards that IREO is promoting.”

The 2nd annual IREO Renewable Energy Awards Gala, with Master of Ceremony Sam Champion of ABC’s Good Morning America, will take place the evening of June 11, 2009, following the IREO renewable Energy Conference at the UN Headquarters in New York.