Sunny Varkey

Sunny completed his O-Levels at St. Mary's Catholic High School. He pursued his A-Levels at Bembridge School in the UK for a year, and completed his A-Levels in Dubai at the British Council.

He is the founder and chairman of the global advisory and educational management firm GEMS Education, which is the largest operator of private kindergarten-to-grade-12 schools in the world, with a network of over 130 schools in over a dozen countries. He is also the chairman of the umbrella business organisation the Varkey Group, and the founder and trustee of the philanthropic Varkey Foundation. As of 2012, Varkey is also a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador.

Mr. Sunny Varkey serves as the Chairman of Varkey Group Limited. Mr. Varkey is the Founder of GEMS Education and served as its Executive Chairman. Mr. Varkey serves as a Member of the Healthcare and Education Advisory Board of Gulf Capital.An out-of-the-box thinker, Mr. Varkey has brought a new dimension to private education. As an educational entrepreneur, he has developed an enterprising blend of business, customer service and innovation combined with high educational standards to form GEMS, an educational brand that has made global headway since its launch.

In 1984 Varkey founded Welcare, a healthcare consultancy and management venture which developed a number of hospitals and clinics. A controlling interest in Emirates Healthcare, the Varkey Group's umbrella company which held Welcare, was purchased by Mediclinic International in 2012.

After creating a strong network of schools in the Gulf Arab states, in 2000 Varkey established Global Education Management Systems (GEMS), an advisory and educational management firm, in advance of his worldwide overseas expansion. In 2003, he began opening GEMS schools in England, beginning with Sherborne House in Hampshire and Bury Lawn in Milton Keynes.

Foundations

Varkey's strong spiritual values, and the example of his father, gave him a passion for philanthropy. In December 2010, he consolidated and structured his various donations and charitable initiatives by creating the Varkey Foundation (initially the Varkey GEMS Foundation) as the philanthropic arm of GEMS. The foundation intends to impact 100 impoverished children for every child enrolled at GEMS schools, via enrolment and education-access initiatives, worldwide teacher training programs, advocacy campaigns, and physical projects such as building classrooms, schools, and learning centres.

AWARDS

Global Indian Business Award (2007)

CEO Middle East Award – Corporate Social Responsibility (2007)

Outstanding Asian Businessman of the Year (2007)

Rajiv Gandhi Award for Eminent Educationist (2008)

Padma Shri Award (2009)

Sunny Varkey was born in 1957 in Kerala, India, and is a non-resident Indian, Dubai-based education entrepreneur and education philanthropist.