Annandale property owner accused failing to address sexual misconduct at the Hult Prize

Ahmad Ashkar at the Hult Prize Finals and Awards Dinner in 2016.

A former resident of Annandale, Ahmad Ashkar, who owns three homes here was fired in September as CEO of the Hult Prize following allegations of sexual misconduct at the prestigious organization based in Hertfordshire, England.   

Ashkar owns two houses on Brookcrest Place and one on Kendale Road in the Broyhill Crest neighborhood. He lived on Brookcrest Place before moving to Ashburn about a year-and-a-half ago. 

The Hult Prize is an annual competition that awards a $1 million prize to university-level students who present entrepreneurial ideas for solving social issues around such topics as food security, water access, energy, and education. The competition is supported by the United Nations and former president Bill Clinton. 

According to an article published Dec. 2 by inews, an internal investigation blames Ashkar for failing to address allegations of sexual assault against four former staff members and three former mentors between 2018 and 2021. Hertfordshire police are asking other victims to come forward.

A statement by the Hult Prize Foundation acknowledges a “complete failure of leadership” by senior staff who had presided over a “high-stress and high-stakes” atmosphere combined with a culture of “excessive alcohol consumption.”

The foundation’s interim chief executive, Martha Doyle, blamed Ashkar for abusing trust and wielding “excessive and unchecked power over employees’ careers and over participants’ likelihood to succeed in the competition and beyond, which cultivated a culture of fear,” the inews article states. 

Ashkar, a Palestinian American, cofounded the Hult Prize in 2009. Before that, he held positions as a management consultant and board member at socially responsible investment firms. He also owns the restaurant Falafel Inc. in Georgetown.