career is focused on building the future through documenting the past. From his contributions to the construction of a cultural center in Saudi Arabia to leading the National Film Archive of Saudi Arabia, Alabdullah has put his USF MBA to use in creative ways.
After receiving his bachelor鈥檚 degree in Saudi Arabia at King Fahd University of Petroleum
& Minerals, Alabdullah began his career at working in the new business development and then a year later joined, Ithra, the
in 2011. 鈥淭he Centre was built from scratch,鈥� Alabdullah notes. 鈥淏ack then, we didn鈥檛
have any cultural centers of such nature and magnitude.鈥�
To learn more about the business side of museums, Alabdullah participated in an internship
with Smithsonian Enterprises, the professional management arm of the Smithsonian Institution,
in Washington, D.C. During his program, Alabdullah learned that he was admitted to
USF to pursue an MBA.
鈥淭he interesting part was doing 12 hours of electives in sports and entertainment
management,鈥� Alabdullah said. 鈥淚t was the best part of being at USF.鈥� Alabdullah took
classes in what was to become the Vinik Sport and Entertainment Management Program.
鈥淚t was very hands on,鈥� Alabdullah said, adding among his projects were developing
projects for the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Alabdullah standing with Mr. Amin Alnasser, CEO of Saudi Aramco during the Royal Inauguration
of Ithra, King Abdulaziz Center for World CultureAfter graduating from USF, Alabdullah returned to the cultural center. 鈥淚 was assigned to continue the development of the library and archive,鈥� Alabdullah said. 鈥淲e developed everything from scratch.鈥�
Aramco has funded the project as a major public initiative yet as a cultural project
it鈥檚 outside of their core business of oil. 鈥淲e are a port of an energy company that
is trying to talk cultural language and arts, which was really different from what
the company is used to,鈥� Alabdullah said, who also spent two years in London to running
the public affairs office of Aramco Overseas Company, an affiliate.
In 2021, Alabdullah joined the National Film Archive after working for the Ministry of Economy and Planning in Saudi Arabia. 鈥淥ur objective is to build an archive that helps the film community and provide filmmakers with reference points to the social history of Saudi Arabia,鈥� Alabdullah said. 鈥淓ventually, we hope to have become a destination for cinephiles and the local film community.鈥�
Alabdullah has a passion for the preservation of audiovisuals, specifically of those that come from Saudi homes. 鈥淭here are family collections that document how we live and how we have lived over the years,鈥� Alabdullah said. 鈥淎nd it鈥檚 frighting that these could be lost if they aren鈥檛 taken care of as soon as possible.鈥�
鈥淧reserving our history is a noble mission, both as proud Saudis and as humans in general,鈥� he added.