After years of planning and consultation with experts and scholars, Zakat Foundation Institute was founded and launched in 2020 during the height of the global COVID-19 pandemic as a long-term professional training and scholarly research initiative. The Institute is sponsored by Zakat Foundation of America, a leading humanitarian organization with specialized expertise in disaster response and development in global Muslim societies and is fiscally sponsored by the Center on Muslim Philanthropy, a nonprofit capacity building and training organization providing services across the United States.With the Lilly School of Philanthropy at Indiana University-Indianapolis, Zakat Foundation Institute admitted an inaugural cohort of eighteen students into its first joint-graduate certificate program, the Zakat Foundation Institute Fellowship in Muslim Philanthropy and Humanitarian Studies for the 2020-2021 academic calendar. In 2024-2025 academic year, Zakat Foundation has added Master’s program and will include a Doctorate program in Humanitarian Leadership to its course offerings, providing graduates, returning, and professional students a range of advanced educational opportunities to advance their career in the social good sectors. As the Institution grows, students will be able to integrate the distinct certificate track for the completion of a Master of Arts and Doctorate in Humanitarian Leadership.