Sanjay Shah is a Dubai-based entrepreneur and philanthropist who’s committed to making the world a better place, one song at a time. After a successful 15-year career in London’s financial industry, Shah founded Autism Rocks, an innovative charity that merges Shah’s passion for music with his commitment to families facing autism. Shah now devotes the bulk of his time to philanthropic pursuits. In addition to Autism Rocks, which remains his core focus, Shah devotes considerable resources to Film Aid and Plan U.K. When he’s not pouring himself into his charitable activities, Shah moonlights as an executive film producer. His most recent work, “Under the Shadow,” earned a BAFTA Award (outstanding debut) in 2016.******Shah grew up in North London. As a child, he dreamed of becoming a physician. His work ethic and strong academic performance landed him at the prestigious school of medicine at King’s College. At some point, Shah realized a medical career wasn’t what the doctor ordered and switched his focus to accounting, a field in which he began to thrive.Following school, Shah worked as an auditing trainee with KPMG. In 1996, he took a back office position at Merrill Lynch’s London office. Over the next decade-plus, he rose through the ranks at a succession of global financial institutions: Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, ING. By 2008, he was head of derivatives trading at Rabobank, in the heart of the City.In 2009, Sanjay Shah relocated to Dubai and launched a number of independent financial ventures. The move was restorative—“the best decision my family and I have ever made together,” Shah says. “Dubai is a lot sunnier than London.”