Being among the first generation of Dubai business people formed after the crises of the 1930s, Al Gaz tried to move away from the pearl business. He encouraged private investment in public education by building schools, including the Amna bint Wahb Girls School, the Gamal Abdulnasser Boys School, and the Community Schools. He endowed public and private institutions anonymously, and in 1989 developed with Juma Al Majid the United Arab Emirates' first charitable society, Beit Al Khair.[citation needed]