Reshaping Paradigms: Leading into the Future

This leadership symposium is virtual and will take place online. All scholars, practitioners and students across disciplines and fields with interest in leadership are encouraged to attend. Participation is free of charge.

Click here to access the symposium.

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For additional inquiries about the event, contact us at [email protected].  

Mr. Samer S. Khoury

Samer Said Khoury is Executive Vice Chairman of Consolidated Contractors Company, a multibillion engineering group and the largest construction company in the Middle East.

Mr. Khoury is of Palestinian descent from the area of Safad in the Galilee. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from California State University in Chico and an MBA from the University of Southern California.

Mr. Khoury is at the helm of CCC, which today is a large conglomerate with a broad range of activities ranging from its conventional engineering and construction role to the more complex role of an oil and gas and power developer. CCC employs more than 100,000 individuals worldwide. According to the annual Engineering News Record (ENR) surveys, CCC ranks continuously among the Top 20 Largest International Contractors and is first in the Middle East region.

Mr. Khoury is highly involved in business, social and educational activities in the US, the Middle East and Europe, focusing on engineering innovation, sustainability, economic collaborative development, peace and conflict resolution dialogues, youth empowerment, knowledge societies and social enterprise philanthropies.

Board and Committee Memberships

• Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, USA
• US/Middle East Project, USA
• Cleveland Clinic Foundation, USA
• Education for Employment Foundation (EFE), USA
• Aspen Middle East Strategy Group, USA
• Chairman of the Bethlehem Development Foundation, USA and Palestine
• Palestinian Investment Fund (PIF), Palestine
• Taawon (Welfare Association), Palestine
• Queen Rania Foundation, Jordan
• Lebanese American University, Lebanon
• Pearl Initiative, UAE
• Mentor Arabia, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia
• Governor, Engineering & Construction, World Economic Forum, Switzerland
• The Arab Business Council, World Economic Forum, Switzerland

Dr. Salwa Khoury

Dr. Salwa Khoury received her PhD in Economics from the University of California, Davis. Her specialty is money and banking. She has lived in the United Arab Emirates since 1987. Dr. Khoury has taught economics at the Centre for American Education in Dubai, and at the Emirates Banking Institute in Sharjah. She has taught economics courses and finance courses at the American University in Dubai (AUD) for more than 20 years, and is currently teaching two finance courses at AUD.

Dr. Khoury is a member of the Board of Directors of Consolidated Contractors International Company. She is a member of the Board of Trustees of Balamand University, Lebanon, and a member of the Board of Regents of Bethlehem University, Bethlehem.

H.E. Mohamed Alabbar

H.E. Mohamed Alabbar is Founder and Chairman of Alabbar Enterprises and Emaar Properties, Founder and Director of Noon.com, and Chairman of Eagle Hills and Americana Group. He is a global entrepreneur with active interests in real estate, retail, hospitality, e‐commerce, technology, logistics, F&B and venture capital.

Experience

Since 1997, he has been at the forefront of global real estate, leading marquee real‐estate development companies such as Emaar Properties (developer of the world’s tallest building) and Eagle Hills (leading emerging markets real estate developer). He has spearheaded the growth of Emaar Properties, attaining an unmatched track record of successfully developing iconic futuristic residential, retail, entertainment, hospitality and leisure assets transforming the lifestyles of people globally. Over the years he has developed world‐class, mixed-used projects across 20+ markets of Middle East, North and Sub-Saharan Africa, Central and Eastern Europe, South and South East Asia, and the US.

Business Acumen

In addition, he has driven the growth of several regional players into world‐renown sector champions including Americana Group (a multibillion‐dollar food business, the largest integrated food company in the Middle East), noon.com (the leading e‐commerce platform in the region) and Namshi (a pure‐player fashion e‐commerce firm).

More recently, he has expanded holdings in China with leading mobile transportation platform Didi Chuxing and popular coffee chain, Luckin Coffee.

Championing emerging technology, he is also spearheading the first mobile-only referral and loyalty program utilizing blockchain technology. It is set to disrupt the current value exchange customers have with the brand.

Accomplishments and International Accolades

He has been a trusted partner to strategic investors including sovereign wealth funds, family offices, funds as well as public investors with a strong long‐term value creation track record and has nurtured distinctive relationships with housing authorities, regional ministries, global and regional banks, and tech companies.

Recognized for his contribution to the industry, he has won several accolades including the Arabian Business Achievement Award in 2017 and 2014’s Lifetime Achievement Award, presented to him by Gulf Business, as well as being ranked fifth worldwide as one of Construction Week’s Most Influential Industry Leaders in 2019

Education

A graduate in finance and business administration from the Seattle University in the US, he also holds an Honorary Doctorate from Seattle University, an Honorary Doctorate from the London School of Economics and Political Science and an Honorary Doctorate from Sun Moon University in South Korea.

 

Dr. Mark Esposito

Dr. Mark Esposito is a socio-economic strategist and bestselling author, researching the Fourth Industrial Revolution and Global Shifts. He works at the interface between business, technology and government and co-founded Nexus FrontierTech, an Artificial Intelligence company. He holds appointments as Professor of Business and Economics at Hult International Business School and at Thunderbird at Arizona State University. He is equally a faculty member at Harvard University since 2011 and served as Institutes Council Co-Leader, for the Microeconomics of Competitiveness program (MOC) at the Institute of Strategy and Competitiveness at Harvard Business School, under the mentorship of Professor Michael Porter.

He has authored/co-authored more than 150 peer reviewed publications and 11 books, among which are two Amazon bestsellers: Understanding How the Future Unfolds (2017) and The AI Republic (2019). He is part of the World Economic Forum Global Expert Network as well as an advisor to national governments.

Mr. Samir Khoury

Mr. Samir Khoury is a Managing Director of Consolidated Contractors International Company (CCC) in the Northern Emirates, a contractor of all engineering works. His work involves supporting the ongoing projects in hand to achieve their targets, winning more jobs and liaising with the company operations in other countries.

Mr. Khoury joined CCC in 1973 and worked on construction sites, in estimation and office, business development and management till today. He holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the American University of Beirut and an Executive Master in Business Administration from American University of Sharjah.

Dr. Sabrina Joseph

Dr. Sabrina Joseph is Acting Provost and Chief Academic Officer at the American University in Dubai (AUD).  Prior to this role, she held the position of Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences and Professor of History at AUD.  Her research interests are in the field of Middle Eastern and Ottoman history, with a focus on peasant land use rights, water management, agricultural development, and inter-faith relations during the early modern and modern periods. She is the author of Islamic Law on Peasant Usufruct in Ottoman Syria: 17th to Early 19th Century (Brill, 2012) and, most recently, editor of Commodity Frontiers and Global Capitalist Expansion: Social, Ecological and Political Implications from the Nineteenth Century to the Present Day (Palgrave MacMillan, 2019). Dr. Joseph has also published her work in numerous journals including: British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies; Environment and History; Frontiers: A Journal of Women’s Studies; Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations; Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs; and Rural History: Economy, Society, Culture.

Mr. Spencer Lodge

An internationally recognized serial entrepreneur, author and business expert, Spencer Lodge has almost three decades of experience with building startups across the world into 9-figure organizations. He is the founder of The Blue Sky Thinking Group, the parent company of three award-winning brands including Beneple, a SaaS-based platform that manages HR administration, Finsbury Associates Wealth Management and Corporate Insurance Brokerage, and Safe Hands, a corporate health and wellness brand.

A working-class kid who became something from nothing, Lodge is driven to share his expertise through leadership training, his book Making It Happen: The Ultimate Guide to Selling, The Spencer Lodge Podcast and his distinct style of inspirational and motivational seminars. He has helped and coached tens of thousands of people to think outside the box, stay disciplined and create life-changing results. 

Lodge has worked with companies across industries including Kodak, Emirates Golf Resorts and Bayut, helping create over 50 percent increases in revenue. His first job was working as a trainee office equipment salesman. Through hard work and determination, he quickly moved on to make his mark in the international wealth management arena, living and working in 10 countries, including Hong Kong, Brazil and Netherlands. In 2013, he decided to become an entrepreneur to solve problems that he identified across three different industries. The Blue Sky Thinking Group was his solution to these problems. But deep in his DNA, he has always been a champion for the underdog so he created the Make It Happen University, an e-learning platform that guides entrepreneurs through the difficult steps of starting and achieving massive success in business. 

Lodge has since created an award-winning podcast, sharing stories with renowned guests including Tony Robbins, Dr. Shefali Tsabary and Gary Vaynerchuk. He inspires audiences around the world with his unbreakable “build it up, lose it all, and build it back up again” mentality, with many describing him as a brutally honest, raw and relatable keynote speaker.

Dr. Peter J. Hatherley-Greene

Originally from Aotearoa-New Zealand, Dr. Peter J. Hatherley-Greene has lived and worked as a coach, trainer, teacher and facilitator in the UAE for over 25 years. He has a PhD in Middle Eastern culture and education. Over this time, he worked in higher education as a program chair, helped to launch the UAE’s Moral Education program in 2017, and shifted his training and consultancy business to virtual in 2020. His passion, insight and expertise in Nationalization support, Emotional Intelligence (EQ Practitioner, SEI Assessor and Vital Signs), soft-skills training, education and learning, and coaching, have assisted many clients in reaching their potential including the Executive Council of Dubai Government, HSBC, KPMG, DUBAL/EGA,, KAEC (KSA), Almarai (KSA & Oman), Sembcorp (Fujairah), Omantel, Technip-FMC (Abu Dhabi), Zurich International (Dubai), P&G (India, UAE, Egypt), Borouge, AUS, ADNOC, Rabdan Academy, King Abdulla Economic City (Jeddah), and the Abu Dhabi Police.

A commentator and writer on local and regional issues, Dr. Hatherley-Greene’s articles have been regularly published in the local media.  In 2017, he gave a presentation at the World EQ Summit in Dubai on the topic of “Debunking Arab Stereotypes” and more recently in Jordan (2019), he spoke at an EQ Conference on the topic of cultural stereotypes. Going virtual in 2020 meant re-learning new ways of connecting with people, something which he has successfully achieved in his short courses designed to help diverse audiences in Egypt, the Gulf, India, and SE Asia to manage the current COVID-19 crisis.

Dr. Selina Neri

Dr. Selina Neri is Professor of Management and Corporate Governance at HULT International Business School (Dubai and London campuses), where she designs and teaches post graduate courses in corporate governance, business ethics, global leadership and talent management. In 2020, Dr. Neri won the Best Professor of the Year award for the HULT London campus. Her most recent research focuses on corporate purpose and sustainable value creation. Dr. Neri’s latest research has been published in the Academy of Management Proceedings (2020), the Hawkamah Journal (2020), and in peer-reviewed books and journals including the Encyclopaedia of Sustainable Management (2020) edited by Springer, Business Ethics: A European Review (2019), the Journal of Studies in International Higher Education (2019), the Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management (2018) and The International Journal of Management Education (2018).

For over 26 years Dr. Neri has worked in executive management in the technology industry. She has served as a non-executive director in the travel industry and is a senior advisor in the area of corporate governance. In recognition for her services in governance, she was included in “The Female FTSE Board Report 2016: 100 Women to Watch,” published by Financial Times/Cranfield School of Management for the UK Government (Lord Davies Review). Dr. Neri holds a PhD in Business Management from The British University in Dubai (UAE),  an MBA from the Clemson University (USA) and Bachelor of Science in Economics from the University of Parma (Italy). She is fluent in four languages and a resident of Dubai.

Dr. Ashraf Gamal El Din

Dr. Ashraf Gamal El Din is the Chief Executive Officer of Hawkamah, the Institute for Corporate Governance, DIFC. He is an Affiliate and Certified Governance Expert from the Chartered Governance Institute, UK. He is also a jury member of the Arabia CSR Award. Prior to joining Hawkamah, he was the Executive Chairman of Egypt Post. Before that, he was the Deputy Executive Director of the Egyptian Banking Institute, the training arm of the Central Bank of Egypt. He was also the founder and Project Manager of the Egyptian Corporate Responsibility Center working on promoting the concepts and application of CSR in Egypt. Furthermore, he was the Executive Director of the Egyptian Institute of Directors (EIoD), the Institute of Corporate Governance in Egypt and the Arab Region .  He served as a board member and head of the Audit Committee in a number of listed, non-listed, State Owned and family owned companies. He also served a member of the General Assembly of the Holding Company for Transportation. He is a Professor of Management, Faculty of Commerce, Cairo University. He holds a PhD degree from Manchester University, UK, a master’s degree in public administration from Carleton University, Canada, and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Cairo University with highest honor.

Mr. Sameer Nagarajan

Sameer Nagarajan is a self-motivated, energetic human resources professional who currently works in the coaching and consulting space, offering personal change solutions through coaching to address life, leadership and transition challenges. Simultaneously, he provides structural and systemic HR interventions to address common problems in organization design and development, enabling business growth.

He has worked in several leading marketing organizations such as Unilever, Dabur, BPB and Novartis over the last three decades, where he has been responsible for various segments of people management practices—both blue and white collar—and created several durable in-house brands that have delivered lasting value in these organizations. Simultaneously, he has expanded geographical expertise through experience in markets such as the Middle East, Thailand, China, Africa, Europe and the US from his various international stints. This enhanced cultural sensitivity has enabled him to explore his own leadership potential at all stages and also drive enhanced performance in client organizations.

He is a passionate believer in ongoing professional development and writes a widely-read column on leadership and personal change management in LinkedIn; aside from this, his articles have been published in several magazines and newspapers. He is a qualified MBTI facilitator and pursues a deep interest in applied behavioral science. His personal style combines deep respect for individual abilities and aspirations with the tough love of honesty and directness, grounded in the belief that the most lasting change comes when the need is felt deep within.

Ms. Yasmine Omari

Yasmine Omari is Executive Director of the Pearl Initiative, where she is responsible for the strategic planning and execution of the organization, and manages its various programs, including its flagship governance in family firms program. The Pearl Initiative is the region’s leading independent, non-profit organization working to promote corporate accountability and transparency across the Gulf Region’s private sector. Developed in cooperation with the United Nations Office for Partnerships, the organization was launched in September 2010 at the UN Headquarters in New York. Prior to joining the Pearl Initiative, Omari was an Associate Director at Deloitte where she was part of the team that established Deloitte’s Family Enterprise Consulting practice focusing on family business advisory, succession planning and family business and family office governance.

Omari brings a plethora of know-how in the creation, implementation, and operation of governance systems, as well as sustainability practices, not to mention her hands-on insight in business performance and risk management capabilities for private companies and family offices. She has advised a variety of international businesses in the Gulf Region on building and structuring single-family offices and devising multigenerational succession plans and governance systems. Prior to entering the world of family business advisory, she worked in-house at Nestlé legal department. Omari graduated from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London with a degree in law and Arabic.

Ms. Lina Hourani

Lina Hourani is the Director of Al Ahli Holding Group CSR Division, responsible for several youth development programs and initiatives. The Global Business Opportunities program (GBO) was a major milestone in her professional path, helping Al Ahli Group to identify business opportunities, develop the entrepreneurial skills for youth, shifting them from being job seekers to job providers. Her success with GBO and also the CSR in Action Program—an initiative that brings together students with professionals and CSR Leaders—was spread across four continents benefiting youth from UAE, Jordan, Lebanon, South Africa, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Greece, Italy, France and the UK.

Prior to that, she filled several positions focusing on youth development and training at some of the leading NGOs and institutes in Jordan, including the Royal Health Awareness Society. She also conducted training to more than 2,000 senior professional and young leaders in UAE, Jordan, Egypt, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Italy, France, UK and USA.  Hourani holds a master’s degree in public relations and communications from the University of Westminster in London, a bachelor’s degree in political science and French literature from the University of Jordan, and a diploma in neuro-linguistic programming from Canada.

Dr. Chuloh Jung

Dr. Chuloh Jung is an innovative, inclusive and positive faculty member with extensive experience in government-funded R/D since 2000. He holds a bachelor’s degree in architecture and his PhD from Yeonsei University in Seoul, Korea. He also earned a Master of Architecture and a Master in Design Studies from the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University. He joined Ajman University in 2013. As his PhD work was about applying ubiquitous computing on residential environments, he became one of the national board members of U-City (Smart City) in Korea and head of several government-funded interdisciplinary R/D teams such as the Smart Home Industrialization Center in Kookmin University in Seoul, Korea. He is now Director of the Ajman University Innovation Center and incubates many innovative startups and to keep on writing success stories within the SME ecosystem of UAE.

Ms. Huda Buhumaid

Ms. Huda Buhumaid is Dubai Holding’s Chief Marketing Officer, with responsibility for the conglomerate’s branding, marketing, corporate communications, public relations and corporate social responsibility.

Dubai Holding is a diversified global company with operations in 13 countries employing over 20,000 people. Dubai Holding manages an AED 130 billion worth of assets, which support the diversification and growth of Dubai’s economy across 12 sectors, including tourism, hospitality, real estate, media, ICT, education, science, retail, industrial and design.

Since joining Dubai Holding in 2006, Ms. Buhumaid has successfully launched several strategic projects both at the corporate office and at its portfolio companies, which have received numerous national and international awards.

Previously, Ms. Buhumaid worked with Citibank UAE as Assistant Vice President – Marketing and Business Development. At Citibank, Ms. Buhumaid launched several first initiatives, including the online and mobile banking services, which received several advertising recognitions.

Ms. Buhumaid is a board member at a number of organizations including Awqaf and Minors Affairs Foundation, Dubai Women's Establishment. She is the Vice Chair of the Private Sector Advisory Council and a member of Dubai International Communications Committee. Previously, she was a board member at Khaleej Times and the Vice Chair or Dubai First, a consumer finance company.

Ms. Buhumaid is a graduate of the Executive Leadership Programme, INSEAD, UAE, and holds a Master’s Degree in Organisational Excellence with Honours from Bradford University, UK and a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from Higher Colleges of Technology, Dubai.

Dr. Petra Turkama

Dr. Petra Turkama is Director of Innovation and Assistant Professor of Management at Abu Dhabi University. She is an innovation management professional with vast international experience in directing, delivering and promoting academic institutions, innovation and research projects and educational programs in Far East Asia, the Middle East and Europe. She has resided in the UAE for the past seven years.

Dr. Turkama is a scholar with broad based multidisciplinary research experience in ICT innovation, service science, organizational management and policy studies. She has more than 10 years of industry experience in technology management, marketing and business development in the telecommunications industry prior to joining academia. Dr. Turkama teaches courses in innovation and technology management and entrepreneurship across the undergraduate, MBA, DBA and executive education levels.

Dr. Turkama is an active contributor to international innovation and technology management conferences, publications, committees and boards. Her areas of specialization are innovation management, technology management, entrepreneurship, institutional change management, international public-private partnerships, university-corporate knowledge transfer, service science and innovation ecosystem business models.

Dr. Waddah S. Ghanem Al Hashmi

Dr. Waddah S. Ghanem Al Hashmi is considered one of the authorities on governance and leadership and high reliability organizations (HROs). He is the Honorary Chairman for the Energy Institute–Middle East and is also the Chairman of the Platform for Connected Leadership (PCL), Dubai, UAE. He is also currently the Senior Director for Sustainability, Operational and Business Excellence for the ENOC Group in Dubai, and overseas all the sustainability, CSR, energy and resource management and reporting as well as business and operational excellence, innovation and process improvement and LSS projects with the Group.

Dr. Al Hashmi holds several academic and vocational qualifications including two PG Diplomas, a Bachelor of Environmental Engineering (Hons) from the University of Wales College Cardiff School of Engineering, an MSc in Environmental Sciences, an Executive MBA and a Doctorate in Governance and Leadership from the University of Bradford. He has received several awards in his career, most notably, the Rashid Prize for Scholarship Excellence in 2007 (Dubai), and the IEMA Sustainability Leader of the Year (UK) in 2019. 

He delivers various lectures on learning and leadership and governance at universities, conferences and within organizations. He is a visiting lecturer in the MSc program at the Universiti of Technologi Petronas (UTP) in Malaysia and has been appointed as an external examiner for PhD defense exams at the University of Petroleum and Energy Studies (UPES) in India. He is an advisor on the Herriot Watt University’s Industry Advisory Committee. His publications include various research, practitioner journal and conference papers in addition to seven internationally published books mainly on safety management, operational excellence, reflective learning, HSE practitioner executive development, governance and leadership as well as theology. Two books are currently under development, one on PSM and human factors and another on governance and leadership in health and safety.

He served as Vice Chairman of Dubai Carbon (DCCE PJSC) from 2010-2019; he is a Board Member of the not-for-profit Emirates Environment Group; an Executive Committee Member (Board) of the Oil Companies International Marine Forum (OCIMF) and a Board/Council member of the Energy Institute (EI) in the UK. He is also the senior advisor to the Board of the Clean Energy Business Council. He also represents the UAE in the International Standards Organisation (ISO) Technical Committee 283 and is Chairman of the UAE National Committee for Health and Safety.

Ms. Lucy Chow

Lucy Chow is focused on the innovation space, both in terms of supporting founders and as an investor. She is an Executive, Investment Committee, WBAF Angel Investment Fund and Director of WAIN (Women’s Angel Investor Network). She is also an investor with NextWave Impact Fund, The Founder Institute and Mindshift Capital, the former two based out of the US. She has a video series targeted at entrepreneurs entitled Down to Business.

She contributes regularly to entrepreneurship, corporate innovation, and investor events and forums as a speaker, moderator and judge. She is also passionate about developing entrepreneurial skills in students. She has been a contributing author for Life on the Move, an anthology of stories about expat life and The Possibilities Project: A Young Person’s Guide to Career Success.

She has degrees from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management Northwestern University and HK University of Science &Technology and the University of British Columbia.

Dr. Manar Shami

Dr. Manar Shami has been the Corporate Training Manager at Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC) since 2008. He established online and in-person training programs in 16+ countries across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Oceania, and the United States. These programs include business and commercial training, project management, civil and mechanical engineering, and leadership programs. Adapted practical industry wisdom, best practices and lessons learned from mega into online and in-person training programs. He has provided training for a large number of mega projects including the Presidential Palace (United Arab Emirates), Riyadh Metro Project (Saudi Arabia), Future Growth Project (Kazakhstan), Pearl GTL Project of Ras Laffan (Qatar), Ghazeer Central Processing Facility (Oman), Lower Fars Heavy Oil Development (Kuwait), and many others.

Dr. Shami worked as a senior aviation engineer at ATAC (NASA and FAA contractor) in California, a project manager at the Pacific contracting, and later as a professor of civil engineering in various universities in the US and abroad (UC Berkeley, NTU Singapore, University of Cincinnati, University of the Pacific). He obtained his PhD, MEng and MSc degrees from the University of California, Berkeley, USA. He was the first doctoral graduate from the National Center of Excellence in Aviation Operations Research (NEXTOR), Institute of Transportation Studies at UC Berkeley. He has published more than 40 journal papers and books, and was an authorized US OSHA Safety Trainer. He holds private pilot licenses for aircraft and motor boats, and hold a five-year music diploma (in violin) from the conservatoire.

Dr. Payyazhi Jayashree

Dr. Payyazhi Jayashree is a multiple award-winning academic scholar and practitioner, and Dean, Faculty of Business, University of Wollongong in Dubai. Her core areas of teaching include leadership, design thinking, strategic change and business transformation, and she has extensive experience in academic governance and leadership in a transnational institutional context in the education sector. She has led several research teams to achieve the mandate of leadership, strategic change and inclusivity in innovation. Her collaborators for these projects include key institutions such as the UN and the Dubai Business Women Council (DBWC), as well as corporate leaders and CEOS from global organizations. Dr. Jayashree’ s sustained commitment to UN Sustainable Development Goal #5 and impactful research in women and leadership, has led to global recognition and substantial media coverage, including uptake by prominent scholarly publications, such as Personnel Review, and practitioner publications, such as Emirates Woman and Forbes Middle East, along with key awards such as the Women of Impact by UOWAustralia.

Dr. Jayashree is a Board Member for Water for People, India Trust, an international non-profit, working across nine countries to bring safe water and sanitation for 4 million people. She has extensive experience in leading executive development programs in global institutions, and has contributed to teaching and learning at top business schools, such as Indian Institute of Management (IIM) and Sydney Business School.

Dr. Jayashree has professional certification in Key Tools of Design Thinking (Empathize and Prototype) awarded by the eStanford Center for Professional Development, Stanford University, and is a Certified Balanced Scorecard Professional, awarded by the Balanced Scorecard Institute (BSCI) and George Washington University College of Professional Studies, USA. Dr. Jayashree is also a Certified New Code Neuro-Linguistic Practitioner and Certified NLP Coach, having been trained and certified by the Co-Creator of NLP and New Code NLP, John Grinder, UK.

Mr. Andrew Smith

Mr. Andrew Smith is an experienced and successful business leader and a certified board director, with significant experience in conventional and Islamic insurance across the UK and Middle East. An insightful strategic thinker with a proven track record of developing and building sustainable businesses across the Middle East, he has developed, maintained and enhanced long-term business relationships with board-level and regional regulatory bodies as well as a been a proven implementer of strategic business plans.

He has demonstrated extensive experience in corporate governance and has chaired and managed a number of executive governance committees that led to improvements internally and recognition of the company by local regulators. His experience spans across all areas of an organization, ranging from finance management, market development, technical development, emerging markets and creating shareholder value.  He has established new insurance and re-engineered insurance entities in the UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and Kuwait.

Smith holds a master’s degree (MSc) from the University of Leicester, a Post Graduate Diploma in Islamic Banking and Insurance from the UK and Financial Planning Certificates from the Chartered Insurance Institute.

Dr. John Rice

John Rice joined Zayed University’s College of Business as Professor of Strategic Management in August 2017, where he served as Interim Dean and Dean. Australian born, he has previously worked at a number of Australian universities and has taught from undergraduate to doctoral levels in Europe, North America and Asia. He has served as a consultant in a variety of industries including telecommunications, water and transport infrastructure.

Dr. Rice is an active researcher in the areas of sustainability, entrepreneurship, innovation and human resource management issues—especially as these intersect with business strategy. He has published around 80 refereed journal articles and is co-author of numerous textbooks and teaching cases. His family of his wife and three teenage kids live with him in Abu Dhabi. They all enjoy travelling, watching and playing sports and encountering new people and cultures.

Dr. Rihab Mohd Osman Khalifa

Rihab Khalifa is the Vice Dean for the College of Business and Economics at United Arab Emirates University (UAEU). She is leading the Strategy Management Office at UAEU, and is one of two academics seconded to the UAEU Transformation Program. Led by UAEU Chancellor His Excellency Saeed Ghobash, the program is fundamentally reorganizing the governance structure, processes and strategic initiatives of UAE’s first university over the coming years.

Since 2018, Dr. Khalifa has adjudicated corruption cases against financial auditors in the UAE as a member of the Disciplinary Council for UAE Auditors. The council is chaired by a senior judge and advisor to the Minister of Justice and has been decreed by the Minister of Economy. Dr. Khalifa was a founding member of the African Accounting and Finance Association, which aims to strengthen professional and academic practices on the continent.

A full professor of accounting and auditing, Dr. Khalifa has taught financial auditing and published research on a broad range of public and private sector governance issues. Her work has appeared in leading accounting journals, including Accounting Organizations and Society, Accounting Auditing and Accountability Journal, Critical Perspectives on Accounting, European Accounting Review and Qualitative Research in Accounting and Management, and has been funded by leading research funding agencies, such as the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and various British professional accountancy bodies. Her total grants have amounted to over $500,000.

Mr. Jonathan Bygrave

Jonathan Bygrave has spent his entire career (37 years) in shipping, working in London, Philippines, Singapore, Iraq, Kuwait and Dubai, which has been his home for the last 15 years. He has been with the Kanoo Group for the last 10 years and was appointed CEO of Kanoo Shipping in 2018. During this time, he has overseen the growth of the company from the Middle East into both India and South Africa to become the largest and multi-award-winning shipping service company in the wider region.  

He became skilled in negotiation through his training as a shipbroker and has developed strong business development skills by working with an international client base covering many industry sectors. He enjoys working in a multicultural environment in a multifaceted organization. His background and route to the top has been different to most and has led him to become a mentor in business and share his work/life experiences around the world. Outside of work, he loves cars (he raced for many years), most sports, art, history and cooking as well as being a dad to two boys currently at university.

Mr. Daniel Adkins

Daniel Adkins is Group CEO at Transnational Academic Group. He joined Transnational Academic Group in 2009 as a faculty member in the schools of business and information technology and has led the organization for the past seven years. He is currently responsible for overseeing the operations of international university branch campuses in Dubai and Ghana.  Prior to joining the academy, Adkins spent the first 20 years of his career working in the information technology industry, providing management consulting services for many companies in the Fortune 100 and held numerous management positions, including CIO and CEO.

Dr. Alessandro Lanteri

Dr. Alessandro Lanteri is Professor of Entrepreneurship at Hult International Business School in Dubai and London, teaches for Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford, and writes for Harvard Business Review Arabia. An expert educator, he helps executives and students navigate turbulent environments and seize the opportunities of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. He works with multinationals, governments and startups across five continents. His research has appeared in Harvard Business Review and MIT Technology Review outlets, the World Economic Forum Agenda and Forbes. His latest book, CLEVER. The Six Strategic Drivers for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, became a no.1 Amazon bestseller.

Dr. Maliha Hashmi

Dr. Maliha Hashmi is the Executive Director and the Deputy Sector Head for the Health, Wellbeing and Biotech Sector at NEOM, where she also served as the Executive Director for all Strategic Partnerships. She also serves as the Deputy Chair of the NEOM COVID-19 Leadership Taskforce. Dr. Hashmi also serves as a leading expert and council member for the Prestigious Global Future Council on Health and Healthcare at the World Economic Forum. Furthermore, Dr. Hashmi serves as a leading expert and council member for the Global Future Council on Longevity at the World Economic Forum.

Dr. Hashmi is an esteemed delegate of the V20, a global platform of value experts and practitioners that has come together on the sidelines of the G20 presidency to actively engage with the process of the Group of Twenty (G20). Recently, Dr. Hashmi was recognized as one of the top seven most talented emerging Female Health Leaders of the MENA region. Dr. Hashmi has held executive roles in various sectors and globally renowned organizations and is a well-known name in the region for health and wellbeing. She also a contributor for Forbes.

Dr. Hashmi received her doctorate and master’s degrees from Harvard and MIT. She is listed as one of the top 20 women in the nation in the United States of America for her achievements, making it into the Who’s Who in America List.