Speakers

Mo Gawdat is the Founder of One Billion Happy, former Chief Business Officer of Google X, and author of the international bestselling books Solve for Happy and Scary Smart.

Following the tragic loss of his son Ali, Mo began pouring his findings into his international bestselling book, Solve for Happy: Engineer Your Path to Joy. Following his success, Mo launched his chart-topping podcast, Slo Mo: A Podcast with Mo Gawdat, a weekly series of exploring the profound questions and obstacles we face in the pursuit of purpose in our lives.

In 2020, He published Scary Smart: The Future of Artificial Intelligence and How You Can Save Our World. He latest book, That Little Voice in Your Head: Adjust the Code That Runs Your Brain is a comprehensive user manual for optimally using the human brain optimally to thrive and avoid suffering.

Nelly Attar is a Fitness Ambassador, Sports Leader, and an Health Advocate who is contributing significantly to the transformation of the sports landscape in the Middle East. Nelly earned the title of “One of Top Influential Muslim Women in Sports” in 2020 by The Muslim Women Network, and the “Female Fitness Influencer of the Year across the GCC” in 2019 by Sports 360. She is currently nominated for the “”Sporting Event of the Year”” Award by Laureus World Sports Awards.

Nelly scaled the World’s second highest mountain peak, making headlines globally, and becoming the First Arab women to climb to such a height. Within four weeks after her climb, Nelly scaled the most treacherous peak in the world “”The King of Mountains.””

Nelly completed her academic studies in Psychology and was awarded a BSc from the American University of Beirut and an MRes from Kingston University.

April Rinne is an acclaimed speaker, thinker, and advisor that is radically shaping our relationship to uncertainty and sustaining a healthy productive outlook for organizations across the globe.

From keynote speeches to advisor sessions, April focuses on inclusive business innovation, policy reform, sustainable development, and emerging markets. In 2021, she successfully wrote and published Flux: 8 Superpowers for Thriving in Constant Change.

April holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School, an M.A. in International Business and Finance from The Fletcher School at Tufts University, and a B.A. in International Studies and Italian summa cum laude from Emory University. In 2011 the World Economic Forum named her a Young Global Leader. She is one of the 50 leading female futurists in the world, a Fulbright Scholar, and a trusted advisor to well-known startups, companies, financial institutions, and governments worldwide.

Azeem Khan is a New York based entrepreneur and a Web3 native who’s worked in tech, blockchain, biotech, esports/gaming, and entertainment. Azeem is currently the Fundraising & Partnerships Lead at Bitcoin, a decentralized autonomous organization that has given out approximately $70million in grants to open-source software developers since inception in 2017, and helped spawn many multi-billion dollar companies in the web3 space that were originally grantees of the enterprise.

Simultaneously, Azeem was writing with the Huffington Post interviewing hip hop artists including Big Sean, T.I, Casanova, Kid Ink, Bun B, Jadakiss, Memphis Bleek, Rapsody, DJ Drama, and even Mark Cuban.

Prior to joining Gitcoin, Azeem built an esports company alongside major music executives from Roc Nation. Some of his clients include Kanye West, Bryson Tiller, Teyana Taylor, Rae Sremmurd, and Dreamville Records.

Robert C. Wolcott is Co-founder and chair of The World Innovation Network (TWIN Global), a global community that is built up of over 4,000 innovators and leaders from 30 countries. TWIN gathers 400 delegates for TWIN Global, a yearly event exploring the future of industries and the objective to build a network across multiple sectors.

Robert is Adjunct Professor of Innovation & Entrepreneurship at the Booth School of business, as well as Adjunct professor at Kellogg School of Management, where he won Teacher of the year four times.

He also Co-founded Clareo in 2003, a growth strategy firm that helps complex organizations tackle big challenges. Robert helps organizations clarify vision, articulate strategy and sustain an innovative action plan that enables companies to approach challenges confidently.

Omar Chihane is the Founder and CEO of englease, an EdTech company delivering scalable accredited English classes synchronously (live) online, taught by an in-house team of expert teachers. englease* partners with governments, schools and organizations to help them roll-out English proficiency programs at scale by offering a turnkey solution from program design, to tech integration and delivery.

Prior to founding englease, Omar has had a very successful corporate-level career in learning and development and sales management with multinational companies, such as Siemens, Nokia, and Microsoft, where he led both regional and global business units, achieving sales targets that exceeded US$100 million dollars and leading functions responsible for upskilling over 15,000 people.Omar holds an MBA from London Business School.

Abdullah Snobar is the Executive Director of the DMZ and the CEO of DMZ Ventures. Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, the DMZ helps startup founders build, validate, and scale into world-class companies. Under Abdullah’s leadership, the incubator has expanded its global impact by establishing partnerships and satellite locations across North America, Latin America, Africa and Asia. To date, the DMZ has helped 700+ startups raise $1.85 billion in capital.

Abdullah serves on the Board of Directors for the Business Development Bank of Canada and the Rideau Hall Foundation. He has previously held roles with the Canadian Armed Forces, Fairmont Hotels, and Marriott Hotels & Resorts. Abdullah holds an ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors and MBA and BComm degrees from Toronto Metropolitan University.

Adrienne Doolan is the founder and CEO of Green Touches, an all-natural and eco-friendly company adopting clean technology and supplying sustainable products, enabling businesses to move towards achieving a sustainable environment. In March 2020, Green touches was named Forbes ME as one of 10 of the Middle East’s most sustainable startups, and in September 2020 – Green Touches were the winners of IBLA Sustainability Award.

Since 2019, Adriene Doolan has been serving as a board member of the United Nationals Global Impact (UNGC) local network and an advocate for The 17 Sustainable Development Goals. She is also a board member at the Sustainability Action Society (SAS)

While not running Green Touches, Adrienne spends much of her spare time on voluntary programmes such as Water Alliance and a mentorship programme working with female Emirati University students on Sustainable Cities and circular economy and business ethics.

Deenah is an International Relations graduate from Zayed University and the Founder and CEO of Sxill. By creating Sxill, she aims to expose the community to various professions, disciplines and essential skills that are not emphasized in modern-day curriculums.

Prior to Sxill, Deenah organized educational, networking and business matching forums which allowed her to embrace the beauty of developing content and connecting people. She recognized the challenges faced in acquiring certain skills in the community and the the scarcity of outlets offering training and up-spilling workshops, Thus, the idea behind Sxill was born.

Her concept emphasizes real human interaction between mentors and mentees, focusing on hands-on content and personal experiences. She aims to develop a “Do it Yourself” culture where people are more independent and are able to discover their hidden passion and talent.

Dr. Abdulla Al Shimmari is the founder and CVO at RestHero.io. RestHero positions themselves as a worldwide industry pioneer in the fast trade innovation space, empowering restaurants, supermarkets and consumer retail brands to scale through direct ordering satisfaction that is savvy and time-optimized.

Al Shimmari received his PhD in AI, NLP, and Data Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) & Masdar Institute of Science and Technology Cooperative Program. AlShimmari has vast experience in technology, entrepreneurism, and innovation with 12 national and international awards records; he is also a board member of the Arab Youth Research Council and the HCT Industry Advisory Council.

Dr. Adil Alzarooni is an Emirati leader of entrepreneurial teams and educator in the fields of economic zone development, the sustainability of family businesses, and education. He is the Founder of Citizens School, Chairman of CapiZona and CEO at Al Bidayer.

Dr. Adil holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering from the Etisalat College of Engineering, a Master’s in business administration from American University of Sharjah and a PhD in family businesses and business systems from the British University in Dubai. He is the co-author of Economic Zones: The Essentials and the author of Sustaining Family Businesses: The Essentials.

As the Chairman of CapiZona Ventures, Dr. Adil specializes in building family businesses and creating a venture study to develop companies in the Middle East. Dr Adil is passionate towards retaining and maintaining trajectory growth of family ran businesses.

Dr. Emilie Thomas Mansour is the founder of oktopi.ai, the portal to a learning universe that enables educators and learners to grow together. oktopi.ai equips learning communities with a digital workspace for education to help them design and build their own learning journeys anywhere, any time.

Throughout her academic career as a University Lecturer and Researcher in Macromolecular Material, Dr. Emilie has advocated for Lifelong Learning, alternative education models, and hybrid collaborative classrooms. Following her passion to build a more sustainable and inclusive education model and future, she founded oktopi.ai to make this vision a reality. oktopi.ai has been selected as Zoom’s first EdTech partner in the MENA region.

Emilie holds a double MA in Physics/Material Sciences and Contemporary Dance in INSA Lyon France, and a Sorbonne PhD in Literature and Comparative Studies for her thesis “Women in Wartime Beirut (1975-1990).

Fadi Abdul Khalek is the Chairman of the Board at the European Learning industry Group (ELIG). Fadi currently serves as an advisor, investor, and cofounder of several start-ups in the EdTech industry and IIOT space. He devoted his career to EdTech, working within several executive positions in global education companies for over 20 years. Fadi served as Vice President for strategic partnerships at Pearson Education where he overlooked Pearson’s transformation into a holistic learning provider with a focus on technology, efficiency, and workforce readiness.

Prior to ELIG, Fadi was the co-founder and CEO of UKS, one of the earliest and leading eLearning organization in the Middle East with operations in Europe, Asia and North America.

Farida El Agamy is a Lawyer, Entrepreneur, and the Co-Founder and CEO of Kyma, a start-up focusing on sustainable FMCG products that currently produces non- toxic surface cleaners in the UAE. Kyma was launched with the mission of empowering customers by offering them the option to be sustainable and the opportunity to contribute to enhancing the future of our planet.

Farida grew up in Switzerland, an environment in which she developed a natural flair for innovation in sustainability. A proud Dutchyptian, she speaks six languages and has become a guiding force and growth catalyst for family-owned businesses in the UAE. Her international upbringing and her achievements transforming local businesses into successful and enterprises helped her develop a clear vision of the future of businesses and sustainability. She is the founding GM of the Tharawat Family Business Forum and a Director at her family’s firm Orbis Terra Media.

Heather Henyon is Founding Partner of Mindshift Capital, a global venture fund that invests exclusively in early stage women-led technology companies. She is also the Founder of the Women’s Angel Investor Network (WAIN), the first and largest women’s angel group in the Middle East.

Heather started her career on Wall Street and has almost 20 years of experience in finance, technology and strategy in emerging markets. She is a member of the Investment Committee of both US-based Next Wave Impact Fund and Cairo Angels Syndicate Fund and is a founding member and former Board and Investment Committee member of Dubai Angel Investors. She has been nominated as “Investor of the Year” by Arabian Business in 2017 and 2016.

Heather holds an MBA in Finance & Entrepreneurship from the Johnson School at Cornell University where she was a Park Leadership Fellow and a BA in Economics & Political Science from Oberlin College.

Latifa Bin Haider is a social entrepreneur, Co-Founder of Mental Health AE, Founder of Baytuki and of Baytuki Academy. Passionate to put her skills to use for the betterment of her community, Latifa co-founded Mental Health AE, a start-up that raises awareness about the importance of mental health and aims to get rid of the stigma associated with it.

Latifa began her journey as a Founder when she launched Baytuki, a platform that aims to empower, educate, and enable Emirati women of all ages and income brackets towards financial prosperity. Following the success of Baytuki, Latifa launched Baytuki Academy, offering programs, either online, face-to-face or as a blended approach, offering opportunities to get a head start on accelerated learning addressing new trends and industry growth areas.

She has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from The American University of Sharjah, majoring in Business Management with a minor in Finance.

Mounira Jamjoom is a Co-founder and CEO of Aanaab.com, an online platform that facilitates ongoing professional and personal development of Arab teachers through distance learning solutions. She is also Co-founder of Emkan Education a school development and education advisory company. Mounira worked as an Advisor for the Evaluation, Training and Education Commission (ETEC). She was an advisory board member of the Technical and Vocational Training Corporation (TVTC) for women and a member at the National Childhood Committee in Saudi Arabia.

Mounira serves as a board member of a school group, board member of the Saudi Entertainment Academy (SEA) and advisory board member of the Queen Rania Teacher Academy (QRTA). Mounira holds a Ph.D. in education from Oxford University and a Master’s degree from Columbia University. Mounira is also an Harvard Business School Alumna.

Nabil Hamade is a founder of hawa® water LLC, a UAE company that extracts water from humidity and fills it in premium returnable glass bottles. Nabil has grown the company by establishing market presence in the GCC and apprising corporations of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) with the benefits of drinking hawa® water.

Prior to devoting his efforts to hawa® water, Nabil has served as a supply chain and projects director for multinational companies like Pepsi and Mars, where he developed large FMCG manufacturing facilities in USA, Dubai, and Jeddah, and managed several utility-scale solar plants in the MENA region.

Nabil holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical and Computer engineering from Wayne State University, USA, and is a certified Energy Manager by the American Association of Energy Engineers.

Raya Bidshahri is Founder and CEO of School of Humanity, an online school based on an innovative learning model and interdisciplinary curriculum. At School of Humanity, students from over 10 countries develop their skills, mindset and behavior by tackling real-world challenges.

Raya is recognized for her proactive approach to revolutionising the global education system with the BBC featuring her as one of the 100 most influential and inspirational women globally. Raya has spoken in over 40 conferences in the past decade, sharing her mission to reinvent global education systems to better serve humanity.

Raya graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Neuroscience from Boston University where she was a member of the mind and brain society.

Sharad Agarwal is the Chief Metaverse Officer of Cyber Gear, an award winning web design company and strategic digital agency. Cyber Gear can craft a brand strategy that converges the physical and digital experiences and help future-proof your business. Most recently, In 2021, Cyber Gear entered the metaverse space, offering solutions in the areas of Web3 and NFTs.
Shared is also a Start-up advisor in the e-commerce and meta domain, helping founders raise funds and form strategic global partnerships.

Sherina AlSowaidi is the Owner of F&B start-ups, Ritual Cafe & Studio and Glaze Bakehouse. She is also the founder of Liftoff, a B2B App connecting F&B Business Owners to Service Providers.

After graduating from NYUAD, Sherina chose to explore the entrepreneurial world through business & self-development programs with London Business School and University of California, Irvine. Sherina dedicates her time in project management and execution. Driven by the design of creative experiences, she takes pride in bringing together the tools necessary to help individuals with a similar drive reach their goals and bring their projects to life.

Tala Al Jabri is an investor in high impact early-stage technology focused on fintech and consumer opportunities across Middle East and Africa. Tala is a Venture Partner (previously General Partner) at HOF Capital, an early stage VC fund, and was an advisor at Turmeric Capital’s GCC Asia Fund.
Previously, she was an investor at SoftBank Vision Fund focusing on growth-stage ventures in MEA and working with portfolio company expansions into MENA. Tala is also a member of Saudi Angel Investors, and was named Arabian Business’ Woman of the Year in Finance in 2022. She regularly contributes to Forbes Magazine and Entrepreneur.
She obtained her MBA from the Wharton School and MPA from Harvard University

Yi-Wei is the Chief Product Officer at Talabat, the largest food delivery company in the MENA region delivering hundreds of millions of food orders, grocery items and other products per year, to our customers in nine countries throughout the region. Today, Talabat has over 3000 employees and is headquartered in Dubai, with Tech Hubs in Dubai & Cairo.
Yi-Wei is on a mission to build product-led organizations that are customer obsessed, data-driven, and experimentation-focused organizations that leverage the power of technology to solve problems across the company.

Faisal Toukan is the Co-founder and CEO of Ziina, a payments App ushering in the next generation of financial services to the Middle East. Ziina is on a mission to simplify finance for everyone—from entrepreneurs, to freelancers, to regular consumers looking to split costs in a cashless world.

As Ziina grows, Faisal is committed to creating a new age of money in the Middle East and redefining how people use technology to transform their finances.

Lamis Al Hashimy is the Co-Founder of Palmade®, a UAE based company aiming to replace single-use plastics through an innovative biodegradable composite that utilizes date palm biomass. Palmade® innovative biodegrade cutlery has made an impact in the food industry cross the UAE.

Lamis graduated from the Carroll School of Management at Boston College with a bachelors and master’s degree of science in Accounting. Lamis started her career at top firms, such as Deloitte and Morgan Stanley, where she gained international expertise in her field.

She is a founding Board Member of the Milele Zanzibar Foundation, a non-profit organization with the goal of developing and improving the quality of communities in Zanzibar.

Pablo Langa is the Founder and Managing director at EDT Partners, a purpose-driven consulting firm dedicated to helping companies, startups, NGOs and governments in the education space consolidate their international presence, accelerate digital transformation, grow strategically into new territories, connect with strategic partners and support plans for mergers and acquisitions.

Pablo is acting CEO for Exams of Zoom, an EDT venture redefining the future of online assessments. In the past, Mr. Langa, worked as Director of Global Business Development at Blackboard, in its mobile learning division, where he oversaw more than 10M users across the globe.

He has actively worked in over 100 different projects all with the same aim, helping reimagine the way in which we learn and inspiring companies across the globe to innovate education.

Khaled Al Huraimel is Group CEO at Bee’ah Group, dedicated to pioneering the quality of life through a diverse group of companies that push the boundaries of digitalization and raise the bar for sustainability. Through innovation, full-circle resource management, and digital transformation, the Group is addressing challenges in climate change and setting a global benchmark for sustainability.

Under Khaled’s supervision, Bee’ahs waste management divisionwere able to achieve 76% landfill waste diversion rate, the highest in the Middle East. Khalid is also focused on innovations in waste-to-energy, as he looks to drive the Emirates towards achieving Zero Waste to landfill by 2022.

Khalid follows an entrepreneurial career, founding multiple start-ups in various industries from real estate to digital retail and co-authoring ‘Reimagining Businesses with AI’, a book published by Wiley in 2020.

Aziza Alahmadi is the Founder and CEO of Boss Bunny Games, a world-class mobile gaming publisher and developer with over 60 years experience in the video games industry. Founded in 2020, Boss Bunny Games has been working towards establishing itself as the main mobile games developer and publisher in the MENA region.

Aziza has more than 20 years of experience across the global corporate world, communications, business transformation, and the technology/games sector. During her career, Aziza was named among the top 50 female executives in telecommunication by CommsMEA in the MENA region. She is passionate about fostering the growth of gaming industry in the region by investing in talents and attracting the next generation of young professionals to work in the creative industries.

Ahmed Tameemi is a serial tech entrepreneur and Co-Founder and CEO of HoloFair, MENA’s leading metaverse platform for brands and experiences where users from across the globe can connect in the digital world.

Ahmed Co-founded HoloFair in 2020, pioneering the next major wave of digital change and proudly hosting 3D events for many well-established enterprises and governments. Prior to HoloFair, Ahmed co-founded HoloGuide and HoloMenue, revolutionizing food menus and connecting users with cities using Augmented Reality (AR).

Olga Fleming is an investor, serial entrepreneur, lawyer, and founding Partner at Oruga Investments. Founded in 2009, Oruga Group provides professional services in finance sphere and investments, acquisitions and business registration, as well real estate market operations.The company has now grown to become a comprehensive legal support provider to international businesses and start-ups.

Olga has a comprehensive background in Public Private Partnerships and Foreign Direct Invesment Strategies. During her career, she has strategized various start-up initiatives which were recognized by global publications such as Forbes, Fox and Cosmopolitan.

She holds a Master’s Degree in Law and Real Estate management from The University of Warsaw.

Nader Amiri is the Founder & COO of El Grocer, a mobile grocery delivery platform that allows users to buy supplies from their favorite grocery stores in the UAE, making consumer’s lives more convenient by combining his passions in FMCG and Technology.

Nader began his career in the FMCG industry with Unilever, Kraft Foods, and Coca-Cola. He quickly asserted himself as a passionate innovator, with a strong multidisciplinary experience in brand management, innovation management, and trade marketing. After over 10 years in the cooperate world, Nader quit his job at Coca-Cola to lead elGrocer and satisfy his hunger to start his own business,

In 2022, elGrocer was acquired by the Etisalat Group, However, Nader continues to lead elGrocer as the Chief Operating Officer.

Mustafa Sharara is a filmmaker, an entrepreneur and the Co-Founder and CEO of Excuse My Content – a video content agency that brings the craft of film into the advertising world offering a complete designed experience from concept creation to production.
Following his passion, Mustafa launched his first production company that won the INJAZ Al-Arab Young Entrepreneurs Startup Competition in 2015. His work has been recognized by several international organizations such as National Geographic, The World Bank, MBC Group, Samsung Mobile, Huntgram, El Bawaba and featured on Cairo Scene among the list of 25 under 25 most successful entrepreneurs of 2016. Mustafa was mentored by Google, Facebook, Apple, Microsoft, Pinterest, Twitter, Airbnb, VISA & Autodesk in San Francisco, California after joining a mini acceleration program by Techwadi.
In 2019, Mustafa Co-founded SYNC School, a community-based hub for the unconventional, the restless minds and the visionaries, with over 130,000 monthly active members.

Alia Al Shamsi is an Author, Poet, curator, Photographer, and Founder of Alia Gallery.
Her work has been featured in the photographic Biennale in Italy and she has published multiple children’s books, including “Alayah” and “You Are Made of Stars.” Alia released a poetry book titled “The Ocean Sees Through My Soul,” which was launched at Sharjah International Book Fair, where she has been a yearly featured speaker.

Ali holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Photography from Griffith University and a Master’s Degree in Photo-Image from Durham University. She is the current acting cultural programming manager at Louvre Abu Dhabi.

Nahla Al Fahad is a a Director, Executive Producer, and Scriptwriters and one of the leading creative directors in commercials, entertainment, documentaries and music videos across the Middle East.
After studying in Dubai, Nahla travelled to the United States where she accomplished her first film making course in 2011. After realizing her passion for film, Nahla returned to Dubai and established Beyond Studios, a UAE-based TV and film production house that would allow her to produce films, series and documentaries on a larger scale.
Nahla has won numerous awards and been recognized for her work both in the UAE and internationally, but she hopes to take that to the next level in the future by encouraging young women to follow in her footsteps and support the UAE’s film industry to expand at a global level

Nujoom Alghanem is an Emirati poet, artist, scriptwriter and multi award -winning film director. She has produced eleven films including five short fictions and six feature length documentaries. Her documentaries have won several local, regional and international prizes.

In 2019, she was the solo artist of the UAE National Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, one of the most prestigious art events in the globe. She also received the Pride of the UAE Medal through the Mohammed bin Rashid Government Excellence Award. Nujoom is a professional mentor and trainer in art practices, filmmaking and creative writing. She is currently a board member of the International Prize for Arabic Fiction, as well as an advisor to educational and cultural organizations.

Hussain Almoosawi is a multidisciplinary creative documenting the architecture and urban identity of the United Arab Emirates through a series of typologies that serve as a pictorial study of different subjects. Hussain’s most notable works include his solo exhibition ‘Facade to Facade’ at Gulf Photo Plus and his photography for the United Arab Emirates Ministry of Culture & Youth, which was published to document the heritage of the UAE.
He is currently acting Editor-in-Chief of National Geographic at Al Arabiya Magazine. Previously, Hussain served as an infographic content creator for The National and other media platforms at Abu Dhabi Media

Noora M. Bin Kalban is the Managing Director & Co-Founder of Medaf Studio, an art studio that aims to ignite the curiosity and creativity of the innovators of tomorrow through multi-disciplinary art practices. Medaf Studio was founded with the support of Dubai SME & the Fund and was inspired by the desire to see more people get connected with their creative side in a time of heavy reliance on technology. Noora is responsible of Medaf’s ongoing operations and business development in addition to building partnerships and collaborations to grow the business.

Her mission is to make art accessible for people of all ages through workshops and art classes at Medaf, aiming to build a community for local artists to grow and prosper in the creative industry.

Noora holds a BS in Communication & Media Sciences (concentration in Integrated Strategic Communications) from Zayed University where she graduated with honors.