THE LEADING TECH FESTIVAL FOR EMERGING MARKETS

As the CEO of Mestaria and owner of the Mestaria Gallery, Peter is a visionary leader in the Marketing and Communications industry. He specialises in providing cutting-edge solutions that help clients stay ahead of the curve and become self-sufficient through the use of advanced MARTECH technology. Additionally, he runs a contemporary Art Gallery under the Mestaria brand.

Based in the UAE, Sabrin is the Director of Domestic and Reginal Engagement for COP 28, as a part of the UAE Climate Change Special Envoy. In her previous role as Managing Director of Sustainability for EMEA at HSBC, she responsible for the sustainable finance agenda across Europe and Middle East and with a focus on innovation in products, strategic advisory and thought leadership on a range of topics including ESG integration and the just & inclusive transition. HSBC was named the Middle East's Best Bank for Sustainable Finance in 2019-2022 by Euromoney in addition to for Western Europe in 2020. Sabrin also has experience in implementing large complex sustainability projects across borders in partnership with think tanks, non-profits and academia. She is also a contributor for the Sustainable Finance course at the University of Cambridge. Sabrin was named as one of Australia's Brightest Young Minds in 2008, awarded the Distinguished Alumni Service award from Macquarie University in 2011 and nominated for Young Australian of the Year in 2015. She holds a Masters in Sustainability Leadership from the University of Cambridge and a Masters in Peace and Conflict Studies from the University of Sydney specializing in peace and business. She is also a certified UK Chartered Banker Green and Sustainable Finance Professional.

Sacha is a Partner at Global Ventures focused on Digital Health, EnergyTech, Edtech and the Future of Work. Sacha has over 9 years investment experience, and prior to Global Ventures, worked in mid-cap Private Equity across, Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. Sacha is fluent in Spanish and Urdu, and holds a BA in History and Politics from the University of Warwick.

As Director General of Emirates Nature-WWF, Laila Mostafa Abdullatif leads the delivery of high-impact, science-based solutions for conservation, sustainability and the green recovery at a regional scale. Alongside representing the organisation and heading up its initiatives across education, engagement, research and policy, Laila plays a hands-on role in managing the Board of Directors, fundraising and strategic stakeholder engagement. At a global level, Laila sits on the WWF Innovation Committee and is a member of the WWF Asia Pacific Shareholders Executive Team, responsible for leading environmental strategy and driving change in the region. She has also been a judge on the high-profile Hult Prize, which supports social impact enterprises around the world. Since her appointment as Emirate Nature-WWF’s Director General in 2017, and prior to that as Deputy DG, Laila has been implementing her vision for an activated civil society, one that acknowledges the vital connection between nature and humanity. Laila believes in the importance of mobilising all sectors of society, including the UAE government, the private sector and the general public in taking action for nature. While cultivating a high-performance culture at Emirates Nature-WWF, she has overseen the launch of the Leaders of Change programme, the UAE’s biggest movement for nature and one that makes participation in the country’s green solutions accessible to all. She was recently elected as the Chair of WWF Asia Pacific Growth Strategy (APGS) across twenty-eight countries in the region.

Noor is the Founder and Managing Partner of Global Ventures, a UAE-based, Series-A focused, emerging-market venture capital firm with presence in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Nigeria. With $200 million AUM, and financial returns rating it as a top decile fund, Global Ventures has become a leading investor across the Middle East and Africa. Since its inception in 2018, Global Ventures has completed 50 investments across ten markets, deliberately focused on sectors positively affecting millions of lives across the world, such as FinTech, Digital Health, EdTech and AgriTech. In addition to generating top decile returns, the portfolio has had a demonstrable impact on millions of lives through its company founders creating 9,500 jobs, enabling female leadership, powering financial inclusion for over 48 million people and expanding healthcare access to over 4 million patients. Prior to Global Ventures, Noor was the first woman to operate, scale and IPO a company in the MENA region, listing Depa on NASDAQ Dubai and the London Stock Exchange for US$1.1 billion in April 2008. One of the world’s largest interior contractors, Noor scaled Depa tenfold, expanding operations from six countries to 22, including four cross-border acquisitions. Identified by Forbes as one of the “World’s Top 50 Women in Tech” and by Arabian Business as one of the “Most Influential Arabs”, Noor’s previous roles include Chief Investment Officer at The Dubai Future Foundation and a Founding Partner at Leap Ventures. Noor also founded the largest chain of yoga and pilates studios in the Middle East, ZenYoga, which was acquired by Cedarbridge in 2014. Noor is an active, independent board director of Clue, the largest femtech company in Europe. She is the Founding Chairwoman of the Middle East Venture Capital Association, a Director of the Global Private Capital Association, TechWadi, and the Karman Fellowship. She is a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network and a member of the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders. She previously held Board Director roles at MIT Sloan and was a founding board member of Endeavor UAE. Noor holds Bachelors’ degrees in Finance and Economics from Boston College, and an MBA from MIT Sloan.

Prior to founding climate technology company Wetility, Vincent advised SADC energy ministers, power utilities, manufacturers and regulators on electricity markets. He was a strategy manager at Cummins responsible for corporate and market strategy development and implementation. Before his work at Cummins, Vincent was a management consultant at Deloitte Consulting, a senior energy industry analyst at Frost & Sullivan, and a televised commentator on international media, including CNBC-Africa.

Medea Nocentini is the Founder of C3 – Companies Creating Change, a UAE-based social enterprise helping impact-driven entrepreneurs in the Middle East and Africa unlock their growth potential and maximise their positive impact on the community. Medea is also Senior Partner at Global Ventures, an international venture capital firm investing in startups with the potential to transform emerging markets, and scale globally Medea has been selected as one of the Meaningful Business 100 for her contribution to combining profit and purpose to help achieve the United Nations Global Goals. Before joining Global Ventures, Medea served as Chief Strategy Officer at the AW Rostamani Group, an international and diversified family group, as well as Senior Vice President, Strategy and Corporate Development at OSN, a leading Pay TV platform in the MENA region. Earlier in her career, she spent several years at Booz Allen Hamilton developing strategies for TMT, consumer, and public sector’s clients across Europe, the United States, and the Middle East. She holds an MBA from Columbia Business School (New York, USA), an MSc in Mechanical Engineering from Politecnico di Torino (Italy) and an Engineering Diploma from Ecole Centrale Paris (France).

Alexandra has 20 years experience leading strategy and innovation initiatives that shift perceptions and generate growth.  During her 10 years in the Middle East,  Alexandra has become a trusted advisor to a number of UAE Government entities including KHDA,  The Executive Office,  DMCC,  Dubai Future Foundation,  Dubai Tourism, Dubai Chamber,  amongst others.   Alexandra professionally coaches and mentors future leaders in the areas of foresight, innovation, ESG and leadership.  In her 8 years as a senior advisor to Companies Creating Change (C3), Alexandra has mentored multiple social impact entrepreneurs across the MENA region.  Alexandra has contributed to multiple foresight reports as well as two books on the future, the World in 2025 and Six Challenges for the Next Decade.  She is a frequent contributor to Arab News on public attitudes and behaviours across the MENA region. 

John’s 20+ year career across 3 continents has spanned: ⚡ Climate Solutions, particularly Carbon Markets ⚡ Sustainability, innovation and change ⚡ Deep Tech and IP Commercialisation ⚡ Co-founding a PushStart Seed Accelerator ⚡ Experienced board member, coach and mentor

Kevin has over 20 years of strategy and finance experience across the globe, with broad exposure to different sectors and business models within complex and dynamic environments. He is the Managing Director of C3 (Companies Creating Change), a UAE-based social enterprise enabling impact-driven entrepreneurs to become active agents of positive impact by providing access to transformative innovation and acceleration programs across MEA. Kevin has previously held senior positions at AW Rostamani Group, OSN, Global Integrated Security, Networkers International Plc, and Euromoney Institutional Investor Plc. He has substantial experience in high growth, fast-paced, innovative environments, with exceptional strengths in strategic development and execution, impact investing, and social entrepreneurship. Kevin is a qualified chartered management accountant (London, UK) and an MBA from Warwick Business school (Warwick, UK).

A lecturer of Pediatrics who got out of comfort zone to help more chronic patients and found Chefaa; A GPS enabled pharmacy benefits platform for patients to order, schedule & refill recurring prescriptions and boost their compliance to treatment through a comprehensive approach

Daniel Solomon is a serial entrepreneur, startup builder, and the Founder of HeroGo – the UAE’s first subscription box service for high-quality food produce – eliminating food waste by automating discounts. As a serial entrepreneur, Daniel is on a mission to enable tech solutions to solve environmental and societal challenges by helping consumers and stakeholders gain awareness of sustainable practices. Daniel earned an MBA from the University of Liverpool and a Bachelor of Science degree in Information Technology from Middlesex University. His expertise blends leadership, people’s culture, technical skills, and practical case studies aimed to help intelligent businesses to grow and change the way world works. Previously, Daniel was the CEO and founder of EROE, a digital agency serving global brands such as Publicis, PwC and Toyota.

Said is a Partner at Global Ventures. Before joining Global Ventures, Said was COO of the e-commerce platform, Jamalon, where he led the company’s operational efforts and played a pivotal role in helping the company raise its Series B round. Prior to that, Said was COO at EFS Facilities Services leading the security services business and EFS’s activities in Jordan. Said also previously held the position of CEO of Groupon UAE, where he was responsible for managing and sustainably growing Groupon’s Local, Goods and Travel business lines’ revenue across the UAE through the acquisition of new merchants. Before Groupon, Said worked with Deloitte’s strategy consulting team, as well as at SHUAA Capital as an AVP in the CEO’s Office, in addition to previously working in private equity at the firms Dubai International Capital (including Jordan Dubai Capital), and Abraaj Capital. Said holds an MBA from INSEAD, France and a BEng in Materials Science and Engineering with Management from Imperial College London.

Sallyann Della Casa, launched the world’s first utility NFT, a marketplace tokenizing industry experts time and wisdom in October 2022. Global experts such as the Head of Innovation at Siemens Energy, 40+ patent holder Dr. Patrick Hosein of MIT and Bell Labs providence, The CEO’s of the world’s leading digital banks, Saudi’s first female rally car driver have entrusted their time and reputation to her NFT project, called Lovely Humans. The wisdom of her NFTS experts will be stitched together to build the world’s first Mixed Reality Living Museum of Wisdom in 2023. She has a weekly NFT column and a Metaverse Podcast Business School on Spotify. Sallyann is one of the 4% of women globally who has a patent-pending method to signal and train agents in human ingenuity and wisdom . In 2016, she served as the only female at a C-suite level at Careem to help stabilize the workforce and shape its organizational culture.

Jay is on a mission to cool cities. He holds a master’s degree in International Business from the University of Wollongong. He was ranked by Entrepreneur Magazine as the Youngest Executive Director in the Middle East, in 2015. Jay took his full-time job as a salesman at a classified newspaper in 2006 at the age of 17, and continued to build his career and experience between different international corporations while going through his startup journey. He started his first venture at the age of 21 and is presently running his 3rd startup (FortyGuard). Born and raised in the UAE, Jay has more than 16 years of experience and he worked closely with government officials, international leaders, and royal family members in mega projects and investment portfolios.

Helen Al Uzaizi is a full time advocate of positive social change, an established businesswoman and an active community member. With over 20 years of experience spanning marketing, non-profit management, and entrepreneurship, Helen has been supporting major brands, non-profit organizations, and startups across the region as a mentor, Board member and advisor. She is a member of the Board of Trustees of PACES Charity and Advisor and Brand Ambassador for SEP both of which work with refugee women and children. She is also Board Member of Augustus Media and Advisor to the Womanity Foundation. Helen is the CEO of BizWorld in the Middle East teaching kids entrepreneurship skills and has been named leading entrepreneurship program in the region on multiple occasions. She is also the Founder of Future Entrepreneurs, a platform that aims to empower youth entrepreneurs in MENA working with organizations such as GEMS Education and the Ministry of Economy – UAE on their ‘Entrepreneurial Nation’ program. She was recently named one of the UAE’s 100 Smartest People and one of the 50 Most Influential Women in the Arab World. She was also a TedX Speaker on the topic of entrepreneurship education. On a personal level, Helen is a mother of 2, runner, triathlete and adventurer who believes in making dreams come to life and that anything is possible.

Mazen Omair is the Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Eduployment, a purpose-driven technology business with the mission of re-imagining the ecosystem of blue-collar recruitment. Mazen is also the President, CEO and Co-Founder of Momair Trading LCC, a UAE-based F&B company with franchise rights for nine Subway stores in the UAE, and co-creator of Sugarfied & Co. A successful business executive and entrepreneur with 30+ years experience spanning the information technology, retail, food and beverage, franchising, and distribution sectors, Mazen brings well-rounded depth of experience to his roles.

Over the past two decades, Basem’s drive for exhilarating challenges inspired him to take on regional roles across the GCC and North America as he worked for large corporations and multinationals. During his illustrious career, his primary focus and passion was on education (followed by healthcare and realestate) whereby he experienced the intricacies of leadership, capital raising, PE / VC investments and advisory, operations, growth and executing strategy within these sectors. Within the educational sector, Basem advised on deals worth of 300 M AED for private families, PE firms and other institutions. He was also active in the operational side advising on school improvements and development. Today he is actively involved in the EdTech space launching the First EdTech focused Venture Studio in the region to help develop the undervalued ecosystem and support some brilliant founders on their challenging journey.

Tatiana moved to the UAE in 2005. Having studied Architecture and Urban Planning in Italy, she felt she was at the right place at the right time in order to support sustainable development and help raise awareness among the local community: curb pollution, conserve natural resources and reduce the impact on the environment. Her passion for Sustainability led her to found Goumbook in 2009, creating the first ‘green’ information resource of the MENA Region. Her commitment to the Environment blossomed into a sense of duty towards our Youth and future generations. In April 2019 Tatiana started Forward Talks, a podcast highlighting leaders and professionals who, through their work, entrepreneurship and commitment promote positive impact and sustainability in the UAE and beyond. During her 17 years in the UAE, Tatiana has garnered a strong reputation and she is actively involved in the green arena: in 2021 and 2022 she was nominated by LinkedIn as a UAE Top Voice in Sustainability. Considered one of UAE’s pre-eminent Sustainability experts, she contributes regularly to media and at conferences in her role as a green business leader in the country.

Serial Entrepreneur, growth advisor and investor with more than 20 years experience in Education and Education Technology. Currently, Fadi is the Chair of the European Learning Industry Group (ELIG), is an advisor/investor in several EdTech startups, Senior Ed Tech advisor at Global Ventures VC and VP Education at Wiley.

Hafsa Qadeer is the Founder and CEO of UAE’s 1st licensed social enterprise startup ImInclusive. ImInclusive connects people of determination to inclusive jobs and hosts a large pool of inclusive employers. ImInclusive has trained over 15,500 people on disability inclusion. Hafsa Qadeer has been living in the UAE for over 10 years, in 2022 she has been awarded among Visa She’s Next Top women entrepreneurs in the region, as well as C3 Companies Creating Change winner for IDEA Accelerator and TiE Women MENA UAE winner.

Dr. Razouki has 20 years of experience in venture capital and private equity investment with a focus on healthcare and technology, shifting from an excellence in clinical practice and research to the management and financing of healthcare and education systems. A graduate of Columbia Business School, Dr. Razouki received an MBA with a focus on Healthcare Management and Finance. Dr. Razouki is a member of the Hermes Honors Society of Columbia Business School, an honor bestowed on the top 1000 global alumni of the university. An Oral and Maxillofacial surgeon by training, Dr. Razouki has completed clinical rotations at New York-Presbyterian Hospital of Columbia University Medical Center, Harlem Hospital, Cleveland University Hospital of Case Western Reserve University and Mass General Hospital of Harvard University. Dr. Razouki graduated with Cum Laude Honors from Creighton University with a Bachelor’s in Biology (Ethology) and TPP (Theology, Philosophy and Political Science.