Under the patronage of H.E Adel Fakeih, The Minister of Labor
AGENDA A Step Ahead is a Saudi-centric, 6 step, two-day program designed to empower women, ranging from senior University students to fresh graduates from around the Kingdom. This program will effectively aid women in becoming active agents in today's booming workforce by enriching their job hunting, soft and personal skills. Step Ahead is a collective effort between Glowork and numerous private sector entities to bridge the gap between the labor market and education sector. The event is also supported by the Riyadh Hub Global Shapers which is part of the World Economic Forum community. All Step Ahead’s partners, contributors and supporters have come together to pave the path towards the successful and much needed integration of females into the professional world. Step Ahead is also a unique platform that goes a step beyond simply facilitating education and networking. During the last step, employers will be matched with program attendees and given the opportunity to conduct interviews with talented women that match their employee requirements. Bottom-line, a Step Ahead is a step towards real results in the successful employment of females in the Kingdom.
8:00-9:00 Registration/ Reception Greeting (w/beverages) 9:00-9:15 Commencement Speech Khalid Alkhudair, Glowork Founder, Global Shaper 9:15-9:30 Patron’s Gratitude Speech H.E. Adel Fakeih, Labor Minister, Ministry of Labor 9:30-9:45 Awarding our Partners 9:45 -10:30 You are Important! You are Unique! Orfhlaith Ni Chorcora, Senior Director , Business Development ECE/MEA, Oracle Italia 10:30 -11:15 Panel Discussion (Potential for women in different industries) Moderated by Said Baaghil, Brand Marketing Strategy Consultant, Baaghil Marketing - Dr. Fahad AlTukhaifi, Assistant Deputy minister, Ministry of Labor - Erich Steinbock ,Hotel Managing Director, Rosewood Hotels - Nada Al-Hashimi, Leadership development Assistant Manager, Unilever - Sana Bardawil, MENA Regional Communications Director, Shell - Susan Malaika, Senior Software Architect, IBM - Abdulkarim Al Reshaid, VP of Human Resources, Olayan Financing Group 11:15 – 11:45 A Step for the Future Hisham Bahkali, CEO, General Electric 11:45 – 12:10 Coffee Break / Prayer Time 12:10-12:55 (Visualizing Success) Success stories for women after graduation Moderated by Muna Abusulayman, Board Member, Glowork - Nedaa A. AlMubarak, Manager of Strategic Planning, Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority, Global Shaper - Sara Salman, HP Operations and Strategy Manager, Global Shaper - Hana AlMoqbil, Artist - Nada Al Amri, Customer Service Manager, Safi Danone - Razan AlAzzouni, Fashion designer
12:55-1:40 Importance of diversity in the workplace Moderated by Tom O’Byrne, CEO, Mercer - Abdullah Al Fozan, Chairman, KPMG - Ghada AlJarboua, Head of Direct Channels, SABB - Amira Rashed, Chief of Staff, Yahoo - Ziad Mortaja, Managing Director HP Saudi Arabia, Hewlett-Packard Company 1:40-2:40 Lunch Break 2:40-3:25 Live your passion Moderated by Dr Janet Smith, Ex Professor at the National Defense University - Dalal Al Dossary, Founder, Impact CSR - Lulua & Balsam Al Ayoub, Founders of Touche - Shahad Alattar, Founder of Cella Network - Mohammad AlSaadoun Co-Chair of RIYADH+acumen 3:25-4:00 Centered leadership -- helping talented women thrive Dr. Julia Sperling, Partner, Mckinsey & Co 4:00-4:45 Become your own Job Creator Moderated by Justin Sykes, Microfinance head, Silatech - Rakan AlEidi (Managing Director , Endeavor Saudi Arabia) - H.H Prince Fahad bin Faisal (Facebook) - Nawaf Al Misrea (Shell Intilaqa Program) - Muna Abu Sulayman (Dollany Al sooq & Glowork Board Member) 4:45pm Closing Remarks / Survey Distribution 5:00pm Official Opening of the Step Ahead Career Fair
SPEAKERS Khalid Alkhudair Founder & CEO, Glowork
Khalid holds various roles in various capacities. His current role is the Founder and CEO of Glowork.net a women empowerment initiative that has created thousands of jobs for women thus far as well as playing a key part in changing laws and legislations regarding women in the workforce which have allowed them to work in new sectors and industries. This led his initiative Glowork to be awarded the Best innovation globally for job creation by the UN, ILO and World Bank through the Youth Employment Network. He is also a proud Ashoka Fellow, a Global Shaper (representing Saudi Arabia) at the World Economic Forum as well as the Riyadh Hub Curator. Khalid was a key asset in establishing Deutsche Gulf Finance's brand, corporate identity and presence in the Saudi market as a leader in the mortgage industry, as well as leading them to 3 financial key international awards. He also currently holds the role of COO- Markets at KPMG Saudi, Kuwait and Jordan which has helped him secure an expertise insight into all the key aspects of strategic and successful marketing and strategy. Khalid managed to lead the firms he worked with to over 30 key awards in the space of four years, which were aligned to the firm's overall corporate goals and strategy such as the Best Saudi Company to Work for award (top 3 position for 5 years in a row). Khalid is an active writer and contributor international and regional publications such as the Huffington Post, Gulf Marketing Review, Saudi Gazette, Arab News etc as well as publishing a book entitled "Communicating effectively in the work place". All this led him to being awarded the Excellence in Entrepreneurship award at the Global Thinkers Forum, The Best Head of Marketing in the Middle East for 2010, Saint Mary’s University Young Alumni of the year, WAMDA Entrepreneur of the week in 2012 and Ranked #3 in the 30 under 30 Gulf Business Magazine powerlist. Khalid also sits on a number of Advisory boards throughout the Globe such as the CMO Council Advisory Board, the Country Officer for Women Campaign International (ALWANE) , Steering committee member at the Ministry of Labor in Saudi Arabia, Steering committee member for talent mobility at the World Economic Forum, Advisory Member at Saudi Broadcasting, a judge at the Hult Prize, and a mentor at the Founders Institute at Silicon Valley. Khalid Alkhudair is only 29 years of age and is a Saudi Chartered Marketer from the Chartered Institute of Marketing and holds a Bachelors of Commerce with a major in Marketing and a minor in Psychology and HR from Canada
Shahd Attar Marketing Manager , Cisco (Founder of Cella Network) Shahd Abdulrahman Attar began her career in Cisco Systems, the worldwide leader in computer networking in 2006. As a Business Operations manager, she was responsible for operational excellence in Saudi Arabia region. During her multi-year journey in delivering field productivity, she had seen sales revenues grow approximately 50%. She also managed the operational growth of the organization from 60 employees to 200+ in terms of ensuring proper resources, sales readiness and planning. Recently, she took on a new global role as the Marketing and Engagement Manager for Emerging Solutions Advisory, a specialized, high-end consultancy group focused on delivering ICT master plans and solutions for Smart and Connected Communities. Shahd is passionate about encouraging more women in technology and the advancement of women in the workforce in general. As a local community organizer, she co-founded “CellA+”, a non-profit professional women’s networking group of over 1,000 members today. As for her educational background, she gained her BSc. in Management of Information Systems from Dar Al Hekma College in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. After that, she obtained a graduate degree in Master’s of Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology from University of Waterloo. On a more personal note, Shahd is married and has one young son.
Orfhlaith Ni Chorcora Senior Director, Business Development ECE/MEA, Oracle Italia Orfhlaith (pronounced “Orla”) Ni Chorcora, Senior Director, Business Development East Central Europe, Middle East & Africa (ECE/MEA) has worked the IT industry for seventeen years. For the past fourteen years, she has held regional and global positions at Oracle. In January 2012, she was appointed to drive Oracle’s Corporate Citizenship commitment across Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa with a strong focus on providing shared value between business and the community. Prior to that, Orfhlaith was responsible for engaging over 2 million students in Oracle’s non-profit education initiatives globally, working with ministries of education and other government agencies to support their efforts in human capacity building. In July 2011, Orla was awarded the Oracle Women in Leadership award. She sits on the board of the European eSkills Association and is also a member of the Oracle EMEA Corporate Citizenship Board. Orfhlaith is a native of Cork, Ireland but resident in Italy for the past 12 years.
Susan Malaika Senior Software Architect, IBM Susan Malaika is an architect in IBM's software group. Susan is expert in data base and web based computing technologies, and frequently focuses on emerging trends. Specific topic areas include Web Services and APIs, REST, XML, Atom, JSON, Relational and Linked Data. Susan has worked extensively with enterprise clients on their data and service architectures, and with vertical industry groups especially in finance, banking and insurance. Current focus is open data access for business analytics and enterprise integration. She has initiated multiple technologies that have been incorporated into products. She has developed standards in the area of data services. She has also co-authored a book on the Web and published articles on data, web and transaction processing. Susan leads a technical vitality community in the New York area, and runs a customer community. She has co-chaired Women in Technology events at IBM - involving more than 500 women. She is a member of the IBM Academy of Technology
Nawaf Al Musra Intilaaqah Program Manager, Shell
Mr. Almusra is currently the Social Investment & Intilaaqah Program Manager at Shell Companies. He is also a member of the Board of SMES Counsel in Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Member of CSR Club in CSR Counsel. Also, Member of the Executive SMEs Committee in Jeddah Chamber of Commerce. He previously was the Manager of the Vice President Office at the Human Right Commission, Office Manager at the University Chancellor and the Manager of Public Relations and Information at the Arabian Open University, Riyadh. Mr. Almusra holds a Master degree of International Studies, a Master’s degree of Computer Information Systems Administration, Databases Administration from the University Of Denver, U.S.A., High Diploma of Entrepreneurs Mentors’ From the King Saud University and a Bachelor Degree of Public Relations and Communication from the King Saud University.He also studied specialized subjects in Risk Management, Suppliers Administration, Marketing, Projects Management and Technology Management at University of Denver and Certified Training from Different institutes.
Rakan AlEidi Managing Director, Endeavor Saudi Arabia Rakan is currently the founding Managing Director of the newly launched Saudi Affiliate of Endeavor, the global nonprofit that is leading a High-Impact Entrepreneurship movement to catalyze sustainable economic growth around the world. He is an Entrepreneurship Development specialist, and activist in Saudi Arabia since 2006, and recently in Australia, with experiences in business developing, coaching and consulting. Started his career as Industrial Engineer at Saudi Aramco in different facilities of Oil and Gas. Then, moved to Australia where he worked as a Business Consultant for couple of Australian companies and startups. In 2011, Rakan founded the Saudi Entrepreneurs Club in Australia to support the Saudi students there who want to start a business. He also founded and chaired the Entrepreneurship Forum for Saudi Students in Australia and New Zealand. The city of Brisbane has chosen Rakan as its 2011 International Student Ambassador to the Middle-East, and in 2012, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) appointed him as its Ambassador to Australia. Rakan holds an M.B.A. majoring in Entrepreneurship and HRM from the University of Queensland, Australia and a BS in Industrial Systems Engineering from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM), Saudi Arabia.
Meera Al Khaldi Student at Prince Sultan University Born and raised in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia 1991. Graduated from al Tarbiah AlIslamiah Schools in 2009 and joined in the autumn of the same year Prince Sultan University majoring in Business Marketing. Interested in volunteering work were as she started to contribute in many activities in her early years at school in different carnivals and charity associations. In 2010 she led her first charity campaign "Food Basket" at the university were they collected food for the poor with Bunyan association. In 2011-2012 She enrolled in Yalla Banat AlRiyadh leaders program were it helps leaders create their own charity program and help them gain leadership skills that may help them in their career. After she graduated from the program they chose her to be the Leader in the 2013 leadership program. In the same year she joined Toastmasters club at Prince Sultan University as a member, and the upcoming year she became the Vice President of Public Relations of the club.
Dr. Fahad AlTukhaifi Assistant Deputy Minister, Ministry of Labor Dr. Fahd a PHD graduate from the university of North Colorado in statistics holds the position of Assistant Deputy Minister at the Ministry of Labor on a secondment from the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) where he held the position of Head of the research department. At the Ministry of Labor he holds several roles and capacities in his day to day operations such as the Head of Women Work Localization Program and head of the research team for the Nitaqat program. Prior to that he worked in the fields of infrastructure and Engineering such as Zuhair Fayez and Partners company in the project management department, he also worked at the Institute of Public Administration as the head of the financial programs and a professor/lecturer in the statistics department where he was able to present six unique papers in the field of practiced statistics. Dr. Fahad has worked as an advisor in several key institutes and organizations throughout Saudi Arabia and has excelled in showcasing his abilities in preparing detailed studies that have been for the benefit of the organizations and for the Kingdom, especially the studies in the field of employment and labor markets. Other organizations that Dr. Fahad played a key part in are the likes of the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce, King Saud University and was the official representative for the Kingdom at the Biology statistics committee.
Mohammed Al Sadoun Co-Chair of RIYADH+acumen.
Mohammed is an Account Executive at DDB. He graduated from Al Yamamah University with a B.A. in Marketing. He interned at H&K Strategies and at Microsoft with experience in copywriting. Tri-lingual and fluent in English, Arabic, and French, he freelances between local newspapers and magazines such as Oasis Magazine, writing on various topics, and runs his own blog. In 2008 he founded Ash It, a recycling business for customized hand made goods. He is a dreamer in a fast paced and upbeat life, passionate writer, frequent eater, and anticipates winning the Pulitzer Prize for writing. As an Entrepreneur he has always been passionate about social development and justice. He was impressed by Acumen Fund’s unconventional approach to tackling poverty and believes he can make an even bigger difference through RIYADH+acumen.
Sana Bardawil Regional Communications Director (MESA), Shell Sana Bardawil is the Regional Communications Director, Middle East and North Africa at Shell Sana joined Royal Dutch Shell in London in 2001, and currently manages a team of 30 Communications professionals in 10 countries across MENA, working closely with the business, and focusing on the non technical parts of Shell’s work in the region, including the social investment as well as the communications portfolios. Sana is part of Shell’s leadership team in Upstream International MENA. Sana worked as a journalist for ten years in the UK for the BBC World Service Business programmes, the European Business News and Dow Jones. She then worked as a Communications Adviser for the European Commission in Beirut for a year before returning to the UK to join Shell. Sana received her M. Phil in Modern Middle East Studies from St Antony’s College, Oxford University. She had obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the American University of Beirut. Sana is a Committee member of the International Business Women’s Group, Abu Dhabi. Sana is fluent in English, Arabic and French.
Hana AlMoqbil Artist
Hana was born in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and raised in Manila, Philippines. She lived in Egypt for a long while , She learned and discovered a lot during that period, like she got to know more about Egyptian civilization and its secrets, took a course work includes classes about "performing classical songs " & " Art & music integration " in Cairo Opera House. After that, she lived in Algeria and Tunis for a short while. Back at that time Hana was passionate about Moroccan art culture, so she took the chance to learn and improve her drawing skills , and she improved a lot. Hana has participated in many exhibitions & art galleries in KSA & Outside. Moreover, her paintings won the 1st place in "Ayma" competition,"eye has seen" competition for the National Day, "Singapore Airlines" competition of Dreams in the sky. Also, one of her paintings was the cover of "The W Mag" magazine. Beside painting, she owned the 2nd place in "Talent House" website for designing a dress for a celebrity.
Muna Abusulayman Partner & Board Member, Glowork
Due to a diverse cross-sectors work experience over the past 16 years, AbuSulayman is selected as one of the Most Influential and Powerful Arab women in various lists from 2009-2013. AbuSulayman has successfully launched, managed, and scaled multiple businesses and foundations throughout her career and is continuously placed in lists naming her one of the most influential Arabs in the world. She is internationally recognized as an expert in the fields of Management, Education, Sustainable Development, Communications, Middle East, and Female Empowerment. She is ranked as the Most Influential Arab in the World in Social Media by Klout and Top 100 Arabs.
Sara Al Salman Strategy and planning Manager, HP (Global Shaper) Sara is currently the Strategy and planning Manager at Hewlett-Packard international Company, she is passionate about Corporate Social Responsibly and Empowering youth to become contributing members in society. She also is a Mentor at MentorKSA and one of Riyadh Global Shapers.
Nada Al Hashimi HR Business Partner, Unilever
Nada Al-Hashimi – A King Abdul Aziz graduate in computer science and then went on to obtain a masters degree in the UK. She worked for Effat University for several years in the career center, then later on moving to Unilever to work in HR. She has been with the company now for 7 years, and is currently an HR business partner.
Hisham Bahkali President & CEO of GE Saudi Arabia & Bahrain Hisham Bahkali is the President & CEO Saudi Arabia & Bahrain. He is responsible for leading the company’s operations in the Kingdom and Bahrain, accelerating growth and exploring further opportunities for broadening public private partnerships. Hisham started his career with GE in 1997 as a Customer Service Manager. In 2001 he was promoted as GE Energy Sales Leader for Saudi Arabia and has since held a number of leadership roles, including Sales Manager for the Central and Southern regions and in December 2001 he was promoted as Saudi Sales Leader. In January 2007, Hisham was appointed as GE Energy Services Account Director leading different Energy Services business across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In January 2008, he was appointed as Global Account Executive for Saudi Electricity Company before being promoted to Country Executive in 2009. Before joining GE, he started his career in 1990 with leading telecommunications companies working with the Saudi Ministry of PTT in Operations and Data Lines Customer Services divisions. Hisham holds a Masters degree in Electronic Technology (1994) and a Bachelors degree in Electrical Engineering (1990) from King Saud University, Riyadh
Abdullah Al Fozan Chairman, KPMG Saudi Arabia Abdullah joined KPMG in 2000 as a Office Managing Partner in Riyadh. Over the last twenty years, his experience has covered a wide and diversified range of industries including, infrastructure, shipping, telecom, banking, manufacturing and construction. He gained significant business skills, market exposure and knowledge of the Saudi market through his experience as an Audit Senior at Saudi Industrial Development Fund and whilst managing a successful and well known family business which has a presence in all major cities in the KSA. He has led a number of Corporate Finance and other advisory assignments in Saudi Arabia. He leads the Infrastructure & Government sector across the KSA specializing in Education, Water and Utilities and Transportation.
Dr. Julia Sperling Sperling Partner, Mckinsey & Company Dr. Julia Sperling is a Partner with McKinsey & Company. Her work mainly addresses health system transformations and leadership development across industries. Dr. Sperling is a founding member of McKinsey’s Middle East healthcare practice and leads the regional healthcare/org JV. She is a trained facilitator of several McKinsey signature trainings and forums including the Change Leaders Forum and Centered Leadership Workshops. She is also the orchestrator of McKinsey’s “How remarkable women lead” event in Riyadh and the lead-facilitator of the Women in Leadership program in Dhahran. Before joining McKinsey, Julia Sperling received her doctorate in Cognitive Neurosciences with summa cum laude from the Max-Planck-Institute for Brain Research and her MD from the University of Frankfurt with research fellowships and electives at Harvard Medical School, Queen Square (London), and the WHO. She has been awarded with a scholarship of the German Merit Foundation the main instrument to recognize and support the student elite in Germany. Julia Sperling is native German speaker and fluent in English, French, and Spanish. She also speaks Italian and has a basic knowledge of Modern Arabic.
Abdulkarim Al Reshaid VP of HR Olayan Financing Company
As Vice-President – Human Resource, Abdulkarim lead the HR strategy and implementation of the 15,000 strong Olayan Financing Company conglomerate that spans six sectors and has a business vision to lead the sectors in the MENA region. His responsibilities cover all facets of HR – Strategy, Talent Acquisition, Talent Engagement, Learning & Development and Talent Optimization. They are leading innovative initiatives in localization of jobs and in female representation. These initiatives are aimed to ensure that the Group and Operating Companies have optimal levels of qualified staff, employees are rewarded at competitive market levels, human resources policies and procedures comply with statutory provisions and serve to attract, motivate Saudi talent.
Ghada Al Jarbou Head of Diversity & Head of Direct Channels , SABB Ghada Al Jarbou graduated from King Saudi University in 1998 with a BA degree in Computer Science. After her graduation, she started her career in SABB as a programmer in the Information Technology (IT) Department where she progressed her career until she reached to a Project Management role running big scale projects such as Tadawul. Due to her successful career progress, SABB have sponsored her to complete her post-graduate education in UK where she obtained her MBA degree from the University Of Bath in 2005. Ghada then returned to SABB to shift her career to Human Resources (HR) where she was heading the Service Delivery department handling HR systems, MIS, staff payments and personnel. She managed to automate and deliver many systems to HR during her 4 years there. Then she moved to Retails Banking and Wealth Management as the Head of Direct Channels Development managing Mobile, Internet, and phone banking in addition to SABB’s ATM network. Aside from her daily job and as one of the leading females in SABB, she was nominated to be an active Member of both SABB Employee Engagement Committee and the HSBC Regional Diversity Committee for Middle East to contribute in enhancing the working environment for employees and encourage the organization’s support to female recruitment and career progression.
Razan Azzouni Fashion Designer
From an early age Razan exhibited a strong passion for all things related to art. Born and raised in Saudi Arabia, however, Razan found herself in an environment not conducive to artistic creativity. Determined to pursue her passion formally and further develop as an artist Razan applied to The School of Museum of Fine Arts and TUFTS University in Boston, Massachusetts where she spent her college years. While there, she concentrated on sculpture, screen-printing, and papermaking. Running parallel to her passion for art all these years was Razan’s love of fashion. Since graduating, Razan has dedicated herself exclusively to this field, and developing her own clothing line. Rather than abandoning her art roots, Razan’s education paved the way for creating articles of clothing that are not only creative and original but sculptural as well and which heavily draw on her earlier influences. Razan’s clothing is all about exuding the femininity, delicacy and grace of the female form. Razan derives most of her inspiration from women themselves and their natural poise. Each piece in her collection is intended to show off its wearer in an elegant light, while maintaining a sense of playfulness as well. The use of soft luxurious textures is dominant and allows for movement in the clothes, which adds a whimsical quality to the collection. The combination of chiffon and silk lends to the idea of women as soft, ethereal beings, which only enhances their femininity. The unique hand beaded pieces of the collection reflect the meticulousness, layers, and detail that have gone into creating each of Razan’s signature flowers. Razan’s pieces maintain sculptural and artistic integrity, as well as transport the wearer into the glamorous and sophisticated realm.
Ziad Mortaja Managing Director and Enterprise Group General Manager, HP Saudi Arabia, Hewlett-Packard Company Ziad Mortaja joined HP on April 2009 as Managing Director for its business in Saudi Arabia. In his role, Ziad leads HP’s business endeavors in Saudi Arabia and works closely with Government Officials and Business Leaders to provide Information and Communications Technology (ICT) solutions that enhances the services provided to citizens and customers and provide better business outcomes.Ziad enjoys 27 years of rich experience in the field of ICT in both technical and business management in the fields of applications and systems integration, networking and telecommunications and ICT services. As the head of HP Saudi Arabia, Ziad is looking to establish HP Saudi as the best ICT Company for Saudi making HP products, services and solutions participate in the social and economic development of the Kingdom and attracting more investments from HP Corporate into Saudi Arabia. Under his leadership, HP Saudi Arabia created tens of employment opportunities for young Saudi nationals, males and females, and established the first HP Institute in the middle east to offer comprehensive ICT training through Universities. Ziad holds a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science and Software Engineering from Kuwait University. He was also awarded several certifications in Leadership, Management, Finance and Business from internationally recognized centers.
Nada Al Amri Customers Service Manager, Safi Danone Nada Al Amri is a graduate of Princess Noura University with honors (2004). She joined Al Safi Danone in Dec. 2006 as a quality coordinator. In 2008, she was promoted to be call-center supervisor. Today, she is in a mid-level management career as a Customers Service Manager and a team of employees are working under her management. She’s also studying MBA at Prince Sultan University and aspires to solidify her management skills and work experience to play a key role on a professional as well as social level.
Lulwa & Balsam Ayoub Founders of Touche
Since 1995 Balsam & Lulwa from Kuwait have been practicing and competing at various international fencing competitions & have been empowering women using sports as a tool for development. They began representing Kuwait as the first female fencers in the year 1996. It was in 2004 we were the first female athletes to sign a contract with the private sector in the history of Kuwait and gained the support from the private sector. This gave us the boost and made us feel that nothing is impossible. In 2006 they became positive role models and wanted to create a positive society as a part of their social responsibility, and had created special programs for kids for both boys and girls to feel and experience fencing – they created and introduced; let’s learn fencing. It was in the year 2006 they began to represent Kuwait officially in various fields of sports, conferences, forums, events etc.
Erich Steinbock Managing Director, Rosewood Hotels Erich Steinbock, brought a wealth of international hospitality experience with him, when taking up role with Rosewood Hotels in Saudi Arabia, as Regional Vice President for Rosewood Hotels in the Kingdom, and Managing Director of the ultra-luxury Al Faisaliah and Al Khozama Hotels. Formerly Area Director for Rosewood Hotels & Resorts in the US, Steinbock also maintained responsibility for the group’s five-star Carlyle property in New York and its ultra luxury resort, Rosewood Tucker’s Point in Bermuda. Before joining Rosewood Hotels & Resorts in 2009, Steinbock worked for Ritz-Carlton for nine years, most notably spearheading the opening of 14 Ritz-Carlton Hotel properties in the US and internationally.
Amira Rashad Chief of Staff for Mesa, Yahoo Ms. Rashad is Chief of Staff, and Head of Media and Research at Yahoo! Middle East, Africa. She has over 18 years of general management, strategy consulting and marketing management experience working in the US, Europe and the Middle East. She has advised Fortune and S&P 500 media and consumer companies as a consultant with Booz Allen Hamilton,The Valen Group and Spears Business Solutions, which she co-founded. Ms. Rashad has also led marketing, product and business development teams at Dun & Bradstreet, PepsiCo International, and Leo Burnett Advertising. She is a Chevening scholar, and holds an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Neda Al Mubarak Manager of Strategic Planning, SAGIA (Global Shaper) Nedaa is passionate about the economic development of the Middle East and strives to be a valuable contributor to achieving sustainable development by facilitating economic growth in the region. She is driven by the potential of the public sector to deliver the solutions to the major economic obstacles facing the world today. In this respect, Nedaa is pursuing a career in government strategy enabling her to effectively participate in, and contribute to,the public debate on current economic and social issues. Currently, Nedaa is the Manager of Strategic Planning at the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) where she is responsible for managing the development of Saudi Arabia’s national foreign investment strategy based on the Kingdom’s competitive advantages, SAGIA’s mandate, and global best practices. She also leads the strategic planning process in which short and long-term strategic plans are developed including allocating the organization’s budget and initiatives. As part of Nedaa’s initiative to be an active member in her society, she joined the Global Shapers community; a network sponsored by the World Economic Forum. Nedaa holds a Master’s degree in Public Policy from Georgetown University which builds upon her Bachelor degrees in International Affairs and Economics from George Washington University.
Dalal Al Dossary Founder & CEO, IMPACT CSR Solutions
With a firmly rooted background in management, the drive of an opportunist and the workings of a visionary, Dalal Al Dossary is among the pioneers of Corporate Social Responsibility in the Arab Gulf Region. She towers the industry as the sole Founder and Managing Director of the first and only fully integrated CSR solutions' agency ‘IMPACT CSR Solutions’. It is through her agency that she has begun in 2011 to spread her wings - utilizing her talent, skills and dedication towards serving sports’ associations in the Arab Gulf region. Dalal is a seasoned executive who has enjoyed a rich and fulfilling career in management, human capital development, business development, corporate social responsibility and sustainability in several flagship organizations in the Kingdom and in the region. As a Managing Director of ‘IMPACT CSR Solutions’ she is committed to fulfilling the gap between sport associations and the community through shared and over-all value enhancing programs. At present, ‘IMPACT CSR Solutions’ has established an exceptional reputation, not only within GCC but extended to Asia. Miss. Al Dossary is intimately involved and overseeing all steps within the workings of her agency as she stands witness to dreams made true. Prior to her development of ‘IMPACT CSR Solutions’ she worked as Community Relations for Qatar Local Organizing Committee – Asian Cup Qatar 2011, where she has manufactured a one of a kind program to facilitate the needs of the disabled within sports stadiums. Dalal’s journey within the sports industry commenced with the Saudi Professional League Commission in Riyadh as AFC File Manager, where she was responsible for developing and maintaining the strategic partnership with the Asian Football mother entity.
HH Prince Fahad Al Saud Social Innovator
His Highness Prince Fahad bin Faisal Al Saud: Change alchemist. Tech-led inspirer. Cultural integrator.Social innovator. A proud Arab ambassador for all things powerfully young, and future. Globally Engaged. A graduate of Stanford University, Prince Fahad's unique dedication to technologically, socially and culturally elevating East/West relations among young people globally has seen him advocate, lead, support and represent a wide and exciting spectrum of change oriented activity. As an active proponent of technology and capacity building in his home Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the greater Arab World, East Africa and the USA, Prince Fahad became Facebook’s Head of User Operations‐Arabic in 2008, playing a significant role in the launch of the social media website's Arabic version. His development and impressive leadership on the language barrier breaking facebook project won him the distinction of being named "Most Influential International Youth" at 2011's Arab Youth Media Forum, later that year, becoming Chair at New York City's Nexxus Global Youth Summit. Prince Fahad currently serves as the Saudi Arabian Foreign Ministry’s Head of Student Affairs; he is the Ambassador of Privacy to the Arab World at the Information & Privacy Commission in Canada; co-founder of Popover Games and Saudi Arabia's Government Advisor on cyber technology. Socially involved. In addition to his position on global security, technology and youth entrepreneurship, as well as his outspoken advocacy on health initiatives, cancer screening and awareness, Prince Fahad maintains a strong support system for young people’s elevation through a number of philanthropic initiatives that focus on the development of youth leadership, independence and social responsibility. Consciously popular. In the arts, Prince Fahad infuses a sincere passion for popular culture with music, style and a cool business savvy; he plays the role of cultural adviser and producer in the hit series "Awkward Black Girl", and continues to inspire in the fashion stakes with the unique development of an Arab/American influenced shoe collection.
MODERATORS Dr. Janet Smith Ex Professor of National Security Strategy Dr. Janet E. Breslin-Smith is the wife of James B. Smith, the United States Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Prior to joining her husband on this assignment to Saudi Arabia, she held leadership roles in two distinct fields--in the United States Senate and as a professor at the National Defense University. She is now beginning her third career, as a grandmother to her first grandchild, Madeleine, born last month! Dr. Breslin-Smith was Professor of National Security Strategy for 14 years at the National Defense University in Washington, DC. She was the past Chair, Department of National Security, and was named Outstanding Professor at the College in 2006. She just completed her first book, The National War College: A History of Strategic Thinking in Peace and War. Before joining the faculty, she served for over 17 years in the United States Senate. She was Legislative Director for Senator Patrick Leahy and then was named the Deputy Staff Director of the Senate Agriculture Committee under his Chairmanship. She received her Ph.D. from the University of California at Los Angeles and her undergraduate degree in International Relations from the University of Southern California.
Said Baaghil Brand Guru, Glowork Ambassador Said Aghil Baaghil is a leading Middle East Brand Marketing Strategy Consultant and marketing intellectual who enjoys using his experience and analytical skills to help his clients with their marketing concerns. His work is widely respected across the world but mainly in the Middle East. He is known by his clients as the "Game Changer" and " The Man That Makes Things Possible." Educated at the University of Maine, Mr. Baaghil has enjoyed a highly successful career that began with his first job at the reputable Edison Brothers Company in 1990. Now, over two decades later, Mr. Baaghil has grown from an employee to a self-employed entrepreneur who has devoted himself to helping others create and market successful brands. His is presently one of the most notable marketing consultants and advocates on Branding and Marketing in the region. He encourages his clients to operate differently than their competitors, something he continuously preaches. Baaghil is also the mastermind behind the leading local energy drink in Saudi Arabia called Code Red. Currently, the brand is enjoying a leading market share. Mr. Baaghil has always believed that successful people have a responsibility to pass on their knowledge and help others. One notable way that Mr. Baaghil helps others is through authoring several marketing strategy books. He is best known for “The Power of Belonging” and “Eccentric Marketing.” His other book entitled “Brand Revolution” was also widely acclaimed. This year, Mr. Baaghil is coming out with three new books, one of which is the second edition of “The Power of Belonging.” He is also a co-author of the upcoming book entitled “Brands in Glass Houses,” with two US Marketing consultants based out of Florida. The book is set to release this summer. Additionally, he’s also working on another book project with three Saudi women entitled “Glamour Globals.” Each one of these books helps the reader to understand the world of Marketing and Branding. In addition to his other accomplishments, Mr. Baaghil frequently travels as an international speaker and authority on Brand Marketing. He’s also regularly interviewed by major news outlets and businesses, like Faith Popcorn’s Brand Reverse. Mr. Baaghil was also asked to give praise on Dan Hillis’ book “Emotionomics.” Ultimately, Mr. Baaghil is an advocate for changing how marketing is being conducted across various businesses. He does this through his speaking appearances, his books, and also through articles that he writes in various marketing magazines. Known for his passion, strong work ethic, impeccable leadership abilities, and impressive industry knowledge, Mr. Baaghil is well
Justin Sykes Director, of Microenterprise, Silatech Justin Sykes is Director, Microenterpise at Silatech a Qatari not for profit organisation, founded by Her Highness Sheikha Mozah, with the mandate of job creation and enterprise development for youth across the Arab World. In this role he is leading out the design, financing and deployment of large-scale youth enterprise programming in the MENA region, including countries as diverse as Yemen, Palestine, Morocco and Somalia. These programmes focus on the delivery of holistic financial and non-financial support services to young entrepreneurs to help them conceive, start and grow micro-businesses. To date these programmes have supported more than 150,000 youth. A key component of this work is engaging with financial institutions to make the case for investments in the high growth niche youth market and development and financing of innovative financial products which meet the diverse needs of the regions youth region. These include youth start-up and business expansion microcredit products as well as micro-savings products. Before Silatech, Justin worked as an independent consultant in the field of youth employment and enterprise development for clients including the UN specialised agencies and the UK Department for International Development (DFID). Prior to this Justin worked for over 4 years with the UN Secretary General’s Youth Employment Network (YEN), a global partnership under the leadership of the UN, the World Bank and the ILO that focused on helping member states develop national youth employment policies, strategies and programmes. Justin’s other professional experience ranges from working on corporate social responsibility and youth entrepreneurship issues for the International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF), a London based NGO, to participation in a post war reconstruction and development project in Bosnia. He holds an MSc in Development Studies from the London School of Economics and Political Science and a BA in Modern History from the University of Birmingham.
Tom O’Byrne Principal at Mercer
Tom is a Principal with Mercer based in the Middle East office in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. As a senior professional and a member of Mercer’s Middle East Leadership Team, Tom leads the firm’s client management arm and is a senior consultant in Saudi Arabia. In these roles Tom meets and works with business leaders and across sectors throughout the Kingdom to understand business challenges and growth priorities. Tom brings to this client-facing and project-driven role more than two decades of experience working in the media and communication business across Asia. In addition to his leadership & client roles, Tom specializes in human capital projects around people communication strategies and plans, employee engagement, and leadership assessment and development.