Wadah Khanfar
President of Al Sharq Forum
Wadah Khanfar
President of Al Sharq Forum
Dr. Comfort Ero
President & CEO of International Crisis Group
Dr. Comfort Ero
President & CEO of International Crisis Group
Dr. Mehmet Kasapoğlu
Minister of Youth and Sports, Türkiye
Dr. Mehmet Kasapoğlu
Minister of Youth and Sports, Türkiye
Alia Moubayed
Alia Moubayed is an experienced economist, policy practitioner, and strategist with more than 25 years of experience in government, international financial institutions, financial markets, and think tanks. She assumed research, policy, and management responsibilities in the design and implementation of economic and financial sector reforms covering the Middle East and North Africa and other emerging markets.
Moubayed is currently chief economist for the MENA region at a London-based investment bank. From 2017-18, she worked at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, where she directed the Geo-economics and Strategy Program analyzing the interplay between economics and geopolitics at the global and regional levels and providing advice to government and private sector corporations. Moubayed also worked as chief economist for the MENA region at Barclays in London from 2008-17. She joined Barclays from the World Bank, which she integrated through the Young Professionals Program and became a senior economist responsible for analytical research, policy dialogue, and development policy lending to countries in Europe and Central Asia as well as Indonesia (2002-08). Moubayed was also a member of the Task Force for World Bank Engagement with the Arab World. Prior to that, she held policy responsibilities in various economic institutions in Lebanon, including: head of section at the research department at Banque du Liban; advisor to the minister of economy and trade and minister of Industry; and finally managing director of the Economic and Social Fund for Development at the Council for Development and Reconstruction.
Moubayed holds a BA in economics with distinction and an MBA from the American University of Beirut as well as a master’s equivalent in public policy and public administration from the Ecole Nationale d’Administration in France. She has authored several publications and reports, and her commentary has featured in local, regional, and international media outlets. She is also the founder of the Association of Women in Economics Across the Middle East and North Africa aimed at promoting the role of women in economic policymaking in the region.
Alia Moubayed
Managing Director, Fixed Income Strategy at Jefferies
Dave Snowden
Founder and Director of the Cynefin Center
Dave Snowden
Founder and Director of the Cynefin Center
Mehmet Asutay
Director of the Durham Center for Islamic Economics and Finance
Mehmet Asutay
Director of the Durham Center for Islamic Economics and Finance
Heba Raouf Ezzat
Heba Raouf Ezzat is an assistant professor of political science at the Institute of Alliance of Civilizations-Ibn Haldun University -Istanbul/Turkey. She also teaches at the political science as well as the sociology department at IHU. For almost 30 years she taught political theory at Cairo University. She was also an adjunct professor at the American University in Cairo (2006-2013).
She spent two years (2014-2015) as a visiting fellow at London School of Economics (LSE) before moving to Istanbul 2016, where she is currently based. Her academic writings as well as teaching cover a wide range of topics that include classic and modern Western political thought, Islamic political theory, women and politics, global civil society, urban politics, cities and citizenships, and Middle East politics.
Since 2015 she supervised and introduced the full translation of the Liquid Modernity series of Zygmunt Bauman into Arabic. She also translated Ziauddin Sardar’s book on Mecca: The Holy City to Arabic. Her most latest work is a research paper in the “Project on the future of human rights in the Arab world” titled: “The Human rights movement and the Islamist: The Paths of Convergence and Divergence” with the Arab Reform Initiative/Paris, a chapter titled “ Re-imagining Egypt: The State of War” in a book on Contemporary thought in the Middle East (Routledge 2021), and a chapter in the Oxford Handbook of the Sociology of the Middle East 2022 titled “The Empty Tahrir Square: Dismantling the Multitude”.
Heba Raouf Ezzat
Assistant professor of at the Institute of Alliance of Civilizations...
Ali Milani
Ali Milani is a Labour Party politician, councillor, campaigner and activist. He served two years as Vice President of the National Union of Students, was elected as a Labour Party Candidate in the 2018 local London elections, and was selected as the Parliamentary candidate in Uxbridge and South Ruislip in September 2018. He has worked on multiple UK Labour leadership campaigns, as well as presidential campaigns in the United States. He is the author of the recent best-selling book “The Unlikely Candidate” telling the story of his campaign against Prime Minister Boris Johnson in 2019.
Ali Milani
Labour Party Politician
Linda Sarsour
American Civil Rights Activist
Linda Sarsour
American Civil Rights Activist
Khaled Fouad
Khaled Fouad is the CEO of Dinar Tech, a boutique Sharia-based investment consulting firm facilitating systematic capital mobilization from Sharia observing investors towards investment opportunities in the private and public markets. He also consults Muslim technology entrepreneurs on how to transform their business models into camel businesses. He’s a board member of Ethis Global, the largest award-winning Islamic crowdfunding platform that connects halal-seeking investors with sharia-vetted and impact driven ventures across MENASA region.
Khaled spent half of his career as an investment banker creating and selling every imaginable financial instrument and the second half managing money on behalf of institutional investors and family offices.
Over two decades, he has built and scaled two dozen businesses and has helped hundreds of companies raise capital from the private and public markets. Prior to starting his own business, he was the Chief Investment Officer at the largest investment management firm in the Middle East managing more that USD 1.2 billion in assets and funded small businesses operating in war zones. Managing distributed multicultural remote teams as well as dealing with confrontation while making unpopular tough decisions is his comfort zone.
Khaled holds an MBA from Cranfield University and an MSc in Analytics from Georgia Tech. He speaks Arabic, English, and German fluently and lives with his family in Istanbul.
Khaled Fouad
CEO of Dinar Tech
Omar Shakir
Omar Shakir serves as the Israel and Palestine Director at Human Rights Watch, where he investigates human rights abuses in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza and has authored several major reports, including a 2021 report comprehensively documenting how Israeli authorities are committing the crimes against humanity of apartheid and persecution against millions of Palestinians. As a result of his advocacy, the Israeli government deported Omar in November 2019. Prior to his current role, he was a Bertha Fellow at the Center for Constitutional Rights, where he focused on US counterterrorism policies, including legal representation of Guantanamo detainees. As the 2013-14 Arthur R. and Barbara D. Finberg Fellow at Human Rights Watch, he investigated human rights violations in Egypt, including the Rab’a massacre, one of the largest killings of protesters in a single day. A former Fulbright Scholar in Syria, Omar holds a JD from Stanford Law School, where he co-authored a report on the civilian consequences of US drone strikes in Pakistan as a part of the International Human Rights & Conflict Resolution Clinic, an MA in Arab Studies from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Affairs, and a BA in International Relations from Stanford.
Omar Shakir
Israel and Palestine Director at Human Rights Watch
Chris Blauvelt
Founder & CEO of LaunchGood & Patronicity
Enes Efendioğlu
Deputy Director General- Directorate General for Youth Services at Türkiye Youth and Sports Ministry
Enes Efendioğlu
Deputy Director General for Youth Services, Türkiye Youth and Sports...
Hassan Aourid
Hassan Aourid is a Moroccan journalist and thinker. He has published a number of works, the most prominent of which are “The Refracted Mirror of the West,” and “Behind Mecca.”
Hassan Aourid
Moroccan Journalist and Thinker
Nasser Yassin
Nasser Yassin, a Professor of Policy and Planning at the American University of Beirut (AUB), Nasser Yassin is also the chairperson of the AUB Health Management & Policy Department.
He also leads the Lebanon Crisis Observatory of AUB, which he founded in 2020. The initiative tracks the impacts of the ongoing crises in Lebanon and provides a systematic analysis of the crises’ various facets.
Yassin holds a Ph.D. in Planning Sciences from the University College London (UCL), a Master’s degree in Development Sciences from the London School of Economics (LSE), and a Master’s degree in Population Sciences from the Lebanese American University (LAU).
He was the interim Director of the Issam Fares Foundation for Public Policy and International Relations in 2019-2020 and has been the Institut Director since 2015.
He’s the founder of the Training Unit at the AUB’s Faculty of Health Sciences and he co-chairs the AUB4Refugees Initiative.
An author of over 50 internationally published books and peer-reviewed articles, Nasser Yassin has focused his practice interests and research in development planning and policymaking, as well as on policy and social innovation, and health and displacement policies and programs.
He has also held various advisory roles and assignments for the United Nations, including UNHCR, ESCWA. UNDP, and ILO.
Nasser Yassin was selected by Saad Hariri as the new Minister of Environment in the newly-formed cabinet of PM Najib Mikati.
Nasser Yassin
Minister of Environment, Lebanon
Dr. Rouba Mhaissen
Founder and Director of Sawa for Development and Aid , a civil society organization that supports Syrian refugees in Lebanon and the internally displaced in Syria, and Sawa Foundation UK (founded in 2016), that supports forced migrants in Europe and the Middle East. This work focuses on protection, education, capacity building, skills and advocacy with affected communities in Syria and the region.
Rouba Mhaissen received her BA in Economics from the American University of Beirut, her MSc in Development from the London School of Economics, and an MPhil/PhD in Gender and Economic Development from the School of Oriental and African Studies. She also holds two degrees in Exponential Technologies from Singularity University (Silicon Valley). She has taught at SOAS, University of London and is currently a lecturer at the American University of Beirut.
She is the recipient of numerous awards relating to her work on gender issues, human rights as well as Syria-related work; these include the Queen Elizabeth Award (2011), the FCO Marsh Award for Peacemaking and Peacekeeping (2016), The AUB Most Distinguished Alumni Award (2017), and the Forbes 30Under30 list for Policy and Law (2017), as well as the Vital Voices Global leadership Award for Human Rights (2019) and the Rafto prize for Human Rights (2019).
Dr. Rouba Mhaissen
Founder and Director of Sawa for Development and Aid ,...
Diego Isabel La Moneda
Diego Isabel La Moneda is co-founder and director of NESI Global Forum of New Economy and Social Innovation, a non-profit organisation that promotes systemic change towards a people and planet centered economy. Diego is a social entrepreneur with more than 25 years experience in sustainable development, social responsibility, business strategy and political innovation. He studied Forestry and Environmental Engineering at the University of Valladolid (Spain) as well as MSC Global Governance and Ethics at UCL in London (UK). Diego is the author of the book “Yo Soy Tú: Propuesta para una Nueva Sociedad” (Octaedro, 2013), co-author of “Dentro de 15 años” (Lid, 2014) as well as a lecturer and teacher in several Universities and Master programs on Sustainable Development.
Diego Isabel La Moneda
Co-Founder and Director of NESI Global Forum of New Economy...
Karim Elgendy
Founder of Carboun
Karim Elgendy
Founder of Carboun
Prof. Adeel Malik
Professor Adeel Malik is Globe Fellow in the Economies of Muslim Societies at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies and an associate Professor in Development Economics at the University of Oxford’s Department of International Development. He received his doctorate in economics from Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar.
Professor Malik specializes in the study of Middle Eastern political economy. His ongoing research focuses on the political economy of authoritarianism in Muslim societies. His research articles have been published in reputed journals, such as the Journal of European Economic Association, European Journal of Political Economy, Journal of Development Economics, Oxford Economic Papers, World Development, Review of International Political Economy, and Modern Asian Studies.
Professor Malik’s most recent contribution to the field is a co-edited volume, Crony Capitalism in the Middle East: Business and Politics from Liberalization to the Arab Spring, published by Oxford University Press in 2019. His research has been featured in CNN, Al Jazeera, Financial Times, the New York Times, Washington Post, Project Syndicate, Foreign Policy, and Foreign Affairs.
Prof. Adeel Malik
Globe Fellow in the Economies of Muslim Societies at the...
Abdullah Alshayji
Head of the Political Science Department at Kuwait University
Abdullah Alshayji
Head of the Political Science Department at Kuwait University
Nisreen Haj Ahmed
Nisreen Haj Ahmad is the executive director and co-founder of Ahel for Community Organizing in the Middle East. Ahel.org is a nonprofit that coaches grassroots campaigns and trains leaders, activists and active citizens on organizing collective action for the change they pursue, always building people power. Nisreen is also involved in supporting the organizing of the BDS Movement and together with other women started its chapter in Jordan in 2014. Nisreen is committed to creating and facilitating learning and solidarity spaces that sustain leaders and activists globally. In 2012 and 2014, she coordinated the Leading Change Global Gatherings, bringing together more than a hundred organizers from around the world in Boston and Belgrade respectively. NIsreen is an advisory board member of Beautiful Rising and Rawa Fund. Trained as a lawyer, Nisreen obtained a law degree from the University of Jordan (1995), Masters in Law from Edinburgh University (1997), Masters in Public Policy from Harvard Kennedy School (2007), and recently finished a research fellowship at the Ash Center at Harvard Kennedy School. With Professor Marshall Ganz, Nisreen taught “Social Movements Today: Critical Questions for Critical Times” in the Spring semester of 2017 at Harvard Kennedy School and is the lead lecturer of the Arabic Online 4 month course “Leadership and Organizing Collective Action for Change”. She has produced several publications, including a documentation of Stand with the Teachers Campaign for fair pay, published by the International Labour Organization, and her work is the subject of a Harvard case study. Before entering the world of community leadership and organizing in 2007, Nisreen spent 6 years working as a legal advisor for the Palestinian negotiations team in the peace talks with Israel. More about her in this podcast.
Nisreen Haj Ahmed
Executive Director and Co-Founder of Ahel for Community Organizing
Dr. Mohammad Affan
Mohammad Affan is the acting director of Al Sharq Strategic Research, the coordinator of Al Sharq Program on Political Islam, and the managing director of Al Sharq Academia. A medical doctor by training, he holds a Ph.D. from the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter. Also, he obtained his MA degree in Comparative Politics at the American University of Cairo. His thesis was published in Arabic as a book titled: ‘Wahhabism and the Brotherhood: The Conflict on the Concept of the State and the Legitimacy of Power.’ In addition, he holds a post-graduate diploma in Civil Society and Human Rights from Cairo University, a diploma in Political Research and Studies from the Institute of Arab Research and Studies, and a diploma in Islamic Studies from The Higher Institute for Islamic Studies, Cairo. His research interests include Islamism and democratization in MENA region.
Dr. Mohammad Affan
Director of Al Sharq Strategic Research
Joseph Bahout
Joseph Bahout is director of the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut, where he is also an associate professor of political science. He has long been a researcher at the Carnegie Endowment in Washington DC, a professor at Sciences-Po Paris, and a consultant to the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Joseph Bahout
Director at Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International...
Hussein Amery
Professor of Water Politics and Policy at Colorado School of Mines
Hussein Amery
Professor of Water Politics and Policy at Colorado School of...
Fadi El-Jardali
Fadi El-Jardali is Professor of Health Policy and Systems and former Chairperson of the Health Policy and Management Department (HMPD) at the Faculty of Health Sciences. He is also the Founder and the Director of the Knowledge to Policy (K2P) Center; Director of the World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Center for Evidence-Informed Policy and Practice; Co-Director of the Center for Systematic Reviews in Health Policy and Systems Research (SPARK) at the American University of Beirut, Lebanon. He is an adjunct professor at the Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact at McMaster University in Canada.
Fadi El-Jardali
Founder and the Director of the Knowledge to Policy (K2P)...
Arwa Al-Khani
Arwa Al-Khani
Lead Clinical Pharmacist at Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust
Dr. Mohammed Mahmoud
Mohammed Mahmoud is the director of the Climate and Water Program and a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute. His areas of expertise include climate change adaptation, water policy analysis, and scenario planning.
Mohammed has held leadership positions in several organizations, most recently as chair of the Water Utility Climate Alliance, a coalition of 12 water utilities that collectively provide water to over 50 million people in the United States, with the purpose of providing leadership and collaboration on climate change issues that affect water agencies. Prior to that Mohammed was president of the North American Weather Modification Council, an organization dedicated to advancing research and development activities that increase the scientific knowledge and proper use of weather modification applications.
Mohammed has conducted water management research and work for the Middle East and North Africa region; most extensively on the Nile River Basin. His research on the Nile River Basin focused on the development of water resources in the basin, analysis of Nile water-sharing agreements, and impact of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on downstream water users. Mohammed’s other water management work in the region explored formalizing the administration of Saudi Arabia’s groundwater resources by using other established groundwater management frameworks as case study templates; such as Arizona’s 1980 Groundwater Management Code.
Mohammed’s educational background includes a B.S. and M.S. in Civil Engineering from Michigan Technological University, and a PhD in Hydrology and Water Resources from the University of Arizona.
Dr. Mohammed Mahmoud
Director of the Climate and Water Program at the Middle...
Fadi Itani
Fadi Itani is British Lebanese is the CEO of the Muslim Charities Forum, the network of British Muslim Charities. Fadi has over 30 years experience in community development and charity sector.
Prior to MCF, Fadi was the Deputy Director General of Qatar Charity UK and, Global Director for Communications at Islamic Relief. He also served as the CEO of Zakat House and Public Affairs Director at the Humanitarian Forum.
Recently he was awarded an OBE by Queen Elizabeth for his services to Charity and Interfaith Relations during Covid-19, and awarded the Good Citizenship Award and the Mayor of Islington’s Civic Award, for servicing the community as well as the Mayor of London Award for ‘his services to the people of London’.
Fadi Itani
CEO of the Muslim Charities Forum MCF
Prof. Ahmet Faruk Aysan
Professor of Islamic Finance and Economy and Program Coordinator of PhD and MS programs in Islamic Finance
Prof. Ahmet Faruk Aysan
Professor of Islamic Finance and Economy at Hamad Bin Khalifa...
Tasnim Chirchi
Director of Jasmine Foundation
Clayton Swisher
Investigator and Analyst
Fadi Quran
Campaigns Director at Avaaz
Fadi Quran
Campaigns Director at Avaaz
Zamzam Ibrahim
Zamzam Ibrahim, Vice President of European students Union, a co-founder of Students Organizing for Sustainability UK, and Vice Chair Muslim Leadership foundation and the former National President of the National Union of Students,UK.
She’s finance graduate from the University of Salford, Manchester. She’s been a student representative for almost a decade leading work on a fully funded and just education system to tackle societal injustices, leading campaigns from; climate justice to tackling racial injustice. Her main focus lies on internationalization and mobility, public responsibility and financing of higher education as well as organizational development and finances within the European Students’ Union.
Zamzam Ibrahim
Vice President of European students Union
Liqaa Meki
Senior Researcher at Al Jazeera Center for Studies
Liqaa Meki
Senior Researcher at Al Jazeera Center for Studies
Omar Faiad
Journalist at Al Jazeera Media Network & Presenter for Al Jazeera Mubasher.
Omar Faiad
Journalist at Al Jazeera Media Network
Dr. Anna Panagiotou
After a year-long stint in the training part of the Cynefin Co, working with all areas from conceptualisation to logistics, Anna has moved to the programme , research, and development area of the organisation since the beginning of 2020, bringing a perspective informed by materiality, archaeology, and her academic background to the theory and practice of complexity.
Anna leads the Climate Change and Sustainability programme at the Cynefin Centre, manages the Education programme, and she is also particularly active in the area of Health. Anna has an MA in Egyptian Archaeology and a PhD in Mediterranean Archaeology from UCL. She is a greedily omnivorous reader who is interested in everything and tends to change location every couple of years.
Dr. Anna Panagiotou
Climate Change and Sustainability programme at the Cynefin Centre Leader
Youssef Mohsen
Founder & Managing partner at Anubis Gaming
Youssef Mohsen
Founder & Managing partner at Anubis Gaming
Talha Karataş
Talha Karataş is founder of Talchi International. His expertise is global business development, strategy creation for corporate expension, vertical integration (forward and backwards), enterprise architecture, risk analysis, product development § product market fit.
Talha Karataş
Founder of Talchi International
Yassine Saadi
Doctor in Economic Scientist - Consultant International
Dr. Hamidreza Azizi
Dr. Hamidreza Azizi is an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow with the Middle East and Africa Research Division of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), Berlin; a Ph.D. in Regional Studies from the University of Tehran; and a former Assistant Professor of Regional Studies at Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran (2016-20). You can follow him on Twitter.
Dr. Hamidreza Azizi
Fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs...
Esra Öztürk
Esra Öztürk is an independent journalist and a member of International Federation of Journalists. She is a graduate of English Literature and Humanities from Eastern Mediterranean University and holds an M.A. of International Trade from Marmara University. Öztürk still continues her P.h.D. studies on Journalism in Istanbul University. She completed a certificate programme of Broadcast Journalism in New York Film Academy. She has 14 years experience in professional life including private sector positions, government adviser and media roles. After working in one of Turkiye’s top-3 internet news corporations, Haberler.com as a special interviews host; she has recently established a Youtube Channel called “Turkish News Portal”. She had an important role during the evacuation of Turkish citizens and their Ukrainian relatives from war-torn Ukraine through the use of Twitter Spaces along with her volunteer team.
Esra Öztürk
Founder of Turkish News Portal
Tarik Yousef
Senior Fellow, Middle East Council on Global Affairs
Tarik Yousef
Senior Fellow, Middle East Council on Global Affairs
Wael Alalwani
OPEN Co-founder, Financial Crime AI Consultant
Wael Alalwani
OPEN Co-founder, Financial Crime AI Consultant
Dr. Sinan Hatahet
Sinan Hatahet is a Senior Associate Fellow at Al Sharq Strategic Research. He is currently a consultant working with a number of think tanks on Syria.He previously worked as the executive director of the Syrian National Coalition (SNC) media office since its establishment in late 2012 until September 2014.
Research Interest: Governance and local councils, anti-radicalization, Islamism, the Kurdish National Movement, and the new regional order in the Middle East.
Dr. Sinan Hatahet
Senior Associate Fellow at Al Sharq Strategic Research
Alsha5angi
Producer and presenter of Alsh5anah show
Alsha5angi
Producer and presenter of Alsh5anah show
Hande Taner
President of FEMYSO
Emad Saif
Emad is a creative entrepreneurship educator. He is a lecturer; trainer and international speaker with a strong passion for supporting entrepreneurial thinking by applying innovative approaches to learning with emphasis on engagement and play.
He is currently a lecturer and innovation trainer at the Strategic Innovation, Entrepreneurship & Economic Development Office (SIEED) at Qatar University. He plays a vital role, as part of the university’s strategic planning team, to help transform the university into an innovation powerhouse.
As a certified facilitator in LEGO Serious Play Methodology and Design Thinking, he is continuously developing and testing new approaches within his extensively designed training programs and workshops, building upon his diverse experience of over 10 years of providing professional training internationally, across multiple sectors.
Emad has taken on many roles supporting and mentoring startups in competitions and incubation programs. He also spoke at various international events such as the European Innovation Academy, Arab Innovation Network, Qatar Science Technology Park Accelerator program, among others.
Emad graduated from McMaster University in Canada with a Master’s degree in Engineering Entrepreneurship and Innovation. His background intersects engineering, technology, business development, startups and academia.
Emad Saif
Innovation Trainer at the Strategic Innovation, Entrepreneurship & Economic Development...
Marc Owen Jones
Assistant Professor of Middle East Studies at Hamad bin Khalifa University
Marc Owen Jones
Assistant Professor of Middle East Studies at Hamad bin Khalifa...
Betül Doğan Akkaş
Betül Doğan Akkaş is a PhD candidate at joint degree program between Qatar University Gulf Studies Center and Durham University School of Government and International Affairs. She also received her MA degree with a thesis titled “Securitization of Qatari Foreign Policy” at Qatar University. Dogan Akkas completed her BA in International Relations at Bilkent University. Following her undergraduate studies, she conducted field research in Jenin, Palestine. Her research interests and publications include foreign policymaking, security strategies and social transformation of the Gulf Monarchies and Yemen.
Betül Doğan Akkaş
PhD candidate at Qatar University Gulf Studies Center and Durham...
Mehmet Emin Cengiz
Mehmet Emin Cengiz is a Research Fellow at Al Sharq Strategic Research. He received his B.A. in the Sociology Department from Ege University in 2016. During his B.A. he attended the Erasmus+ Program and studied at Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf as an international exchange student in Germany. Cengiz received his master’s degree from the Department of Sociology and Anthropology of the Middle East at Marmara University in 2020. His pieces regarding the Syrian war and non-state armed actors have appeared in national and international media outlets and think tanks.
Mehmet Emin Cengiz
Research Fellow at Al Sharq Strategic Research
Ahmed Ghanim
Expert in advocacy campaigns
Ahmed Ghanim
Expert in advocacy campaigns
Thembisa Fakude
Thembisa Fakude is a senior research fellow and director of Africa Asia Dialogues (Afrasid),a think tank based in Johannesburg, South Africa. He holds a Master’s degree in Politics from the university of the Witwatersrand. He is a columnist with the Middle East Monitor in London and a research fellow at Al Sharq Forum in Istanbul, Turkey. He also serves on the board of Common Action Forum (CAF) in Madrid, Spain and on the board of Mail and Guardian publication in South Africa.
Thembisa is the chairperson of Gauteng Industrial Development Zone (GIDZ), a government owned special economic zone (sez) located at OR Tambo International Airport in South Africa. He also serves as a Deputy Chairperson of Gauteng Growth and Development Agency (GGDA) a government investment promotion agency in South Africa.
He is the former Bureau Chief of Al Jazeera Media Network in Southern Africa, former head of English unit of Al Jazeera Centre for Studies and a former chairperson of Foreign Correspondents Association of Southern Africa (FCA).
Thembisa Fakude
Senior Research Fellow and Director of Africa Asia Dialogues
Omar Salha
Omar Salha is an Academic and Lecturer in International Diplomacy and Soft Power, Research Fellow at UC Berkeley, California, and a Fellow at The RSA (Royal Society of Arts). He is the Founder & Chief Executive of Ramadan Tent Project (RTP), an award-winning non-profit organization founded in 2013 with a mission of bringing communities together to better understand each other. RTP are the organizers of the UK’s first annual Ramadan Festival and the largest community and cultural event in Ramadan, Open Iftar.
Omar Salha is an MA graduate in International Studies and Diplomacy & was awarded the PhD Nohoudh Scholarship at SOAS University of London for the study of ‘Integration of Muslims in British Society’. He has taught at SOAS University of London, in addition to the Foundation of International Education (FIE) and regularly delivers talks, workshops and lectures at leading academic, professional institutions and conferences across the globe.
Omar Salha
Founder of Ramadan Tent Project
Hadia Kawikji
Hadia Kawikji is a Syrian certified Attorney at law since 2004. She has worked as a non-resident senior fellow at Omran Center for Strategic Studies since 2013. KAWIKJI has more than 14 years of experience in governance and development, either in governmental and non-governmental organizations, as well as the UN agencies.
As an expert in governance, mediation in peace process, she trained a number of Local Councils, groups, and Local Communities on governance, mediation skills and conflict analysis, gender and youth issues.
Between 2016 and 2019; she was involved in the Syria talks in Geneva, she also co-facilitated a number of local, regional, and international events and conferences.
Hadia Kawikji has a Master Advanced Studies in Mediation in Peace Process from Switzerland, ETH Zurich (2019), and an International Master in Legal, Social, and Economic Sciences from Italy (2007) she is also co-founder of several civil society organizations.
Hadia Kawikji
Co-Founder & Non Resident Senior Fellow, Omran Center
Dr. Emad Shahin
Dr. Emad El-Din Shahin is the Dean of HBKU’s College of Islamic Studies (CIS), Qatar Foundation. Before joining CIS, he was the Hasib Sabbagh Distinguished Visiting Chair of Arabic and Islamic Studies, a visiting professor of Political Science at the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, and the editor-in-chief of The Oxford Encyclopedia of Islam and Politics.
Dr. Shahin holds a PhD (1989) from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, and an MA (1983) and a BA (1980) from the American University in Cairo. He has taught in leading universities in the United States including Harvard, Notre Dame, Georgetown, George Washington, and Boston Universities.
Dr. Emad Shahin
Dean of HBKU’s College of Islamic Studies
Osama El-Mourabit
Osama El-Mourabit is a research fellow and program coordinator at Al Sharq Forum. His Research Interest focuses mainly on the geopolitics of the Maghreb region as well as the EU-Southern Mediterranean relationship.
He is a Holder of a Master of Arts in International Relations from the University of Humboldt-Berlin (HU-Berlin), with a master thesis entitled “The European discourse towards the Southern Mediterranean: From the Barcelona Process to the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP)”.
He worked previously as a researcher in a number of institutions such as the Policy Center for the New South and the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP). He is currently a phd candidate in Area Studies at the Middle East Technical University (ODTU).
Osama El-Mourabit
Research fellow and program coordinator at Al Sharq Forum
Kamaran Palani
Kamaran Palani is a PhD candidate at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs at Leiden University. Research Fellow at Middle East Research Institute (MERI); Associate Fellow, Al Sharq Strategic Research; Lecturer in International Relations at Salahaddin University
Kamaran Palani
Research Fellow at Middle East Research Institute
M. Nurullah Güleç
M. Nurullah Güleç graduated from Boğazici University with bachelor’s degrees in Economics and Mathematics. Then, he completed his MPhil in Economics at the University of Oxford. He is now continuing his Ph.D. studies in Economics at Duke University. He is interested in industrial organization, development, and political economy.
M. Nurullah Güleç
Ph.D. student in Economics at Duke University
Havva Nur Demir
After training in International Relations, Nur, specialized in Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding. She carried out studies on the Middle East region as a related subject and mostly specialized in the soft power capabilities of Non-Governmental Organizations and community cohesion. By following migration studies, she has gained various field experiences in the integration of immigrants into the society they live in and scopes of international effects of community engagement.
Nur has been actively involved in various projects on the participation of volunteers and women in decision-making mechanisms in the European and MENA region and has managed the preparation of the output documents in addition to maintaining international relations of volunteering processes in the Turkish Red Crescent.
Havva Nur Demir
Volunteer Management Specialist at Turkish Red Crescent
Burak Koçak
Burak Koçak is a project specialist and youth worker. He aims to create sustainable social projects. Burak works in the Volunteer Management Directorate of the Turkish Red Crescent. He is a national and international project writer and consultant within the Turkish Red Crescent. He also takes part in the implementation of these projects. His master’s degree in Disaster and Humanitarian Aid Management. In this way, he conducts academic studies in the field of climate crisis, epidemics, refugee crisis and disaster management.
Burak loves using digital tools and working on entrepreneurship. He carries out youth work on WordPress and YouTube.
His motto is “self-development is the key to success”.
Burak Koçak
Youth Worker at Turkish Red Crescent
Riyaad Minty
Director of Digital at TRT, Turkish Radio and Television Corporation
Riyaad Minty
Director of Digital at TRT
Rana Dajani
Rana Dajani Ph.D. molecular cell biology from U of Iowa, Tenured Professor at Hashemite University, Jordan, Cmalakova Fellow, Jepson school of Leadership, University of Richmond, Harvard Radcliff fellow, a Fulbrighter, Fulbright Foreign Student, 2000; Fulbright Visiting Scholar, 2012. Eisenhower fellow, former center of studies director, Hashemite University, Jordan, Yale and Cambridge visiting professor. Research area of expertise epigenetics and biomarkers of trauma among refugees and across generations and world expert on genetics of Circassian and Chechan populations in Jordan. Established stem cell research ethics law in Jordan. Advocate for biological evolution and Islam. Member UN women Jordan advisory council. Writer in Science and Nature, Established a women mentor network, received Partnerships for enhanced engagement in research (PEER) award 2014. Organized the first gender summit for the Arab world 2017. Most influential women scientists in Islamic World, 12 among 100 most influential Arab women 2015, women in science hall of fame 2015, King Hussein Cancer Institute for cancer and biotechnology award 2009 and 2016 Global Changemaker Award for celebrating 70 years of the Fulbright Programm. President of the Society for the Advancement of Science, Technology and Innovation in the Arab World. women of influence in the Arab World 2021 Arabian Business magazine’s list.
Awarded the Jordan star of science by His Majesty King Abdullah II, University of Iowa, College of medicine, distinguished alumni Award 2018, Higher Education Reform Expert EU-TEMPUS, Jordan, founder service learning center, Hashemite University, speaker at TEDxDeadsea and TEDxPSUT, World Islamic Economic Forum 2012 and World Science
Forum 2015 and 2017.
Developed a community-based model “We love reading” Changing mindsets through reading to create changemakers, received Synergos Arab world social innovators 2009, Clinton Global Initiative 2010, Library of Congress best practices 2013, World Innovation Summit in Education Award 2014, King Hussein Medal of Honor 2014, Star Award 2015, IDEO.org best refugee education program 2015, UNESCO International Literacy Prize 2017, World Literacy Council Award 2018 and the Jacobs social entrepreneurship award 2018, Science, Technology and Innovation Award UN 2019, Ashoka Fellow 2019, UNHCR Nansen Refugee awardee 2020, Schwab Social entrepreneur 2022. Author of the book: Five scarves, Doing the impossible: If we can reverse cell fate why cant
we redefine success, Nova Publisher 2018. Reviewed by Nature
Rana Dajani
Molecular Biologist
Sami Zeidan
Sami Zeidan has years of experience in training, teaching, and practicing journalism. – Sami has trained anchors, reporters, and producers at Al Jazeera, CNBC, and NBC. – Sami has presented, reported, and produced with the biggest names in television including Al Jazeera, CNN, CNBC, and NBC affiliates. – His assignments have taken him from the White House to the UN, and through war zones from Gaza to Syria. – Sami has taught at the 1st School of Journalism in the world, the University of Missouri-Columbia, USA, established in 1908.
Sami Zeidan
Presenter at Al Jazeera Media Network
Hassan Imran
Hassan Imran is an independent political analyst in international law and middle east affairs, and executive director of One Justice, a Paris-based legal aid organization.
Hassan Imran
Executive Director of One Justice
Shireen Naqvi
Senior Advisor & Consultant at School of Leadership, Pakistan
Shireen Naqvi
Senior Advisor & Consultant at School of Leadership
Faizan Arafat
Lead Consultant & Director at School of Leadership
Faizan Arafat
Consultant & Director Nucleus Consulting
Fatema Kausar Ali
School of Leadership Director Business Development
Fatema Kausar Ali
Head Business & Director Nucleus Consulting