Dr. Karim Sabbagh Senior Vice President Booz & Company

Dr. Karim Sabbagh is a Senior Partner with Booz & Company and focuses on the communications, media, and technology industry. He has over 20 years of experience in deregulation strategies, privatization, strategy-based transformation, mergers and acquisitions, growth and investment strategies, and operating and governance models.

He is a member of the Board of Directors for SES S.A. and serves on the Audit and Risk Committee. He is a visiting professor in technology management and member of the Academic Council for the School of International Management at Écoles des Ponts ParisTech (Grandes Ecoles) in France. He is the chairman of the Ideation Center that serves the Booz & Company think tank in the Middle East. Karim previously served on the Global Agenda Council for the Arab World of the World Economic Forum, and on the Advisory Council for the Global Information Technology Report of the World Economic Forum.

He holds a PhD with honors in strategic management from the American Century University in the USA, and both an MBA in finance and a BBA with distinction in marketing from the American University of Beirut.

Dr. Nasser Saidi Former Chief Economist of the DIFCA / Executive Director Hawkamah Institute for Corporate Governance Dr. Saidi has been on the list of the 50 Most Influential Arabs in the World by The Middle East magazine since 2009.

He has held many regional and international roles and functions in public, private, non-profit and global organizations, including being a member of the IMF’s Regional Advisory Group for MENA, the Minister of Economy and Trade and Minister of Industry of Lebanon, first Vice-Governor of the Central Bank of Lebanon, member of the UN Committee for Development Policy (UNCDP). He has written a number of books and numerous publications addressing macroeconomic, capital market development and international economic issues in Lebanon and the region.

Dr. Saidi was also a private banker and served as an economic adviser and director to a number of central banks and financial institutions in Arab countries, Europe and Central and Latin America. Prior to his public career, Dr. Nasser served as a Professor at the University of Chicago and other prominent institutions in Switzerland and Lebanon.

Dr. Saidi holds a PhD and a MA in Economics from the University

of Rochester in the USA, a MSc from University College, London

University and a BA from the American University of Beirut.

Ghada Waly Managing Director Social Fund for Development, Egypt As of October 2011 Ghada Waly has been appointed by Egypt’s prime Minister as Managing Director for the Social Fund for Development that focuses on youth employment and SME access to finance.

She is a development professional with more than 23 years of solid experience in development management focused on MSMEs and poverty reduction programs.

She served as Assistant Resident Representative at the United Nations Development Program UNDP where she led the Development of 19 Governorate Human Development reports and 3rd Millennium Development Goals Reports. She has also supported the Development of the UNDP Global Guidelines for Private Sector Development and led the Development of the First National Strategy for Micro Finance for the Ministry of Social Solidarity.

Previously, she also served as Micro Finance and Advisor to the Chairman of Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority. She frequently serves on the board of NGOs involved in educational advancement, women empowerment and poverty reduction.

She has a Master degree in Humanities with Highest Honors from Colorado State University, USA, and is certified in Development Management, Project Management and Micro Finance.

Dr. Azza El-Shinnawy Education and Citizenship (CSR) Lead Mircrosoft (Gulf) Azza El-Shinnawy is the Education and Citizenship (CSR) Lead for Microsoft Gulf, being responsible for strategic leadership, management and execution of Microsoft’s plans, partnerships and programs in education and citizenship across the Gulf region. In her role, she supports Microsoft’s plans to help transform education and execute on its vision of “expanding the power of education for all through personalized learning”.

Before joining Microsoft, Dr. El-Shinnawy was Advisor to Egypt’s Minister of Investment and established a research division to publish policy research and publications on investments in Egypt. She was also lecturer at the American University in Cairo for the graduate program of Public Policy and Administration. She has worked for the World Health Organization as an expert on trade liberalization in health services, advising governments on the scheduling of commitments under the framework of the WTO GATS Agreement. She is an expert on the pharmaceutical industry as well as on trade and industrial policy in the context of the Arab region.

Azza holds a PhD in International Development from the London School of Economics, an MA in Public Administration and a BA in Political Science from the American University in Cairo, as well as an MA in Development Economics from the University of East Anglia in the UK.

Tarek Sadi Managing Director Endeavor – Lebanon Mr. Sadi is the Managing Director of Endeavor Lebanon, an Economic Development non-profit focused on supporting and growing outperforming entrepreneurs. Tarek has 16 years of experience in entrepreneurship, corporate finance and direct investments, primarily with early stage companies in the Middle East, Europe, and Latin America.

Prior to Endeavor, Tarek was co-founder and Managing Partner at MEVP, a Beirut-based Venture Capital fund, which invests in early stage opportunities in the Middle East. Before MEVP, he was at the Emerging Market Private Equity fund of Dubai International Capital (DIC). Previously, he was a founding partner of Access Advisory, a London-based venture partner firm. Earlier, he was part of Merrill Lynch’s TMT M&A team in London. He also co-founded, grew and exited two ventures in mobile content and automotive services, in Mexico.

Mr. Sadi has a BS in Political Science and Economics from Georgetown University and an MBA from LBS.

Dr. Leila Hoteit Principal Booz & Company Dr. Leila Hoteit is a Principal with Booz & Company and a member of the firm’s public sector practice. Dr. Hoteit has over 11 years of strategy and business experience. She has worked with clients in a variety of sectors and geographies on projects covering turnaround strategies, organization and restructuring, and large-scale transformation. Her current work focuses on human capital development and encompasses Education and Culture as well as helping organization tapping the full potential of women in their workforce. Dr. Hoteit today co-leads the work on the Third Billion Index.

In 2012, Booz & Company published the inaugural index, which builds on the Third Billion concept to provide a baseline for women’s progress in the world of work, while trying to determine what barriers women in those countries face as they attempt to become active economic agents, as well as what companies and governments can do to increase women participation in entrepreneurship and the labor force.

Dr. Hoteit holds a PhD in electrical engineering from the Imperial College of London and an MBA from INSEAD.

Rama Chakaki Co-Founder Baraka Ventures Ms. Chakaki has 22 years of experience in management, strategic planning and communications. Her passion is to promote a collaborative approach, invest in social enterprises, use technology for social development and nurture a generation of social entrepreneurs among youth and women in the Arab world.

As co-founder and CEO of Dubai-based Baraka Ventures, Rama facilitated women and youth leadership, entrepreneurship and civic engagement workshops, advised regional government and large enterprise on social investments in youth and women lead social enterprise, and incubated sustainable social ventures and web technologies.

In addition to a grassroots community engagement approach, Rama worked with GCC institutions in the public, private, non-profit and education sectors to deliver the Baraka Ventures vision of being a positive change agent to build and support social ventures and sustainable businesses with a triple bottom line.

Ms. Chakaki holds an MS in Computer Science and an MS in Engineering Management from George Washington University.

Randa O. El-Himyary Chairman BreakMedia Randa El-Himyari is an Emirati entrepreneur with a passion for social causes and a dedication to promoting and supporting Corporate Social Responsibility. Through her various social and community involvements, she thrives on giving and supporting others in need, and contributing to the national economy and society of her country, the United Arab Emirates.

She is the owner of BreakMedia Dubai, a Digital Printing business. Before she started her own business, she was responsible for events and CSR in Aswaaq, a “responsible” retailer that started as a Dubai government initiative to support youth and local businesses. She was a speaker in a number of events including CSR Conference and Ro’yati Family Society in 2011.

Randa takes pride in being part of a number of CSR and community projects including the Special Needs Activities program, the Aswaaq Rehabilitation Center, and Breast Cancer Awareness campaigns.

Ms. El-Himyari is currently completing her Masters in Marketing at the Middlesex University.

Ambareen Musa Founder and CEO Souqalmal.com Ambareen Musa is the founder and CEO of Souqalmal.com. Originally from Mauritius, she started her first online business, an online property portal for international students in Australia at the age of 21. In 2004, she moved to London to work for GE’s financial arm, GE Money, where she held various roles including marketing, customer advocacy and e-commerce. She also led the first online financial literacy initiative in the UK, Moneybasics.co.uk. In 2006, she contributed to a book on entrepreneurial opportunities on the internet, entitled “Entrepreneurship and innovations in e-business: an integrative perspective”. Moving to the Middle East in 2008, Ambareen worked as a consultant for Bain & Company - Middle East and focused on the financial services sector, before joining MasterCard Middle East and Africa to set up their consulting arm, before leaving 2 years later to become the founder of Souqalmal.com in 2011. Musa holds an undergraduate business degree from RMIT University, Australia, and an MBA from INSEAD.

Nadereh Chamlou Senior Advisor, Office of the Chief Economist for the MENA Region World Bank Nadereh Chamlou is Senior Advisor to the Chief Economist for the MENA Region of the World Bank. In her three decades with the World Bank, she has held technical advisory and managerial positions in economic management, private and financial sector development, infrastructure and environment, and worked in Latin America, East Asia and Pacific, Eastern Europe and MENA. She authored “Gender and Development in the Middle East and North Africa Region – Women in the Public Sphere”, and “The Environment for Women’s Entrepreneurship in the Middle East and North Africa Region”.

Ms. Chamlou is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Tunis-based Center for Arab Women’s Training and Research, a founding member of the Steering Committee and the Advisory Committee of the Gender Economic Research and Policy Analysis initiative, Chair of Friends of the Board of the Margaret McNamara Memorial Fund, and the Global Advisory Council of the Global Fund for Women and Girls.

She is a graduate of Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service and the Graduate School for Economics.

Salam Saadeh Founder Active-M Salam is an entrepreneur, mentor, coach, angel investor and board member of multiple start-ups. She founded Active-M in 2009 as a start-ups enabler firm focusing on the MENA Region, and helped incubate and mentor more than 10 start-ups within the UAE during the last 3 years. Most recently, she has focused her investment approach to invest with, empower and support visionary entrepreneurs in Levant and GCC, especially youth and women who are building agile, socially impactful, early stage companies in the Digital and Mobile Space.

With over 17 years of experience in the Arab capital markets at Lebanon Invest, MECG and the Managing Director of the Investment Banking Division at SHUAA Capital, Salam helped raise more than $7 billion for some of the most prominent regional names including Aramex, Arabtec, Air Arabia, Dubai Ports, HIKMA Pharmaceutical and Petrofac.

Salam has a BSc in Computer Science with Honors from American University of Beirut in Lebanon and finished top of MBA Class.

Tuba Terekli Co-Founder & CEO Qotuf Al Riyadah Development Company A Saudi of foreign origin, Tuba Terekli is the co-founder and CEO of Qotuf Al Riyadah Development Company, which focuses on formulating the entrepreneurial ecosystem within Saudi Arabia. Working with the various chambers, ministries, universities, accelerator programs, and venture capitals, she has used her global and local networks to help develop entrepreneurship and women empowerment. She was a founding advisor of the Saudi Fast Growth 100 and later the Arabia 500 initiatives that highlighted the most successful, innovative and high-impact businesses throughout the region. Her expertise was noted at Harvard by Professor Michael Porter where she was ironically heralded as the ‘Entrepreneur of the Entrepreneurship Support Movement in KSA’. Tuba also founded the first female-managed healthcare consultancy in the region which won awards and accolades from the National Arab US Chamber of Commerce. She is also the co-founder and member of numerous local and international institutes. She holds a BA in Computer Science from Saudi Arabia, an MBA from the UK and an Advanced Studies degree from the USA.

Dr. Halah El-Sokari Advisor to the CEO Khalifa Fund for Entreprise Development Dr. Halah El-Sokari is currently the Advisor to the CEO at Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development. She has nearly three decades of extensive experience in the field of International Consultancy and Advisory assuming senior strategic roles in a multitude of diverse industries.

In 2005, she initiated the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, an internationally recognized study to benchmark entrepreneurial activity in the UAE amongst 52 countries, as a basis for further policy development in the field of entrepreneurship.

Prior to coming to the UAE, Dr. Al-Sokari worked as a Senior Wealth Management Specialist for Merrill Lynch and UBS-PaineWebber. She also worked as a Senior Consultant and Advisor to the United Nations Development Program to evaluate and recommend the most effective administration of development assistance for the country of Egypt. She was also responsible for setting up a National Association to support capacity building and Entrepreneurship Development as well as supporting the inception of the National SME Agency for Export Development.

She holds a PhD, MBA, and BSc in Business Administration specializing in Economics and International Finance with honors from Notre Dame University and Syracuse University in the USA.

Dr. Abdulaziz Ben Ibrahim Al Hargan Program Director Bader Program for Tech Incubators King Abdul Aziz City for Science and Technology Dr. Abdulaziz Al Hargan participated in the early development stages of the technology incubator industry in KSA and has been the program director of Bader in KSA, overseeing 3 technology incubators.

His experience spans both the public and private sectors, having worked in the Ministry of Agriculture, KACST and the World Bank in Washington DC as IT advisor for 3 years.

Dr. Al Hargan also drafted a national policy on innovation and entrepreneurship sponsorship that was later adopted by the government, and is currently implemented by the program. He is a member of the Kauffman Foundation, an international institution that fosters entrepreneurship and venture capital, part of an ESCWA experts group, and he also sits on the board of many investment funds.

He holds a PhD in Computer Sciences from George Washington University, a MSc in Computer Sciences from the American University in Washington, and a BA in agricultural engineering from King Saud University in Riyadh.

Rajeev Kakar Executive Director & CEO Dunia Finance Rajeev Kakar is the Executive Vice President & Regional CEO, for CEEMEA region for Fullerton Financial Holdings (Fullerton), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Temasek Holdings (Singapore). He also heads the consumer banking business globally and the Financial Services operations in China, South East Asia and the UAE, including being the CEO of Dunia Finance – a JV among Fullerton Financial, Mubadala and Waha Capital. Rajeev has over two and a half decades in the banking industry, including a stint at Citibank as Region Head & CEO of the Consumer Bank across Turkey, Middle East & Africa. His experience in entrepreneurship covers starting a greenfield finance company JV in India, between Citigroup and Suzuki (Maruti), which he ran successfully for over two and a half years. In September 2009, he received ITP’s “CEO of the Year” Award for Financial Services in MENA and was listed by Arabian Business on the “GCC Power List India Top 100” for his business achievements.

Rajeev joined Citibank in 1987 in India, after completing a BE in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi and an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) in Ahmedabad. Amongst his many board and committee involvements, Rajeev is a Member of the Global Advisory Board at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

MODERATORS:8

derators

Dr. Hatem Samman Director of the Ideation Center Booz & Company Hatem Samman is the Director and Lead Economist of the Ideation Center— Booz & Company’s leading think tank for the Middle East. Previously, he held the position of Vice President at a major Saudi Bank and was the Director of Regulatory Affairs and Strategic Planning at the Saudi Telecommunications Company (STC). He was also a Fellow at the University of Minnesota and a consultant for the World Bank.

He has several academic publications in the Journal of International Trade and Economic Development, the International Journal of Applied Economics, and the Economic Research Forum. In addition to Ideation Center publications, Dr. Samman published numerous articles on various socioeconomic topics relevant to the Middle East in the Financial Times and Pan Arab newspapers and magazines.

Dr. Samman holds a BA in Political Science and Mathematics from the University of California at San Diego, and a PhD in Political Economy and Public Policy from the University of Southern California.

Moderators

Jihad Khalil Associate Booz & Company Jihad is an Associate with the Financial Services practice at Booz & Company Middle East based out of Dubai. He has over 4 years of banking industry experience, including 3 years at Barclays Bank, and 5 years of consulting experience covering financial services across EU and MENA.

He is a member of the Chicago Booth UAE Alumni Club and serves as the Club’s Treasurer. His passion for entrepreneurship led him to win the 2003 Golden Chip Award for Best Startup Software Solution and place 3rd on the Berytech Business Plan Competition Award in 2009. He is still looking for the next big ‘killer app’ idea and experimenting with many pet projects in his free time.

He holds an MBA in strategic management and entrepreneurship from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business where he received the Dean’s Leadership Award of Distinction. He also holds an Engineering Degree in Computer Systems and Networks from the Ecole Supérieure d’Ingénieurs de Beyrouth of the Saint Joseph University.