Cécile is First Director of Thaki Nederland and the co-founder of niche consulting firm Copper8. With a diverse academic background, she has developed a systemic approach to initiating and managing circular economy projects. She has a particular focus on collaboration to unlock innovation, create financially viable business/value cases and to physically close the loop. Although her role in projects is often ‘behind the scenes’, she laid the foundations for many iconic sustainability projects in the construction and manufacturing industries in the Netherlands. Aside from her project work she takes an active role in sharing knowledge through speaking and teaching engagements, and is also co-author of the book Circular Business: Collaborate and Circulate. Cécile holds a double BA from LaSalle and a Master’s degree in Development Studies from the London School of Economics.

Geoffrey is the CEO of Alef Education and has effectively turned a visionary idea into a sustainable global business that has impacted more than 1M learners across five countries. Geoffrey is a widely considered a thought-leader in the Ed-Tech field, given Alef Education’s use of advanced technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) in revolutionizing digital education offerings. He actively contributes to the global education community, and is regularly featured in local and international media outlets such as CNN, CBS News, Sky News, the Business Year, Dubai One, and Forbes Magazine. He is on the Forbes Technology Council and UNESCO SDG4 Education Council where he discusses policy making and other initiatives aimed at driving equality and accessibility to education for marginalized communities. Geoffrey has also led various research activities with the aim to provide advocacy and help influence policy to local and regional heads of states and ministers interested in the field of Technology and Education. Prior to joining Alef Education, Geoffrey was the General Manager at Pearson Education, running its Program Management and Service Delivery business where he grew and led a cross functional team towards driving Pearson’s digital strategy with a combined portfolio of over $30M USD across both the K-12 and Higher Ed markets in the MENA region. Prior to his time at Pearson Education, Geoffrey held senior leadership roles in Canada, and Australia across the Ed- Tech, Telecom, and Financial sectors. Geoffrey holds an MBA from the London Business School.

Nadia serves as the ESG Director at GSR, a global cryptocurrency trading firm, and also holds the position of Chair at the GSR Foundation and President of the Fundación Kareema. She began her career in management consultancy and later transitioned to investment management at Goldman Sachs, as well as executive recruiting for financial services. In 2017, she joined GSR as their inaugural Director of Human Resources. Aside from her leadership roles at Fundacion Kareema and the GSR Foundation, Nadia actively participates in various local social impact projects and serves as a Board Member of Thaki, an organization bringing digital literacy to refugee and vulnerable children in the Middle East. She graduated with a BSc in Management Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and holds an MSc in Organizational & Business Psychology from the University of Liverpool.

A visionary and dynamic leader, Yousif has an impressive track record of education innovation. He is the Chief Information Officer at the American University of Beirut (AUB), where he has collaborated with faculty and leading technology teams to support excellence in teaching and research. He has also led teams in defining, designing, implementing and operating first class services, applications, systems and infrastructure to further the academic mission of the university. He holds a BS Electrical & Computer Engineering, MSEE in Signal Processing and Communication and Ph.D. in Cognitive and Neural Systems.

Rula has spent most of her career based in Boston, gaining experience in program assessment, accreditation and software quality assurance. Combining her IT background and interest in education, she was most recently the Program Assessment Officer at the Adnan Kassar School of Business of the Lebanese American University and has a Bachelor’s of Engineering in Computers and Communication from the American University of Beirut, plus a mini MBA in Telecommunication from Informa. Rula is passionate about community service and loves math problems - to relieve stress, she kicks back with a Rubik’s Cube!

Asmahan is the Chairwoman and General Manager of InfoFort Lebanon. Alongside this, she holds many roles in bodies across the sector including serving as President of the Lebanese League of Women in Business where she is now Advisor to the Board, Vice Chair of Amideast Advisory board and Member of the American University of Beirut Scholarship fundraising committee. She began her career as an airline executive and quickly worked her way up to hotel management before joining the team that founded Aramex Lebanon in 1988. Over her rich career she has participated in major CSR and social impact activities. In 2007 she was chosen by the State Department among other 5 Lebanese Business Women to participate in the Women Business Leaders’ Summit (Amman and Washington DC).

With over 18 years of experience in corporate and commercial law and in-depth knowledge of UAE law, Carine is experienced in everything from mergers and acquisitions to corporate structuring, joint venture arrangements, asset sale and employment law. Now the Managing Partner at Knowledge Vision Consultancy FZE, she also specializes in legislative drafting and regulatory law, and has been involved in drafting and reviewing several Federal and local legislations as well as advising several governmental agencies on regulatory and public law. Alongside her extensive corporate and commercial experience, she has a deep cultural awareness. Carine has been recognized by Chambers and Partners as a leading Corporate Commercial lawyer in the UAE for the years 2013 and 2014. Carine is a member of the Beirut Bar Association and holds an LLB in Private Law (Lebanese and French law), as well as a Degree in Political and Administrative Sciences from Saint Joseph University, Beirut, Lebanon.

Based in the Netherlands and with a broad background in business, government and the world of NGOs, Dafne has been involved in the Middle East since the nineties. In all her activities, she aims to connect the Netherlands and the Middle East. She works as trainer, moderator and speaker on issues related to the region. Dafne holds a Master degree in Arabic language and culture from Leiden University in the Netherlands. She is also chairwoman of the board of Roia, an NGO that puts ICT at its core. Founded in 2012 following the outbreak of the conflict in Syria, Roia has grown to become a leading actor in the Middle East providing ICT-based solutions to local communities and non-violent organizations. In her home country of the Netherlands, Dafne is also heavily involved with the refugee community by teaching intercultural skills and Dutch, helping people find their way in their new country and opening up her network to give refugees access to opportunities. 

Nawzad Othman was born in Erbil, Iraq into a Kurdish family, immigrated to the United States when he was seventeen and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from South Dakota State University and Masters in Urban Planning from Minnesota State University. In 1977, he moved to Portland, Oregon and co-founded Otak Inc (later Otak International), where he served as CEO for over 30 years. At the time of the sale in 2011, Otak had the reputation of being one of the leading Engineering and Architectural firms in Oregon, with over 400 professionals and twelve offices including one in Abu Dhabi. Nawzad is the CEO of the Othman Group with a presence in Portland, Abu Dhabi and Erbil. He is also the past Chair of the World Affairs Council of Oregon and has served on the Board of Directors of numerous non-profit organizations. 

Safiyeh started her career at the renowned Office for Metropolitan Architecture and its think tank AMO. She went on to pursue her passion for connecting the two parts of the worlds she calls home; The Netherlands and the MENA region. Her mixed background allows her to maneuver effortlessly between Dutch, Persian and Arab cultural contexts. As a MENA-NL liaison Safiyeh drives social impact innovation and multi-stakeholder initiatives between the Netherlands and the MENA, her forte being curating public-private coalitions to enhance societal resilience based on sustainable business cases. As co-founder of ZINC Foundation she aims to raise awareness for the 290 million invisible children worldwide and provide these children with resilient digital identities through blockchain technology. Acting as ZINC’s spokesperson and ambassador, she combines her relevant network, liaison and public speaking background to create sustainable partnerships and achieve UN SDG 16:9; a legal identity for all children. Being a mother of 3 young boys herself, improving the world for the most vulnerable and underserved children is her ultimate drive and passion. Joining Thaki’s Advisory Board furthers her motivation in assisting vulnerable children, sustainable initiatives and MENA-NL collaboration.

Yvonne is a results-driven strategic and creative thinker who builds and motivates teams to challenge the status quo. She is a former teacher, senior business leader, social entrepreneur and consultant, and holds an MBA from Cranfield School of Management, a Masters in Applied Positive Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania and is a graduate of the THNK School for Creative Leadership in Amsterdam. She has over 12 years’ experience in marketing and business development roles at leading global tech companies including Apple and SMART Technologies, Yvonne specializes in wellbeing and positive psychology, strategic marketing, people management, brand development and education. As well as acting as a business mentor, co-active coach and MBSR Mindfulness teacher, she is the founder of Young Happy Minds, a social enterprise with a mission to get society to value wellbeing in young people as highly as academic success. Yvonne’s main passion is around social enterprises and businesses who do good - but she is also passionate about great brands, live music, exercise, especially dynamic yoga and pilates and really good coffee!