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Mentors

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Meet Our Mentors

Abdullah Fakhra

Abdullah has worked in project finance, direct investments, M&A due diligence, and corporate turnarounds for over 8 years with main focus on mega infrastructure investments and private public participation. He’s been in corporate venture capital for more than 1.5 years and has invested in multiple startups and ventures in different sectors both personal investment and corporate investments. Abdullah founded several initiatives and startups in different sectors.

Alexander Fatemi

Alexander has 14 years experience in corporate finance in the Middle East and Europe and focuses on finding financial solutions, reviewing business models, negotiating agreements, and supporting entrepreneurs. He developed and negotiated several successful grant proposals to fund educational and civil society-oriented projects. Alexander is a former board member of the American Graduate School in Paris and is a son of refugees himself.

Ali Maarrawi

Ali’s +19 years multifaceted professional journey is commemorated by him joining YAL (Young Arab Leaders) and the league of Easa Saleh Al Gurg Group as the General Manager of OFIS, promoting Steelcase and Interface, among other world class brands in furniture and flooring solutions for the corporate, healthcare, educational and hospitality sectors. Ali had the privilege of establishing and running Cosentino Middle East in October 2012 till July 2017, he delivered results and efficiency after becoming the reliable partner for architects, interior designers and kitchen studios. Ali holds a Master ́s Degree in Integrated Logistics and Diplomas in International Trade and Marketing, all of which he studied at Kühnel Escuela de Negocios in Spain. Ali speaks fluent English, Spanish, Arabic, and has a working proficiency in French, plus notions of German and Italian.

Helen Al Uzaizi

Helen is an established businesswoman and an active community member. With over 15 years of experience spanning marketing, non-profit management, and entrepreneurship, Helen has been supporting major brands, non-profit organizations, and startups across the region as a mentor and Board member and advisor. Helen is the CEO of BizWorld UAE, Egypt, and Jordan, social enterprises that teach kids entrepreneurship skills. She is also the Founder of Future Entrepreneurs, a platform that aims to empower youth entrepreneurs in MENA.Helen is a mother of 2, triathlete and adventurer who believes in making dreams come to life and that anything is possible.

Hiba Daaboul

Hiba is a dynamic and commercially driven finance business partner with over 8 years senior managerial experience in FMC and Automotive sectors. Worked within a variety of Finance responsibilities: co-piloting & growing business and brand regionally, leading strategic corporate projects, and lately managing Finance Teams for ME markets. Hiba Daaboul is an MBA candidate with the University of Cass Business School.

Dr. Hisham Safadi

A young entrepreneur, one of the 50 UAE Startups to watch featured in FORBES ME 2016 and among Best 50 Arab Startups to watch in Arab World by Forbes ME 2017. Dr. Hisham is the Founder and CEO of UDENZ Find Nearby Dentist a mobile application and a leading dental healthcare Engagement platform in Middle East and Gulf Countries. Dr. Safadi is also the CEO and Co-Founder of RAK Incubation and Accelerator a powerful platform for entrepreneurs and startups, offering unique multiple advantages through its startup framework, specialized industrial centers, training and mentorship, access to investors and decision makers. Dr. Hisham Safadi earned his Bachelor of Dental Surgery & Master’s Degree in Leadership and Management in Health Care Practice in the University of Salford UK.

Reim El Houni

Reim's career includes working with TV stations like the BBC to being an Executive Producer and Head of Events at Dubai One. Reim launched her own production company Ti22 Films in January 2011. Ti22 Films has won 25 New York Festival Awards & a Cannes Corporate Media and TV Award. Reim has served on the Jury of the New York Festival for 6 years and is a regular panelist at industry events. Reim founded dubai ON demand in 2016, where the world of branded content and influencer marketing collide. She also supports organisations as a media consultant and video strategist.

Robyn Liu

Robyn is an innovation practitioner, policy nerd, and social entrepreneur with experience in Asia, Australia, US, and UK. She is currently the Innovation Specialist at Unicef Jordan. In her role as Innovation Specialist, her work includes empowering young people with the capabilities for social innovation and entrepreneurship; supporting the growth of local tech start-ups; strengthening the national innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystems, and partnering with the private sector to drive equity, social cohesion and inclusive growth. She is an avid pollinizer of ideas and has participated in the Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship, NESTA Global Policy Lab, Oxford University Humanitarian Innovation Project, and the Wharton Social Entrepreneurship Programme. Robyn studied at University of Oxford, Stanford University and the Australian National University, where she gained her PhD in Political Science and International Relations.

Salem Marafi

Salem has 8 years’ work experience in building and launching retail banking self-service channels for customers. He spent a summer at Facebook working on Advertising Products and predictive analytics. Soon after completing his MBA, he joined Amazon where he spent his time as a senior product manager in Jewellery and Watches. He then went on to be a senior vendor manager where he managed a team of vendor managers for Amazon UK’s furniture category. Salem is now part of Agility’s Tech Venture team in Kuwait.

Shireen Yaacoub

As the Chief Executive Officer of Edraak, Shireen has the honor of leading the inspiring team behind the Arab world’s leading online learning platform. Edraak aims to provide free high quality online and blended education to Arabic speakers across the region. Today, Edraak reaches well over one million learners across the MENA region, including disadvantaged youth in Gaza, Syria, and Iraq. Shireen pioneered the adoption of the Creative Commons License at Edraak, in an effort to catalyze for education reform and dissemination of Arabic open educational resources (OERs). Previously, as the founding Chief Operating Officer of Edraak.org, Shireen led the platform’s partnerships with local, regional and international universities and managed content design and production operations for more than 300 hours of educational content. She also championed Edraak’s initiatives aimed at addressing the refugee education challenge.