Julien is also the Founder & CEO of Special Edition, a Content Creation company that operates across the GCC on content creation and events. Special Edition manages content creation and event for prestigious brands like the French edition of Arab News, Top CEO, TRENDS and other prestigious regional clients.

Born in Beirut, Julien spent most of his life in Paris, France. He completed his early studies in Paris and holds an Economics degree from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois (USA). Julien launched the publishing and media company Mediaquest in 1997 with his brother, Alexandre Hawari. Currently, Julien is a Board of Director for Mediaquest.

Julien site on the board of Wemind, a technology platform that combines loyalty, big data, and A.I. Wemind leverages consumption to fuel the impact economy. It aims at expending the financial system through repurposing electronic payments toward social initiatives.

Julien’s professional achievements include launching multiple brands in the region, north Africa and Europe. Among them TRENDS, the leading English-language international magazine on Arab affairs, Saneou al Hadath, redesigning Arabies… transforming the company into a powerful player in the Middle East and North Africa. Mediaquest quickly expanded to a powerhouse with the launch of Haya MBC, Marie Claire Arabia, Communicate in association with Advertising Age, and many other media brands. Mediaquest acquired brands as well like GMR, AMEinfo, Raceweek, F1, Policy and many other brands. He has played a key role in the expansion of Mediaquest and the opening of the media company’s offices in Dubai, Beirut, Riyadh, Algiers, Tunis and Paris.

With strong experience in building and growing startups in the Middle East and North Africa region, he managed the launch and growth of Mediaquest across the region and across digital and traditional platforms along with event management.

He played a crucial role in establishing iconic business events such as annual conference on the business of luxury – arab luxury world. He has also steered the efforts to institute annual TOP CEO conference & awards – a transparent and audited rankings of the chief executives of the GCC-listed companies – with the aim of celebrating Arab business leadership and promoting corporate governance in cooperation with INSEAD Business School.

Through his unique management style, Julien has nurtured and mentored several people in the organization who have now become the pillars of strength and leaders in their own right.

A regular attendee of World Economic Forum Davos Conference, Julien is well versed in the global business and technology trends along with having thought provoking insights on the world around us.

Experienced in building and federating stakeholders to create value is associated with a strong focus on execution and results.

Julien is passionate about digital media, social innovation, Arab youth issues and world developments.

Her Royal Highness Princess Reema bint Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud was appointed Ambassador to the United States on February 23, 2019 by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz. She is the first woman in the country’s history to serve in the role of Ambassador. She presented her credentials to President Donald Trump on July 8, 2019. 

From 1983 to 2005, Princess Reema lived in Washington, DC, while her father Prince Bandar served as Saudi Ambassador to the United States. She attended George Washington University where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Museum Studies. 

Princess Reema returned to Saudi Arabia, where she focused on private sector initiatives and the empowerment of women in the Kingdom. In 2000, She co-founded Yibreen, a women’s gym. From 2007 until 2015, Princess Reema was the Chief Executive Officer of Alfa International Company Limited - Harvey Nichols Riyadh, a multi-brand luxury retail company, where she collaborated with leading female recruitment agency, Glowork, and 

commissioned a study on Obstacles for Women in the Workplace, which set the tone for female inclusion in retail, and resulted in opening the first workplace nursery in a retail store, enabling more women to work while caring for children. In 2013, she founded Alf Khair, a social enterprise aimed at elevating the professional capital of Saudi women through a curriculum developed to enable financial self-sufficiency. 

In 2016, Princess Reema left the private sector to begin a career of public service as Vice President of Women’s Affairs at the Saudi General Sports Authority where she developed policies and programs that benefited women and children throughout Saudi Arabia. After a successful year, she was promoted to Deputy of Development and Planning in January 2018. In October 2018, She was also appointed President of the Mass Participation Federation, making her the first woman to lead a multi-sports federation in the Kingdom, a role that she occupied until her appointment as Saudi Ambassador to the United States. 

Princess Reema is excited to take her leadership role to the world stage as Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to the United States. 

As part of her philanthropic work, Princess Reema became a founding member of the Zahra Breast Cancer Awareness Association in 2007, which set a Guinness World Record by forming the World's Largest Human Awareness Ribbon at the Princess Noura University in Riyadh in 2015. 

Princess Reema has served as a member of the World Bank’s advisory council for the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative since 2017. She has been a member of the Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee since 2017, and a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Women in Sports Commission since 2018. 

In 2014, Fast Company recognized Princess Reema as the Most Creative Person of the year for “Inviting Women into the Workforce.” Foreign Policy Magazine recognized her as a Leading Global Thinker for the same year, placing her high up in the “Moguls” category. 

She was featured on the Forbes lists of the 200 Most Powerful Arab Women and Most Powerful Arab Women in Saudi Arabia lists for 2014. 

Christiane is a senior news anchor at the 24 hours pan Arab news Chanel Alhadath, which is part of the Dubai based al-Arabiya news network specialized in covering the hot areas in the most troubled areas in the Middle east and north Africa

Al-Arabiya launched this news channel in 2014 to cope with the extensive amount of news caused by the consequences of the so-called Arab spring

Christiane is one of the main anchors in the channel since it launched, she gained a massive experience in dealing with the breaking news and continuous news coverage from different angles including social, political, humanitarian, economical, military and geopolitical

As part of her work, Christiane regularly discusses hot topics with different types of guests from journalists and eye-witness to analysts, politicians and decision makers, aiming to explore the different aspects of the story

Prior to joining al-Arabiya, Christiane worked in MTV Lebanon as field reporter, she also contributed in some of the top ranking online news services in the country

Christiane had always a soft spot towards public speaking training, she was the program coordinator in the MCF media institute which organizes workshops, seminars, conferences and trainings for journalists (TV, Radio, Social Media) as well as for politicians (interview, debate, public appearance)

Christiane gets regularly invited to provide on camera media training for spokespersons and US government employees, conducting mock interviews, giving feedbacks and counselling at the end of the training

Christiane is passionate about reading history, philosophy and literature

She holds a master degree in French literature in addition to her bachelor degree in journalism from the Lebanese university

She is fluent in Arabic, French and English

Noor Nugali is the Assistant Editor-in-Chief at Arab News, the Middle East’s leading English-language daily. She has successfully covered foreign policy, the diplomatic community, and has obtained several high-level interviews and exclusives for Arab News.

During the Saudi held presidency of the G20, she moderated  two panels: “G20: To reconnect the world” with HE Saudi minister of state, Adel Al-Aljubair and HE UAE minister of state, Reem Al-Hashimi. As well as, “Nordic Perspective: women’s empowerment.”

Nugali joined Arab News in October 2017. Prior to that, she had worked for three years at the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She has also been a reporter and freelance feature writer for both the Saudi Gazette and The National, a UAE-based English daily. Nugali has also covered, moderated and participated as a panelist at several major events and forums in the Kingdom.

Cecilie Fjellhøy shot to fame after starring in Netflix’s number 1 documentary “Tinder swindler”.

She met conman Simon Leviev on Tinder and the two had a whirlwind romance that resulted her being swindled out of £150,000.

The thirty-three-year-old was originally raised in Asker, Norway but now resides in London working as a UX designer for a software development company.

Fjellhoy has also founded and runs an organisation which supports victims of fraud, called action: reaction.

Pernilla Sjoholm  shot to fame after starring in Netflix’s number 1 documentary “Tinder swindler”.

She is a Swedish public personality.

While searching for love Sjöholm found named Simon Leviev  (real name Shimon Hayut).

Swedish business owner Pernilla had just split from her fiancé when she fell for the fraudster after finding him on the dating app Tinder. She lost at least $45,000.

Sjoholm now lives in Stockholm and has spread awareness on the risks of scammers such as Simon.

Christine Harb serves as the Vice President of Marketing at Visa Inc. and is responsible for building Visa’s brand strategy across Central & Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (CEMEA). In her role, she oversees integrated media and creative campaigns, drives operational efficiencies and fosters Visa’s digital transformation and rollout of innovative products and solutions.

Christine is a highly experienced executive in the marketing and digital industry and brings more than fifteen years of experience to Visa. Before joining the company, she served as Global Luxury Lead and Head of Marketing MENA at Facebook. Earlier, she has held different leadership roles at top-class marketing brands such as Nike and Red Bull. She holds an MBA from IE Business School and a Masters in Marketing from Panthéon-Sorbonne Paris I.

Christine believes in the power of brands to serve people while being a force for good through community impact, diversity and inclusion and environmental sustainability. She is part of a career advisory board and regularly coaches middle management leaders.

Ms. Elham held a Bachelor with honor degree in Business Administration, American University in Cairo with 37 years of banking experience.  Ms. Elham joined Commercial Bank of Kuwait in the year 2000 as Manager, International Banking Division and progressively held top-executive positions holding the position of GM – New York Branch, Acting GM – International Banking, GM – International Banking.

Ms. Elham was assigned to take over the duties and responsibilities as Acting CEO from June 2010 until February 2012. She was promoted to Deputy CEO in April 2012.  Then on 1/11/2013 she was appointed as Acting CEO. She was confirmed as CEO of the Bank from 20^th November 2014.  In her capacity as CEO of the Bank she is in charge of directly supervising and leading the profit centers/ divisions at the Bank in addition to the  support departments such as (Operations, ITD, HRD, etc.). Ms. Elham is responsible for the preparation and development of the policies pertinent to the Bank’s plans and strategies that are in line with the Bank’s objectives and vision. Ms. Elham directs and controls the development of the Bank’s operations in accordance with strategic guidelines, thus contributing to the achievement of the Bank’s mission, strategy, goals and objectives.  Ms. Elham is the Chairperson in various Executive Committees such as the Credit & Investment Committee, ALCO, and Management Committee and participates in the meetings of the Board related committees.

Before joining Commercial Bank of Kuwait, Ms. Elham worked in a number of Kuwaiti financial institutions. She possesses extensive knowledge in all banking & financial areas and banking industry trends in Kuwait on the back of her extensive experience and proven record of accomplishment exceeding 37 years in the banking sector.

With almost a decade of experience working with private and government owned entities in areas of Regulatory
Compliance, Corporate Governance, quality assurance and organizational excellence Samia, has successfully proven
positive impact and lead business transformation

She participated in the ESG Index MENA wide Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) Index in cooperation with
Standard Poor's with the support of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) She has designed and delivered
workshops and awareness sessions to senior decision makers on effective governance in public sector

Her passion for progression have been the driving force behind her achievements and continue to fuel her ambition to help
reinforce the adaption of leading governance and financial ethical standards practices in the region Her prime objective is
to help companies to develop sound and globally recognized corporate governance frameworks and support sustainable
development

In her current role as the CG Advisor and Head of research at Hawkamah the Institute of Corporate Governance, Middle
east She is in charge of leading entities advisory engagements, where she works closely with clients in assessment and
development, advisory and succession planning across multiple industries She has conducted and published research
reports, surveys and white papers on a variety of topics of importance locally and globally - to identify policy issues and
recommend leading practices In parallel with her role at Hawkamah she is a lead auditor with Anti Bribery and Anti
Corruption (ABAC) Center of excellence, she provides audit and expertise services on existing compliance and Anti-bribery
Anti-corruption management systems to assess effectiveness and vulnerabilities, while ensuring compliance with Internal
Standards, FCPA rules, UK Bribery Act laws, Anti-Money Laundering regulations, and all other global, regional and local
regulations

She is a Certified Train the Trainer - Institute of Leadership and Management (UK) and IRCA (The International Register of Certificated Auditors) Lead Auditor ISO 9001:2015 QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM and ISO 37001:2016 ANTI-BRIBERY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS In addition to other accreditations related to Anti Money Laundry (AML) and Counter Financing Crimes

Marketa is a Partner at KPMG Lower Gulf, and leads the People and Change Advisory Practice. She has a wealth of experience in the areas of talent management, HR transformation and organization design. Marketa has delivered numerous projects in the UAE, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the UK. Her sector expertise covers retail, hospitality, energy & utilities and the public sector.

Marketa advises senior executives  on how to rethink business design to achieve and sustain increased performance, ensuring that structures, processes, systems, and capabilities all support key objectives. She works with her clients to understand and develop the unique critical skills and capabilities needed across the workforce to achieve an organization’s long term goals.

Marketa has led several human capital function transformations, resulting in HC becoming recognized as a strategic enabler, delivering sustainable organizational change and enhancing business performance.

Prior to joining KPMG, Marketa worked in consulting roles with RP International in the UAE and PSD Group in London, the UK.

She holds a Master’s degree in International Economic Relations from the University of Economics, Prague, Czech Republic, and she is a PRINCE 2 practitioner. She is also certified in psychometric assessments and business culture transformation.

Jean-Pierre Le Calvez founded Novonda, a consulting and training firm with a conscience, to bring his real-world expertise to organizations and leadership teams.  Recently, he has been working on the African Continent on issues of health, gender, and economic equity.

Jean-Pierre has extensive global management, marketing and communications experience in the business and human development fields.  He has held several senior key marketing positions for major global companies, start-up ventures and large not for profit organizations.  Until June 2019, he held the position of Global Head for Customer Marketing, Alliances and Partnerships for Hewlett Packard, working with partners to drive preference and demand for HP’s products and solutions.

Before this, as Vice President of Marketing for HP’s Printing and Personal Systems Group in Europe, Middle-East and Africa, ($19B) he was responsible for the total marketing investment envelope across all products and business lines, delivering fully integrated and end-to-end customer focused strategic marketing programs.

Prior to coming to HP, he was Global Head of Advocacy and Communications at Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, where he was instrumental in launching the International Finance Facility for Immunisation as well as the Advance Market Commitment for pneumonia vaccines. Before that, his previous positions included: Chief Marketing Officer for Philips' Adelante Technologies and Senior Director, WW strategic marketing and analysis at Palm.

At Apple, Jean-Pierre was responsible for marketing communications, entertainment and PR relations as well as government affairs for the entire EMEA region.

Jean-Pierre is on the Board of Directors of Flare, a London based blockchain company and has been an early investor in a number of technology companies. He is also on the Advisory Board of the UK’s Black Business Institute. He has led - and participated in - many trainings and spoken at numerous conferences on issues of management, unconscious bias, gender equity, sustainability, marketing and communications as well as innovative financing for development.

 Huda Al Lawati’s career has spanned 18 years in private equity and investments across emerging markets. 

Huda is the Founder and CEO of Aliph Capital, a GCC focused investment manager enabling traditional businesses bridge the technology gap through active ownership and digital transformation. Prior to founding Aliph, Huda was a Partner at Gateway Partners Group where she was a member of the Investment Committee and led deal origination, execution and portfolio management in the Middle East and Africa regions. Prior to Gateway Miss Al Lawati was Chief Investment Officer for Savola Group, one of the largest publicly-listed strategic investment holding groups for food & retail businesses in the Middle East and North Africa region. At Savola, where she was responsible for business and investment strategy, portfolio management, M&A and investor relations. She built a professional investment team; led restructuring efforts for ailing subsidiaries; initiated digitization programs; instituted capital allocation, portfolio management, investor relations and M&A processes; and completed M&A and disposal transactions of US$ 500m. Prior to Savola, Huda was a Partner and Chief Investment Officer for MENA at the Abraaj Group, where she deployed over $1 billion in equity capital into MBOs, LBOs, venture capital, growth capital and structured equity transactions and arranged over US$1.5 billion in acquisition and related financing across a broad range of sectors. 

She is currently a board member at Tim Hortons Middle East (Africa) as well as an Independent member on the board and risk committee of Hala (ADGM and CMA regulated fintech company), the investment committee of Al Ula Development Company (a subsidiary of PIF) and advisory boards of two family offices in Saudi and UAE. She has served on the boards of Panda Retail Company, Herfy (Tadawul), AlKabeer, Savola Foods Company, SMG, The Entertainer and Kudu. She has served on several audit and renumeration committees. 

As a keen contributor to the community, she is also a member of the board of directors the Young Arab Leaders and has been a member of the board of directors of the Middle East Investor Relations Association. She is member of the Young Presidents Organization and a member of the advisory board of Global Ventures. 

Miss Al Lawati holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Neuroscience and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Economics (Honors) from Brown University. 

May Nasrallah is the Founder and Executive Chairman of deNovo Corporate Advisors, an Independent, Middle-East focused, corporate finance advisory firm, offering international bulge bracket expertise to MENA-wide and centric corporates and institutions.

deNovo Corporate Advisors under May’s leadership has over the past 10 years established its reputation and track record as the pre-eminent independent, regionally headquartered boutique advisory firm. deNovo has successfully executed numerous sellsides, buysides, stake sales, restructurings, valuations, fundings, capital structure and strategic reviews on behalf of its continuously growing client base. May and deNovo’s advice is consistently sought by the region’s leading family groups, corporates and sovereign wealth funds as well as global firms seeking regional acquisitions. deNovo entered a Strategic Alliance to enhance global coverage with PJT Partners in 2020, and with Bank Itau in 2019.

May has also served as a non-Executive Chairman and Senior Advisor to BlackRock across the Middle East region, between 2020 and 2022, supporting development of BlackRock’s strategy in the region and fostering relationships with key regional stakeholders, including clients, regulators and governmental bodies.

Prior to founding deNovo, May spent over 15 years at Morgan Stanley in numerous Investment Banking roles and geographies including New York, Hong Kong, London and Dubai. Most recently, she was Head of Investment Banking for the Middle East and North Africa region, where she established, led and grew Morgan Stanley's inaugural investment banking presence in the Middle East, based in the DIFC, Dubai. She retired from the firm in late 2009.

May graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with Dual Degrees: a Bachelor of Science in Economics and a Bachelor of Science in Political Science. May further received her Masters in Management and Finance from MIT's Sloan School of Management.

May currently holds the following Non-Executive positions: Board Member of the Dubai International Chamber of Commerce, Member of the International Advisory Council for PJT Partners, Independent Board Member for The Kanoo Group Holding Company, Chair of the Board of Directors of the Lebanese Professional Diaspora Organization “LIFE”, Member of the International Advisory Council of the Middle East Institute (MEI) and Member of MIT MENA Senior Advisory Board.

Notable Highlights:

▪ Ranked one of 50 most Influential Women in the Middle East in 2019 by Financial News

▪ Named Businesswoman of the Year for the UAE in 2015 at the Arab Woman Awards Ceremony

▪ Ranked in top 500 Most Influential Arabs in Arabian Business magazine in 2013 and 2012; Ranked in top 100 most influential Arab Women

▪ Featured in the Financial Times’ List of The Leading Business Women in the Arab World

▪ Featured in the Women and Leadership Publication Case Study in the National Newspaper’s Celebration of the 100th International Women’s Day

Khalid Abdulla Janahi is currently the Group Chief Executive Officer of Dar Al-Maal Al-Islami Trust (DMI Trust) with over 35 years of experience in banking and financial services. He is also the Chairman of Solidarity Group Holding, Naseej Co., Faisal Private Bureau (Switzerland) SA, the Islamic Investment Company of the Gulf (Bahamas) Ltd, and Ithmaar Development Company. Mr Janahi is a board member of Faisal Islamic bank of Egypt and Ithmaar Bank. Mr Janahi was previously a Partner of PwC, Vice-Chairman of the Arab Business Council, World Economic Forum and a member of the Bahrain Economic Development Board and has served on a number of other boards including the Centre for International Business and Management, University of Cambridge. Mr Janahi holds a BSc in Computer Science & Accountancy from the University of Manchester and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants (UK).

Matthew Miller is a Senior Managing Director at Teneo, the CEO Advisory firm, based between the Dubai and Riyadh offices, where he leads the government communications practice and advises senior leaders of public institutions and family offices on reputation risk and positioning.

To date, Matthew’s career has moved through mature and emerging markets, working in professional services firms in the U.S., Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He has developed an expertise in global cross-border partnerships, deals and networks. His specialties include strategy, public policy, communications, branding and leadership development.

Previously, Matthew was Managing Director at RA&A (part of WPP plc), a strategic communications firm specializing in nation branding and the organization of multi-stakeholder conferences and events for governments and foundations.

Earlier in his career, Matthew was a Global Leadership Fellow at the World Economic Forum, based in Geneva and New York, and a management consultant with Oliver Wyman and the Trium Group. Matt has served as a Next Generation Trustee of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and was selected as a “99 under 33 top foreign policy leader”.  He is a active global member of the Young President’s Organization (YPO-Mosaic) and holds degrees from Brown University, the Yale School of Management and the London School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS).

Faisal J. Abbas is the Editor-in-Chief of the Riyadh-based leading Middle East English language daily, Arab News. 

Under his leadership, Arab News (established 1975) relaunched with a more global, more digital direction. It has expanded its international presence through a large network of correspondents and a number of regional bureaus across the world. 

Prior to joining the newspaper in 2016, Abbas has been the Editor-in-Chief of the Dubai-based English language service of Al Arabiya News Channel. 

Abbas is a renowned columnist on Arab-international affairs and has also conducted interviews with a number of world leaders. He appears regularly on international media to comment on regional affairs. 

Abbas has previously written for The Huffington Post and worked with both Asharq Al Awsat and Al Hayat pan-Arab dailies, Future Television of Lebanon and the International Resource Journal in London. 

He has been the recipient of many media awards, including the Next Century Foundation’s Cutting-Edge Award (2009) for efforts in bridging the communication gap between the West and the Arab World and British Council’s UK alumni “Social Impact” award in Saudi Arabia (2017). 

He holds a master’s degree from the University of Westminster and a bachelor degree from the Lebanese American University. He is also a graduate of the Executive Education Program of the Harvard Kennedy School, where he studied Global Leadership and Public Policy. 

Abbas is a member of the editorial board of Al Arabiya News Channel, an associate fellow of the Cambridge Union Society and a member of the British Society of Authors. 

In 2017, he published his first Arabic book called ‘Arabi/Englizi’ which describes London through Arab eyes. 

Khalid Abdulla Janahi is currently the Group Chief Executive Officer of Dar Al-Maal Al-Islami Trust (DMI Trust) with over 35 years of experience in banking and financial services. He is also the Chairman of Solidarity Group Holding, Naseej Co., Faisal Private Bureau (Switzerland) SA, the Islamic Investment Company of the Gulf (Bahamas) Ltd, and Ithmaar Development Company. Mr Janahi is a board member of Faisal Islamic bank of Egypt and Ithmaar Bank. Mr Janahi was previously a Partner of PwC, Vice-Chairman of the Arab Business Council, World Economic Forum and a member of the Bahrain Economic Development Board and has served on a number of other boards including the Centre for International Business and Management, University of Cambridge. Mr Janahi holds a BSc in Computer Science & Accountancy from the University of Manchester and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants (UK).

Hussein Freijeh is the General Manager of Snap Inc. for the Middle East and North Africa region. In his current role, Hussein is in charge of developing and implementing effective strategies to drive Snap Inc's business activities and plans in MENA. Previously, he was the Managing Director of Yahoo Middle East, Africa and Turkey, where he helped advance the company’s strategic objectives. Prior to that, Hussein played an instrumental role in establishing Maktoob as one of the largest companies in the Middle East, before it was acquired by Yahoo in 2009. Hussein holds a BSc in Computer Science from the Lebanese American University.

Thomas Hughes is the Executive Director of Meta’s Oversight Board. He was previously the Executive Director of ARTICLE 19, an international human rights organisation that defends and promotes freedom of expression and information worldwide. Before that, Hughes was the Executive Director and founder of Diversity, an international advertising network for online news media in human rights-restricted countries and a co-founder of VirtualRoad.org, a secure hosting service that protects the websites of news media and civil society organisations. Prior to this, he has worked as the Deputy Director of the media development organisation International Media Support (IMS), and has also had roles with the European Commission, United Nations and Organization for Security Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). Hughes has been an advisor on human rights to previous UK Foreign Secretaries and is a governor at the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD).