Ambassador Julián Ventura, a career diplomat on leave from the Mexican Foreign Service, is a Senior Advisor at Albright Stonebridge Group, part of Dentons Global Advisors. He has held senior diplomatic positions in four administrations, most recently as Deputy Foreign Secretary, where he oversaw key relationships in Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, and served as Mexico’s G20 Sherpa. Previously, he served as Ambassador to China and the United Kingdom and Deputy Ambassador in the Embassy to the United States.  As Under Secretary for North America,  he played a central role managing the economic, trade, border, and immigration agendas with the United States and Canada. As Director-General for Asia-Pacific Affairs, he was a Senior Official in the Mexico-Japan FTA negotiations, the Mexico-South Korea 21st Century Commission, and five APEC Summits. Earlier in his career, he served as the Foreign Secretary´s Chief of Staff and in Mexico´s missions to Cuba, the United Nations, and the Organization of American States. He is a frequent media analyst on international affairs and Mexican foreign policy and a participant in global policy forums, including the Doha Forum, the Munich Security Conference, the Chatham House London Conference, the Halifax Security Forum, and the Raisina Dialogue.

Rafat Ali Al-Akhali is a development practitioner dedicated to addressing the challenges of development in fragile and conflict-affected situations. As a co-founder of DeepRoot Consulting, Rafat has been closely engaged in advising key stakeholders on political, economic, and development priorities in Yemen and has led and advised multiple development initiatives at the local and national level in Yemen. Rafat is a Fellow of Practice at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford where he was previously the Convenor of the Council on State Fragility, and managed the LSE-Oxford Commission on State Fragility, Growth and Development as well as the secretariat of Pathways for Prosperity Commission on Technology and Inclusive Development. Rafat previously served as a Minister in the Government of Yemen, and prior to that led the government’s policy reforms team. He holds a master's degree in public policy (MPP) from the University of Oxford, and a master’s degree in business administration (MBA) from Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales (HEC), Montréal, Canada. 

Dr. Sanam Vakil was appointed director of the Middle East and North Africa programme in 2023. She was previously the programme’s deputy director and senior research fellow, and led project work on Iran and Gulf Arab dynamics.She is also the James Anderson professorial lecturer in the Middle East Studies department at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS Europe) in Bologna, Italy.

Thomas Juneau is associate professor at the University of Ottawa's Graduate School of Public and International Affairs. His research focuses on the Middle East, especially Iran and Yemen, on the role of intelligence in national security and foreign policy making, and on Canadian foreign and defence policy. He is a non-resident fellow with the Sanaa Center for Strategic Studies. From 2003 until 2014, he worked with Canada’s Department of National Defence, mostly as a policy analyst covering the Middle East. He tweets @thomasjuneau.  

Dr. Nilab Mobarez, a surgeon and public administrator by profession, is the former Chairperson, and Secretary General of the Afghan Red Crescent Society (ARCS). She is currently serving the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent (IFRC). Dr. Mobarez directed the ARCS during difficult times of war, COVID-19 Pandemics and political instability. She was, also founder/CEO of INGO’s for medical Institution Building. Dr. Mobarez earned her MD from Kabul Medical University (1984), and her MPA focused on conflict studies and leadership of international and nonprofit organizations, from Syracuse University (2016). 

Bader Mousa Al-Saif is an assistant professor of modern and contemporary Middle East history at Kuwait University, a public policy consultant, and a non-resident fellow at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington. He focuses on the Gulf and Arabian Peninsula, namely its political history, international relations, religious affairs, reform dynamics, transnational trends, culture, and gender relations. Al-Saif has over two decades of experience researching and working in the Arab Gulf states, most notably as a deputy chief of staff to a former prime minister of Kuwait and senior vice president of the oil and gas sector at Agility. He is the recipient of various awards and a co-founder of several NGOs in the fields of education, youth empowerment, and transitional justice. Al-Saif has published numerous peer-reviewed articles and book chapters; he contributes policy analyses to multiple outlets; and is frequently quoted and interviewed by renowned media platforms and publications around the world. He holds a Ph.D. with distinction from Georgetown University; a Master of Education and a Master of Theology, both with honors from Harvard University; and a Master of Law with honors from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. He graduated summa cum laude from Boston College with a double major in political science and history. Al-Saif is on X (formerly Twitter) @bmalsaif 

Dan Murphy is a CNBC’s anchor and correspondent based in the United Arab Emirates, reporting on business, markets, economics and geopolitics from across the Middle East region.Dan is a sought after panel moderator and has hosted more than 80 panels in recent years across a range of topics - including finance and markets, banking, energy and climate, technology, policy, geopolitics, diversity and inclusion, and women in leadership in the Arab world.As the anchor of CNBC’s “Capital Connection” - Dan has presented live programs during major events impacting the Middle East, and has deep experience in interviewing senior business figures and government leaders from around the region.Dan’s panel session with His Royal Highness Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman of Saudi Arabia and His Excellency Suhail al Mazrouei of the United Arab Emirates at the World Utilities Congress in Abu Dhabi had a significant impact in the global oil press and market pricing.At the recent Dubai Fintech Summit, Dan’s opening fireside conversation with Franklin Templeton President and CEO, Jenny Johnson, was conducted in the presence of His Highness Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Deputy Ruler of Dubai.

Maryam Nemazee is a television news anchor, correspondent, broadcaster and journalist. 

In a career spanning more than twenty-five years at the United Nations, Michèle Griffin has served as a senior policy advisor and director of policy planning to successive UN Secretaries-General. She currently directs the Summit of the Future/Common Agenda Team in the office of Secretary-General António Guterres. She has played a role in several major summits and reform efforts and previously set up and ran the UN Mediation Support Unit, aiding peace processes around the world. Griffin has been an adjunct professor at Columbia University and a fellow at the University of Pennsylvania and Stanford University. She is an alumna of Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, and the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Nobuo Tanaka is Chairman of the steering committee of the Innovation for Cool Earth Forum (ICEF), which was established by former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2014. He was Chairman and President of the Sasakawa Peace Foundation for 2015-2020.  As Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA) from 2007 to 2011, he initiated a collective release of oil stocks in June 2011. He also played a crucial and personal role in the strengthening of ties with major non-Member energy players, including China and India.He began his career in 1973 in the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), and has served in a number of high-ranking positions, including Director-General of the Multilateral Trade System Department. He was deeply engaged in bilateral trade issues with the US as Minister for Industry, Trade and Energy at the Embassy of Japan, Washington DC. He has also served twice as Director for Science, Technology and Industry (DSTI) of the Paris-based international organization, OECD. As CEO of Tanaka Global Inc, he advises several Japanese and International companies.He graduated from University of Tokyo and have MBA from Case Western Reserve University.

Maja Groff, Esq., is an international lawyer based in The Hague, and is Convenor of the Climate Governance Commission, which seeks to propose high impact global governance innovations adequate to meet the climate challenge. She serves as a Co-Chair of the Coordinating Committee for the International Anti-Corruption Court (IACC), Senior Treaty Advisor at Integrity Initiatives International, as well as on The Canadian Task Force Against Global Corruption. As a Principal Legal Officer, she has assisted with the development and servicing of multilateral treaties for more than a decade, also working at various international criminal tribunals (ICTY, STL), teaching at the Hague Academy of International Law and was a Visiting Professor at Leiden University, Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs (2020-2022). She has worked on a wide range of existing and potential global treaties addressing contemporary human rights issues and cross-border legal cooperation, conducting extensive liaison work with international organisations, professional associations, NGOs and convening international legal expert groups to develop new international legal norms. She holds degrees from McGill (civil law and common law), Oxford and Harvard Universities, and is an attorney admitted to practice in the state of New York, formerly working in corporate law. She has served on the Governing/Advisory Boards of BCorp Europe and ebbf, organisations devoted to ethical business, and is a NOW Partner. She was a winner of the 2018 New Shape Prize, and is a co-author of the 2020 book, Global Governance and the Emergence of Global Institutions for the 21st Century.  

After receiving an M.A. (Oriental History) from Keio University, Mr. HOSAKA Shuji became Special Assistant of the Japanese Embassies in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Since then, he has held various posts in the field of the Middle Eastern studies, including Professor of Kindai University, Osaka. He is currently Board Member of the Institute of Energy Economics, Japan (IEEJ) and Director of JIME Center, Adjunct Professor of Waseda University. He is currently President of Japan Association for Middle East Studies (JAMES). Among his publications are Jihadism (2017), Cyber-Islam (2014), Osama Bin Laden: His Life and Jihad (2011), and Saudi Arabia: Oil Kingdom in Transition (2006).

Hafed Al-Ghwell is a senior fellow and executive director of the North Africa Initiative at the SAIS Foreign Policy Institute. Prior to his current role at the Foreign Policy Institute, Hafed Al-Ghwell has had a long, notable career serving in multiple distinct roles as a consultant, advisor, fellow and scholar in world-renowned think tanks, policy institutes and advisory bodies. At the Atlantic Council, Oxford Analytica, Maxwell Stamp Inc. and Foreign Reports, to list a few, Hafed Al-Ghwell specialized in the political economies of the Middle East and North Africa countries, government affairs, international relations, geopolitics and geostrategic risks.

Rima Khalaf-Hunaidi has served in several leadership positions in Jordan and the United Nations, most recently as the Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA). Khalaf resigned from her post in 2017 when she refused to withdraw an ESCWA-commissioned report titled: Israeli Practices towards the Palestinian People and the Question of Apartheid. The report concluded that Israel has established an apartheid regime that oppresses and dominates the Palestinian people as a whole, whether they live in the Palestinian territory occupied in 1967, in Israel itself, or in the diaspora. Previously, Khalaf served as director of the Regional Bureau for Arab States with the UN Development Program, initiating projects to promote good governance, human rights, and human development in Arab countries. She was the principal architect behind the pioneering Arab Human Development Report series and has received numerous international prizes, including the Prince Claus Award and the King Hussein Leadership Prize. Before joining the UN Development Program, Khalaf served in senior government posts in Jordan, including deputy prime minister, minister of industry and trade, and minister of planning. She also served as a Senator in the Upper House of the Jordanian Parliament. 

Dr. Amr Awadallah is the CEO and cofounder of Vectara, a company that is enabling organizations to leverage GenAI in business applications by reducing risks from hallucinations, bias, copyright infringement, and model weight pollution.  Amr previously served as VP of Developer Relations for Google Cloud. Prior to joining Google in Nov 2019, Amr co-founded Cloudera in 2008 and as Global CTO, he spent 11 years working closely with enterprises around the world on how to ingest and extract value from big data (he famously coined the concept of “schema-on-read vs schema-on-write”). Cloudera went public in 2017 on the NYSE, and was acquired by KKR + CD&R in 2021 for $5.3b. He also served as vice president of product intelligence engineering at Yahoo! from 2000-2008. Amr joined Yahoo after they acquired his first startup, Aptivia, in mid-2000 which was a search engine for online product information. Amr received his PhD in EE from Stanford University, and his Bachelor and Master Degrees from Cairo University, Egypt.Amr is one of 10 luminary scientists and technologists that were granted honorary citizenship to Saudi Arabia in 2021.

Dr. Al-Kuwari is a Vice-Chairman of the National Human Rights Committee. In 2021, Dr. Mohamed was selected as a member of the advisory group concerned with preparing the third national development strategy 2023-2030. Dr. Al-Kuwari was appointed a member of the Advisory Board of Global Carbon Council (GCC) and Member of the Advisory Committee of the alliance of Civil Society Organizations to Support the Green Middle East Initiative. Dr. Al-Kuwari was selected as one of 30 human rights defenders (HRDs) from the Office of United Nations of the High Commissioner of Human Rights, Regional Office for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) on the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), "A Defender for a Right". In 2023, Dr. Al-Kuwari was selected as a member of the Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions (APF) Human Rights Defenders (HRDs) Working Group. . In 2023, the International Federation for Social Responsibility was appointed Dr. Mohamed as one of the 100 champions of sustainability in the Arab world and North Africa.Dr. Al-Kuwari has authored 23 books on various technical and scientific issues, especially human rights, sustainable development and environmental issues.

Dr. Kim Moloney is an Assistant Professor at the College of Public Policy at Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Doha Qatar. Her research focuses on transnational administration, small states, and social equity / social cohesion. Her latest book, Who Matters at the World Bank, was published by Oxford University Press in 2022. 

Since October 2013, Dr. Fabian Zuleeg has been Chief Executive of the European Policy Centre, with overall responsibility, including providing strategic direction, managing its staff and resources and representing the EPC. He remains Chief Economist at the same time (a post he has held since January 2010). Fabian holds a PhD on the political economy of EU accession from Edinburgh University. Before coming to the EPC, he worked as an economic analyst in academia, the public and the private sector.His analysis focuses on the political economy of the future of European integration in the context of political dis-cohesion within the EU and a contested, challenging global landscape. His current work is concentrated on determining how EUrope can meet the triple challenge of the watershed of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the fundamental transformations EUrope has to go through (technological revolution, climate change mitigation and demographic change), and the Permacrisis, a term he coined with EPC colleagues in 2021. Fabian also focuses on transnational cooperation between European Think Tanks, with the aim of increasing the capacity, ethics and sustainability of the sector. He is currently a Member of the Executive Board of Transparency International EU, Honorary Fellow at the Europa Institute of the University of Edinburgh and Honorary Professor at Heriot-Watt University. He also chairs the International Philanthropy Committee for the King Baudouin Foundation.Fabian works closely with decision-makers in the European institutions, the EPC members and partners, European think tanks and the wider Brussels and member state stakeholder community. Fabian regularly comments on current political and economic issues in the EU in the media. He also chairs and contributes to a wide range of debates, conferences and seminars and has researched and published widely on the future of European integration, global challenges, Brexit and on European economic and social policies.

Omar H. Rahman is a Fellow at the Middle East Council on Global Affairs, and a Nonresident Fellow at the Baker Institute for Public Policy. Mr. Rahman is also the Editor of Afkār, the Middle East Council's publication on current Affairs in the Middle East and North Africa. Previously, Mr. Rahman was a Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution's Doha Center and a Research Associate at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington. Before working as a policy analyst, Mr. Rahman was a journalist and holds a Master's degree from the Columbia University School of Journalism. His writing has been published in The Washington Post, Foreign Policy magazine, The Guardian, The National Interest, and Al-Jazeera English, among many other outlets.

Cristina Petcu is the Deputy Director of the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) in New York, working on expanding the use of IEP’s Positive Peace Framework as a training tool and an evidence-based metric for peace-centered development. Before joining IEP, Cristina worked with the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) as a Civil Affairs Officer, leading the Mission's work on strengthening civil society's capacities to participate in the implementation of the 2015 Peace Agreement and Mali's return to constitutional order. Prior to her deployment in Mali, Cristina was a Research Analyst with the Global Governance, Justice & Security Program at the Stimson Center, where she published widely on topics related to UN reform. As a member of the Steering Committee of the Coalition for the UN We Need, Cristina also significantly contributed to mobilizing global civil society action on an ambitious program for the renewal and innovation of the UN system and other global institutions. She a native of Romania and holds a MA in International Affairs from The New School and a BA in Philosophy and European Studies from the University of Bucharest.

Dr. Elif Selin Calik is the author of “The Renaissance of Smart Energy"" and the CEO of Women in Smart Energy UK (WSE-UK) with herESG and Sustainable Financial Strategy Education at University of Oxford. She provides ESG consultancy services to SMEs, banks, and other institutions specializing in energy politics, renewable energy, and climate change resilience. Dr. Calik has been a U.N. Climate Change Observer since 2015. During COP 27, she moderated the session “Road to Net Zero with Women’s Resilience and Smart Energy.” She has also worked with various governments in relation to the Mediterranean Maritime Dispute and Sustainable Investments. Dr. Calik is an executive member of the International Rotary Club, Environmental Sustainability Action Group, and in 2022, she gave an annual speech on “Women Empowerment on Smart Energy” at British National Liberal Club. Dr. Calik is an international TV analyst and has been interviewed by BBC, CGTN, TRT WORLD, AL JAZEERA and BLOOMBERG on the global energy transition.

Zaheer Laher is the Chief Director: United Nations Political, Peace and Security at the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) of South Africa. He has served in the Foreign Service for over twenty six years in which he has mainly worked in the area of multilateral diplomacy.  This includes serving for over eight years at the Permanent Mission of South Africa to the United Nations in New York where he also coordinated South Africa’s participation at the  Security Council. His current responsibilities include working on South Africa’s engagements on global peace and security issues including multilateral peace and security, transnational organised crime, disarmament and non-proliferation. His academic qualifications consist of a BA LLB LLM (WITS) and a Certificate in Conflict and Dispute Resolution (NYU).  He is an admitted Attorney of the High Court of South Africa.

Deemah AlYahya is a Saudi digital economy expert and a tech diplomat who serves as the Secretary-General of the Digital Cooperation Organization (DCO).AlYahya is the founding Secretary-General of the DCO since her election in April 2021. The DCO is the world’s first standalone intergovernmental global organization focusing on accelerating digital transformation and advancing digital economy, while empowering women and youth. As the Secretary-General, AlYahya is an advisor, connecting heads of state, government ministers and private sector digital economy leaders together. She facilitates multilateral, multistakeholder digital cooperation to bridge the gap, bringing all digital economy key stakeholders to co-create and co-design high-impact initiatives leading to a world where every country, business, and person has a fair opportunity to prosper in an inclusive and sustainable digital economy. As a lifelong tech enthusiast with a passion for empowering women in the ICT sector, AlYahya founded Women Spark, a non-profit organization to enable developers, tech founders, and investors with the tools they need to grow, through training and mentorship. AlYahya additionally serves on several boards, including Riyad Capital, SAIP – Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property, SCAI – Saudi Company for Artificial Intelligency, and SAFSCP - The Saudi Federation for Cyber Security and Programming.In 2018, AlYahya was recognized with the “Digital CEO of the Year” award by Entrepreneur Middle East magazine.

Natalie Marko Nietsch is the Global Head of Social Sustainability at Standard Chartered Bank. In this capacity, Natalie is responsible for working across the bank to maximize the bank's social impact across the emerging markets. Working with clients across the bank's corporate, retail and wealth segments, she identifies new opportunities for socially focused financing and helps to mobilize diverse sources of capital in support of social outcomes. Natalie also co-leads the bank's Adaptation Finance hub, with a focus on building resilience across communities in the bank's footprint.Natalie has been working in the global financial markets for over twenty years and has extensive experience in client coverage, structuring, and strategy.  Natalie is particularly focused on financial inclusion & gender equality. She is on the Steering Committee for the Women's Financial Inclusion Data Partnership and is also a member of the Milken Institute’s Young Leaders Circle. Natalie is currently based in Singapore.

Dr. Ghulam Omar Qargha is a fellow in the Center for Universal Education at Brookings and an education, research, and program evaluation expert with 20 years of overseas experience designing, managing, implementing, and evaluating international education programs. Qargha’s expertise is in policy analysis, program design, education transfer, and research on teacher education, curriculum development, educational delivery, and monitoring and evaluation in the developing world, with a particular focus on fragile, conflict-affected, and emergency contexts. Qargha holds a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry from the University of North Florida, a Master of Education degree in curriculum and instruction from George Mason University, a Master of Arts degree in international comparative education from Stanford University, and a doctoral degree in international education policy from the University of Maryland, College Park.

Serves as General Director of Customs Services and International Affairs at the National Customs Agency of Mexico (ANAM). She previously served as Advisor at the Coordination Office to the Secretary of Finance from the Mexican Federal Government. For more than 16 years she leaded the Mexican Association of Private Industrial Parks (AMPIP), representing the largest real estate developers in Mexico. In 2020 she was part 100 most powerful women in business, by Expansion magazine in Mexico. She has also been Secretary of Economic Development in the Hidalgo government, and Deputy Trade Commissioner of Mexico in Stockholm, Sweden, and in Toronto, Canada, participating in the promotion of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), today USMCA.She is a columnist and lecturer on topics related to economic development, foreign direct investment, nearshoring, and security programs for global supply chains. She has a degree in International Relations at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM); an MBA from the Rotman School of Business at the University of Toronto, and a PhD in Strategic Management from the Anahuac University in Mexico City. She speaks 4 languages.

Csaba Kőrösi previously held the positions of; - Deputy State Secretary in charge of security policy, multilateral diplomacy and human rights- Vice-President of the UN General Assembly (2011-12)- Co-chair of the UN Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals- Vice-Chair of Bureau of HABITAT III (2014)- Director (state secretary) for Environmental Sustainability, Office of the President of the Republic of Hungary (2015-2022)- Sherpa to the President of Hungary, at the High Level Panel on Water co-convened by the UN Secretary General and the President of the World Bank Group - Sherpa to the President of Hungary at the Water and Climate Leaders panel, - 77th President of the UN General AssemblyOther engagements have included;-        Member of the UN Council of Presidents of the General Assembly -        Member of the Nizami Ganjavi International Center-        Distinguished Fellow, Ogata Sadako Research Institute for Peace and Development of the Japan International Cooperation Agency -        Fellow, International Research Center of Big Data for Sustainable Development Goals, Beijing, China -        Member of the Board of Patrons, World Sustainability Forum, USA-        Member of the National Council on Sustainable Development at the Hungarian National Assembly-        Member of the Jury, Elisabeth Haub Award for Environmental Law and Diplomacy, USA-        Member of the Presidential Committee on Sustainable Development at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences-        Founding member of the Hungarian Scientific Panel on Climate Change-        Honorary member of the Hungarian Chamber of Engineers, Department of Hydrological Engineering

Dr. Cinzia Bianco is a visiting fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, where she works on political, security and economic developments in the Arabian Peninsula and Gulf region and relations with Europe. She also wrote extensively about Europe-Gulf relations in the domains of energy and climate security.  Previously, she was a senior analyst at Gulf State Analytics, where she has done consultancy and advisory work for European and US stakeholders since 2015, and a Non-Resident Scholar at the Middle East Institute in Washington, DC. Between 2013 and 2014, Dr. Bianco was a research fellow for the European Commission’s project on EU-GCC relations ‘Sharaka’.  She holds an MA degree in Middle East and Mediterranean Studies from King’s College London and a PhD in Middle East Politics from the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom, where she worked on threat perceptions in the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) after the 2011 Arab uprisings. She is the co-author with Prof. Matteo Legrenzi of “Le monarchie arabe del Golfo: Nuovo centro di gravità in Medio Oriente” (Il Mulino, 2023) and the sole author of “The Gulf monarchies after the Arab Spring: Threats and Security” (Manchester University Press, forthcoming)

Brian Finlay is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Stimson Center. Brian previously served as Vice President, Managing Director, and Senior Fellow at Stimson. Prior to joining the Center, he served as executive director of a Washington-based lobbying initiative focused on counterterrorism issues, as a researcher at the Brookings Institution, and as a program officer at the Century Foundation. Prior to emigrating to the United States from his native Canada, Brian served with the Public Health Agency and the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.

Sachin Dev Duggal is a founder and entrepreneur, whose AI-powered platform, Builder.ai, grew 200% last year; and raised over $450M since 2018 to help make building software as easy as ordering pizza!Sachin started his career at the age of 14, building PCs, and by 17, he built one of the  world’s first automatic currency arbitrage trading systems for Deutsche Bank. He started a cloud computing company, Nivio, when he was 21 and still at university (Imperial College), taking it to just under $100m in valuation before exiting (and he still holds a trademark for the word cloud in India!).Sachin was the World Economic Forum Tech Pioneer in 2009, Entrepreneur.com’s Serial Entrepreneur of the Year and a 2x finalist in the EY Entrepreneur of the Year. He also founded the ‘Geek’s Dinner’, a diverse community of personalities from tech to film, who came together to discuss the most pressing issues challenging humanity.

Lord John Thomas practiced at the Commercial Bar in London from 1972. He was appointed to the High Court of England and Wales in 1996. He was a Presiding Judge of the Wales and Chester Circuit 1998 - 2001 and Judge in Charge of the Commercial Court 2002-3. In 2003, he was appointed to the Court of Appeal and was Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales (2013-2017). He is President of the Qatar International Court and an arbitrator and takes part in the business of the House of Lords.  He is Chair of the Steering Committee of the Standing International Forum of Commercial Courts, Chair of the London Financial Markets Law Committee, President of the London Shipping Law Centre, Chancellor of Aberystwyth University and a Fellow of several Universities. He was a Founder of the European Law Institute in 2011, its First Vice-President 2109-2023 and President of the European Network of the Councils of the Judiciary 2008-2010.

Dominic Grieve is a barrister and King's Counsel. He was a member of the Parliament of the UK from 1997-2019. from 2010-14 he was Attorney General of England and Wales and Advocate General for Northern Ireland in the UK Government. He is a trustee of the Ditchley Foundation and of the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies.

Adnan Tabatabai is co-founder and CEO of the Germany-based Middle East think tank CARPO – Center for Applied Research in Partnership with the Orient. As an Iran analyst he is consulted by European policymakers and businesses on Iran-related affairs. Through his work at CARPO, Tabatabai has designed and facilitated track 2 and civil-society dialogue formats between Iran and Saudi Arabia since 2015. He is furthermore involved in a variety of projects at CARPO on regional security in the Persian Gulf region. Tabatabai is author of the book “Morgen in Iran” (Oct. 2016, Edition Körber-Stiftung). He is regularly featured in international media with commentary and analysis on developments in Iran and the Middle East.

Sebastian Son Ph. D works as a senior researcher for the Center for Applied Research in Partnership with the Orient (CARPO). Prior to that, he served as an advisor for the Regional Programme “Cooperation with Arab Donors” (CAD) of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. He holds a Ph.D. from the Humboldt University Berlin. His thesis deals with media discourses on labor migration from Pakistan to Saudi Arabia. He studied Middle Eastern Studies, Contemporary History and Political Sciences in Berlin and Damascus. He was further trained as journalist in print, TV and radio media at the Berlin School for Journalists (Berliner Journalisten-Schule). After finishing his studies, he worked as Head of Research and Editor-in-Chief of the academic magazine Orient at the German Orient-Institute from 2009-2014 and as a project researcher at the Program Near East and North Africa at the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) in Berlin. As a political analyst, he is consulted by German and international political institutions as well as by international journalists to provide expertise on the Gulf monarchies. He provides his expertise to institutions such as the European Union, ministries from different European countries, SIPRI, International Crisis Group, the Middle East Institute among others. His fields of interest include EU-GCC relations, development cooperation policies and foreign assistance policy of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, GCC’s migration policies, sport diplomacy and sports for development concepts in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, South-Asian migration to the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council, and political and economic engagement of the Gulf monarchies in Africa.

Professor David Monyae is an Associate Professor of Political Science & International Relations under the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Johannesburg. In addition, he is the Director of the Centre for Africa-China Studies. Professor Monyae is an international relations and foreign policy expert, he holds a PhD in International Relations from the University of Witwatersrand. He previously served as Section Manager: International Relations Policy Analysis at the South African Parliament, providing strategic management, parliamentary foreign policy formulation, and monitoring and analysis services.

Dr. Balgis Osman Elasha is a forester by training with PhD in Forestry and Master’s in Environmental Science. Dr. Balgis has more than 20 years of experience spanning climate change mitigation and adaptation, natural resources management, renewable energy and green growth with special focus on human dimension of global environmental changes and their impacts on sustainable development. Dr. Balgis is a winner of the UNEP Champions of the Earth Award for outstanding environmental achievements in 2008, a member of the IPCC Lead Authors-Nobel Peace Prize winners in 2007. Awarded the Highest Achievement Medal by the Government of Sudan in 2011. Dr. Balgis conducted  and supervised large number of research and scientific work. She has written more than 45 peer-reviewed articles, reports, and books. Dr. Balgis is a member of wide professional networks in the area of conservation and sustainable development including IUFRO, IAASTD, IPBES. Dr. Balgis had served on numerous scientific committees and boards.https://www.linkedin.com/in/balgis-osman-elasha-8930817

As Crisis Group’s Senior Analyst for Yemen, Nagi is responsible for covering conflict dynamics, politics, security and the regional role of the country. He provides field-based insights and recommendations aimed at resolving conflict.Before joining Crisis Group, Nagi was a non-resident scholar at the Carnegie Middle East Center, where he covered the conflict in Yemen, borderland dynamics and local governance transformations, among other issues. Additionally, he was the research manager at the Institute of Citizenship and Diversity Management at Adyan Foundation in Lebanon, a country coordinator on Yemen and Oman at Varieties of Democracy Institute (V-Dem) in Sweden, and a senior consultant at Insight Source Center for Research and Consulting in Yemen. Nagi holds an MA in Public Governance from the University of Granada, Spain.

Hassan Ahmadian is an Assistant Professor of Middle East and North Africa studies at the University of Tehran and a Senior Research Fellow at the Middle East Scientific and Strategic Studies Center in Tehran. He previously was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Harvard University’s Belfer Center as well as an Associate with the Project on Shiism and Global Affairs at Harvard’s Weatherhead Center for International Affairs. His research and teaching work is mainly focused on Iran’s foreign/regional policy and relations, political change in the Middle East, civil-military relations and Islamist movements in the Middle East. 

Before coming to American University of Afghanistan, Ian Bickford was the first provost of Fulbright University Vietnam where he guided the launch of Vietnam’s first American-style undergraduate program in the liberal arts and sciences. His service to innovation and equity in higher education, in the United States and around the world, includes many years of support for Bard College’s partner programs in Myanmar, where the Parami Institute of Continuing Education and the soon-to-launch Parami University are beacons for educational quality and access in an opening democracy. As an influential leader in the U.S. early college movement, which creates meaningful bridges between high school and college for younger students, Dr. Bickford served as provost and vice president of Bard College at Simon’s Rock; founding dean of Bard Academy at Simon’s Rock; and dean of the Bard Early Colleges. He is a specialist in Early Modern British and transatlantic literature, with an A.A. from Bard College at Simon’s Rock; B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley; M.A. from Stanford University; and Ph.D. from the City University of New York Graduate Center.