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.

Matthew McInnis is a consultant and analyst on China, the Middle East, and the evolution of modern warfare. Mr. McInnis previously served as the U.S. Deputy Special Representative for Iran and as a Member of Policy Planning at the U.S. Department of State. He was also an intelligence officer and policy advisor on Middle East, China, and non-proliferation issues for fifteen years in the U.S. Department of Defense.

Jon B. Alterman is a senior vice president, holds the Zbigniew Brzezinski Chair in Global Security and Geostrategy, and is director of the Middle East Program at CSIS. Prior to joining CSIS in 2002, he served as a member of the Policy Planning Staff at the U.S. Department of State and as a special assistant to the assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, and from 2009-2019 he served as a member of the Chief of Naval Operations Executive Panel. In addition to his policy work, he often teaches Middle Eastern studies at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and the George Washington University. Earlier in his career, Alterman was a scholar at the U.S. Institute of Peace and at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and a legislative aide to Senator Daniel P. Moynihan (D-NY) responsible for foreign policy and defense. From 1993 to 1997, Alterman was an award-winning teacher at Harvard University, where he received his Ph.D. in history. Alterman has lectured in more than 35 countries on five continents on subjects related to the Middle East and U.S. policy toward the region. He is the author or coauthor of four books on the Middle East and the editor of five more. In addition to his academic work, he is sought out as a consultant to business and government and is a frequent commentator in print, on radio, and on television. His opinion pieces have appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, and other major publications. He is a former international affairs fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, where he is now a life member. He received his A.B. from Princeton University's School of Public and International Affairs.

Ravi Agrawal is the editor in chief of Foreign Policy. He is also the host of FP Live, the magazine's video channel and podcast, on which he regularly interviews world leaders and policymakers. Before joining FP in 2018, Agrawal worked at CNN for more than a decade in full-time roles spanning three continents, including as the network’s New Delhi bureau chief and correspondent. Agrawal is the author of India Connected: How the Smartphone Is Transforming the World’s Largest Democracy. He is a graduate of Harvard University.

Dr. Nilanjan Ghosh is Director at the Observer Research Foundation, India. In that capacity, he heads 2centres at the Foundation, namely, the Centre for New Economic Diplomacy (CNED), and ORF’s Kolkata. He is also the Director of the Think20 India Secretariat, the thinktank engagement group of G20 Indian Presidency; Member, Global Future Council on the Future of Nature and Security, World Economic Forum for 2023; President of the Indian Society for Ecological Economics (INSEE) for 2022-24; and Member, Research Advisory Committee, WWF India. He served as Member, Expert Committee constituted by the Supreme Court of India in March 2021 and devised the Net Present Value criteria for forest land diversion. He advised WWF India to set up their Ecological Economics practice from 2015 to 2020. Dr.Ghosh taught at various places including Linnaeus University, Sweden; IIM-Calcutta; TERI School of Advanced Studies; Jadavpur University, etc. He has also visited Uppsala University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Stanford University. One of the leading ecological economists and development analysts of South Asia, he has authored/edited 14 books and monographs, and written 95+ peer-reviewed papers and more than 185 popular articles/commentaries. He advised organizations like IUCN, USAID, FORMAS-The Swedish Research Council, UNCTAD-India, WWF-UK, IWMI-WLE,etc.

Mr. Geir O. Pedersen became UN Special Envoy for Syria in January 2019, as appointed by Secretary-General Guterres. He previously served the United Nations in various roles, including as Special Coordinator for Lebanon (2007 to 2008), Personal Representative of the Secretary-General for Southern Lebanon (2005 to 2007), and Director of the Asia and Pacific Division in the Department of Political Affairs. In his national capacity, Mr Pedersen most recently served as Norway’s Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China (2017 to 2018) and as Permanent Representative to the United Nations (2012 to 2017). Between 1998 and 2003, He served as Norway’s Representative to the Palestinian Authority and previously was the Chief of Staff for the Foreign Minister. In 1993, he was a member of Norway’s team to the Oslo negotiations that led to the signing of the Declaration of Principles.

Dr. Dania Thafer is the Executive Director of Gulf International Forum, an institute based in Washington, D.C. that provides analysis on political, economic, social, and security issues for the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, Iran, Iraq and Yemen. She is also a Professorial Lecturer at the School of Foreign Service’s Center for Contemporary Arab Studies at Georgetown University. Her expertise is on the Gulf region’s security, U.S.-Gulf relations, and the political economy of the GCC states.  Dr. Thafer has been widely published and consults regularly on matters concerning the GCC and the Middle East. Dr. Thafer has a new book titled “Creative Insecurity: Institutional Inertia and Youth Potential in the GCC” published by Oxford University Press and Hurst Co. (2023). Additionally, she has co-authored two edited books “The Arms Trade, Military Services and the Security Market in the Gulf States: Trends and Implications” and “The Dilemma of Security and Defense in the Gulf Region.” Her commentary has appeared in international media outlets, including:  The New York Times, Financial Times, BBC World, Washington Post, Forbes, Al Jazeera and others. Additionally, she is regularly consulted by governmental, non-governmental, corporations and research institutions globally.Previously, she was responsible for building relationships with foreign dignitaries from the Middle East at the National Defense University’s Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies in Washington, DC. Dr. Thafer has a master’s degree in Political Science from New York University, and Ph.D. in Political Science, specialized in the Political Economy and International Relations from American University in Washington, DC. 

Dana Yousef Al-Abdulla is the Director of National Cyber Governance and Assurance Affairs at the National Cyber Security Agency.Dana holds a bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering from Qatar University and a master’s degree from HEC Paris in Strategic Business Unit Management. She holds professional certifications such as GICSP in Industrial Control Systems Security, GCFA in Advanced Forensics Analysis, and GSLC in Cyber Security Leadership.Dana has made significant contributions to the establishment and operation of the Qatar Computer Emergency Response Team (Q-CERT). With over 17 years of experience, she has developed expertise in different cyber security fields including incident management, vulnerability assessment, penetration testing, policies, governance, national cyber strategies and critical infrastructure protection. Dana has also provided her expertise in the field of personal data privacy and is one of the founders of the department responsible for supervising the personal data protection law in the State of Qatar. She currently manages the National Data Privacy Office (NDPO), which oversees the enforcement of the law and raises awareness of both institutional obligations and individual rights. Moreover, she has contributed to numerous efforts aimed at improving the cybersecurity landscape, encouraging youth to join the field, and has participated in various international and regional forums.

Muznah Siddiqui is a Global Governance Research and Planning Associate at the United Nations University Center for Policy Research, where she supports the Secretary-General’s High-Level Advisory Board on Effective Multilateralism (HLAB) project. Her expertise focuses specifically on technological and digital governance, and the global financial architecture. Prior to joining UNU-CPR, Ms Siddiqui worked as a Research Consultant for the Global Governance, Justice and Security Program at the Stimson Center, where her research focused on the governance of digital technologies, peace, and climate change. She has also supported the Secretariat of the Climate Governance Commission. Ms Siddiqui has held two consecutive internships at the Global Program on Detecting, Preventing and Countering the Financing of Terrorism at the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism, and the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute, where her research focused on counter-terrorism, anti-money laundering, cyber-security and countering COVID-19 disinformation. Alongside her professional interests, Ms Siddiqui was awarded first place at the 2023 Geneva Centre for Security Policy Prize for Transformative Futures in Peace and Security and is presently a Youth Peace Ambassador for the PyeongChang Peace Forum. She holds a Master in International Relations and Politics from the University of Cambridge.

Kate Kallot is a world-class technologist who has received sustained global acclaim in tech for social impact, most notably for her work advancing technology access across Africa. She has received multiple accolades for her work, including being named TIME 100 most influential people in AI and VentureBeat Women in AI Rising Star.Kate is the Founder & CEO of Amini, an impact-driven AI startup solving Africa's environmental data scarcity to support regenerating natural capital at scale.With over a decade of experience in leading AI innovation at global tech companies such as NVIDIA, Intel, and Arm, she has a proven track record of delivering cutting-edge technology solutions that drive social impact and transform communities.Kate is a recognized expert and influencer in the AI field, advising international organizations and governments on the potential and challenges of AI for good.

Dr. Abdulaziz Sager - A Saudi strategic expert specializing in international politics and regional security issues, he is the Founder and Chairman of the Gulf Research Center. Dr. Sager has also been a visiting professor at a number of universities, and member of various councils, advisory and academic committees, institutes and international research centers.He participates in international and regional conferences that address issues pertaining to the Gulf region. Notably, he has authored and edited numerous publications and has many articles in local and international newspapers related to Gulf affairs and regional issues, and he frequently contributes to major international media outlets. He is also the editor-in-chief of "Araa" a monthly Arabic-language magazine focused on Gulf affairs and is the editor-in-chief of "The Gulf Yearbook."Dr. Sager holds a PhD in politics and international relations from Lancaster University.

Jamila Ali Rajaa is the Vice Chairperson for the Consultation and Reconciliation Commission under the Presidential Leadership Council. Ms. Rajaa holds the status of Ambassador following 30 years of service with the government of Yemen as a representative and advisor in the diplomatic corps, as well as various ministries. Following the 2011 uprising, she was a member of the Comprehensive National Dialogue Conference which its outcomes were the main components of the newly drafted constitution.    Jamila is also the founder of a private consultancy firm that works closely with international and regional peace, development, and humanitarian agencies. She is a well-known mediator and facilitator in the three peace-building tracks. As a senior researcher, analyst, and lecturer, Rajaa has published numerous studies and articles related to human development, human rights, media and communications, gender, and civil society in Yemen and across the Middle East and North Africa. 

Anita Zaidi is the president of the foundation’s Gender Equality Division. In this role, Anita oversees the foundation’s efforts to achieve gender equality by ensuring that women and girls in Africa and South Asia can enjoy good health, make their own choices, earn their own money, be leaders in their societies, and children survive and thrive. Anita joined the foundation in 2014 to lead a team focused on vaccine development for people in the poorest parts of the world, surveillance to identify and address causes of death in children in the most under-served areas, and significantly reducing the adverse consequences of diarrheal and enteric infections on children’s health in low and middle-income countries. She served as the foundation’s director of the Vaccine Development, Surveillance, and Enteric and Diarrheal Diseases programs until November 2022. In those roles, she championed the creation of the foundation’s Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health Discovery & Tools program; the prioritization of HPV vaccination to prevent cervical cancer; and the creation of the Women Leaders in Global Health program—now called WomenLift Health—to promote diversity in global health leadership. She has led the Gender Equality division since November 2020.Previously, Anita was the department chair of Pediatrics and Child Health at the Aga Khan University in Karachi, Pakistan. She obtained her medical degree specializing in pediatric infectious diseases at Aga Khan University, and completed further trainings at Duke University, Boston’s Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and the Harvard School of Public Health. In 2013, Anita became the first recipient of the $1 million Caplow Children’s Prize for her pioneering work in bringing health services and wraparound care to mothers and children in poverty-stricken communities in Karachi. In 2014, she was nominated as a physician of the year by Medscape. In 2021, she was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Medicine.

Charles Lister is a senior fellow and the Director of the Syria and Countering Terrorism & Extremism programs at the Middle East Institute. His work focuses on all-things Syria and on issues of terrorism and insurgency across the Levant. In early-2022, Lister launched the Resolving the Detainee Crisis Initiative, a major multinational effort to privately facilitate more effective solutions to the post-ISIS detainee challenge in northeastern Syria. The initiative, run in collaboration with the UK-based International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation (ICSR), has convened more than 30 governments for multiple discreet working gatherings in Washington D.C., London and Vienna and achieved clear and significant policy progress.   Prior to joining MEI, Lister was a Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution in Qatar and a Senior Consultant to the multinationally-backed Syria Track II Dialogue Initiative, in which he managed nearly three years of intensive face-to-face engagement with the leaderships of over 100 Syrian armed opposition groups. Lister has also previously held other positions at the Brookings Institution and at IHS Jane’s in London, UK. Lister’s critically acclaimed book, The Syrian Jihad: Al-Qaeda, the Islamic State and the Evolution of an Insurgency, was published in February 2016 by Oxford University Press. He has also published The Islamic State: A Brief Introduction (Brookings Press, 2015) and Winning the Battle, Losing the War: Addressing the Drivers of Non-State Armed Actors and Extremist Groups (ed.) (MEI, 2019). He is now working on a fourth book on Syria, commissioned by Oxford University Press.

Responsible for providing advisory service for leading multinationals, chambers of commerce and private business sectors on trade policies, BRI initiative, tech innovation and ESG.  Mike’s expertise is on Globalization, Digital Economy, Corporate Governance, Carbon Neutralization, Compliance and Tech Regulatory policies.Mike is an accomplished executive with 35+ years of outstanding career in digital transformation, cross culture leadership and market growth strategies with leading technology multinationals.  Mike is the former Managing Director and legal Rep for DXC Technology in Greater China region, and before that Mike was the global Vice President, Country Head and legal Rep for Infosys in Greater China region.Mike’s experience spans across Greater China, India, US, and Singapore where Mike has demonstrated his unique capacity to accomplish the growth agenda for the organizations he has served.Mike is a frequent speaker at various industry forums.  Mike has been invited to participate in the Summer Davos in 2017, the Business Summit of BRICS in 2017, and the 10th Arab – China Business Conference in 2023Mike completed the executive education at Stanford University, and holds an MBA from University of Miami in Florida and a bachelor’s degree in CIS from Renmin University in Beijing.

Previously, Director of Strategic International Relations, Tecnológico de Monterrey, Nathan was a career diplomat for more than 25 years, holding relevant positions in Mexico and abroad.He was Deputy Chief of Staff  of the Minister of Foreign Relations, Diplomatic Advisor to the Presidency of the Republic and General Director of International Economic Promotion of the Ministry of Foreign Relations. As a career diplomat officer he was posted to the Mexican Embassies in Montevideo, Uruguay and in Washington DC, USA. He was Chief of Mission of the Consulate of Mexico in Saint Paul, Minnesota and his last diplomatic position was as an Ambassador of Mexico to Singapore and concurrent to Myanmar and Brunei.He has also worked in the private sector on renewable energy and sustainability issues.He has a degree in Marketing from Tecnológico de Monterrey, and studies in International Affairs from the American University in Washington, D.C., USA.As a Mexican diplomat, Nathán Wolf has been awarded the Order of Civil Merit in the degree of the Silver Cross, from the Government of the Kingdom of Spain; the Royal Order of the Polar Star, in the degree of Officer, from the Government of the Kingdom of Sweden; and various acknowledgments from the authorities of the state of Minnesota, USA.Some of his hobbies are running, functional exercise, soccer, football, and traveling.nwolf@consejomexicano.org

Femi Oke is an award-winning international journalist, British-Nigerian broadcaster, professional moderator  and co-founder and CEO of the diverse all-female moderators bureau "Moderate The Panel."  Based in Washington, D.C where she hosted the interactive news and current affairs programme “The Stream” on Al Jazeera English for a decade, Femi is currently writing a true crime series for Audible, reporting for NPR's midday news program "Here & Now" and moderating events around the world.Femi's broadcast credits include BBC television and radio, Sky TV, all the U.K. terrestrial commercial television networks, CNN, U.S. public radio and Al Jazeera English. As a professional moderator Femi has presided over major global events including European Development Days for the European Commission, the UN Secretary-General's SDG Action Weekend and the UNDP's Annual Human Development Report. If you ask Femi what the key is to longevity in the media business she will tell you - “Don’t let rejection put you off. Treat a no as the scenic route to yes, and always moisturise.”

Ellen Laipson is the Director of the International Security Program at the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University and directs the Center for Security Policy Studies.  She joined GMU in 2017 after a distinguished 25 -year career in government and as President and CEO of the Stimson Center (2002-2015).  She serves on a number of non-governmental boards related to international security and diplomacy.  Her last post in government was Vice Chair of the National Intelligence Council (1997-2002). She also served on the State Department's policy planning staff, the National Security Council staff, and worked at the Congressional Research Service for more than a decade.  A member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the American Academy of Diplomacy, she serves on the Advisory Councils of Georgetown University’s Institute for the Study of Diplomacy, Notre Dame’s International Security Center, the Center for Climate and Security, and WWF’s Oceans Futures.  She was a member of the CIA External Advisory Panel from 2006-2009, President Obama's Intelligence Advisory Board from 2009-2013, and on the Secretary of State's Foreign Affairs Policy Board 2011-2014. Laipson has an M.A. from the School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University and an AB from Cornell University.

Jonathan Adashek is IBM’s Senior Vice President, Marketing and Communications and Chief Communications Officer.Jonathan was appointed the head of Marketing in January 2022, adding to his previous responsibilities as Chief Communications Officer. He is responsible for overseeing the company’s global Marketing, Communications and Corporate Citizenship organization, which also includes ESG, Analyst Relations, demand generation, branding, business development for government, social media, sponsorships and strategic events across the company.Jonathan has aligned the function to IBM’s overall strategic and business objectives. He also led the team through the separation of Kyndryl, the response to COVID-19, and various social issues. His background in managing global teams has helped in driving a more nimble and agile approach.Before joining IBM, Jonathan was employed at Renault Nissan Mitsubishi Alliance in Paris, where he was the Alliance Global Vice President, Communications. His prior positions include: Chief Communications Officer at Nissan Motor Co. in Yokohama, Japan; General Manager, Communications Strategy at Microsoft; and Executive Vice President and Global Client Relationship Manager at Edelman -- where he worked with a variety of clients including Microsoft, Starbucks, Walmart, and the Abu Dhabi and United Arab Emirates governments.He brings more than 25 years of experience across domestic and global teams serving different sectors, including technology, automotive and manufacturing, government, retail, finance, energy, B2B and B2C. He also brings governmental and political experience with him, having worked in the Clinton Administration White House and Treasury Department as well as on multiple U.S. presidential campaigns.  A graduate of University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Jonathan earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science.Jonathan is an avid music and Wisconsin sports fan. He lives in Westchester County, NY and in his personal time, you can find him spending time with his wife, their two kids and dog.

Eng. Salim Al Aufi has a Masters degree in Pe- troleum Engineering from Heriot-Watt University. He Joined Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) in 1992, and progressed within the organization in different technical and leadership roles, which culminated in him becoming the Oil North Direc- tor in 2010. This Board level position is responsi- ble for all operations of Oil North Asset of PDO.In his career spanning well over 28 years, Al Aufi held different local and international positions, including PDO’s Head of Corpo- rate Planning, Chief Petroleum Engineering and Operations Manager. During his tenure in PDO, Al Aufi was posted to Shell Nigeria as Petroleum Engineer and Asset Planner, and to Shell Canada as the Vice President of Production.In May 2012, His Majesty appointed Salim Al Aufi as the Chief Executive Officer of the Public Authority for Civil Aviation, and in December 2013 he was appointed as the Undersecretary for the Ministry of Oil & Gas (now Ministry of Energy and Minerals) until mid of June 2022.In June 2022, H.E. Salim Al Aufi was appointed as the Minister of Energy and Minerals, Al Aufi’s portfolio includes Exploration and Production of hydrocarbons, Electricity and Mining Regulato- ry responsibilities, Renewables and Hydrogen in the Sultanate of Oman.

Juliana Rotich is an internationally-acclaimed techpreneur and fintech leader who believes in the impact of science and technology in building transformative technologies that fix problems and help people.Currently, as the Head of Fintech Solutions at Safaricom PLC, she leads the development of innovative fintech integrations for strategic stakeholders leveraging the world’s most popular mobile money platform; M-PESA. She is an AI Ethics & Safety Advisory Committee member at Bill and Melinda gates foundation, MIT Media Lab Director's Fellow, Senior TED Fellow and WEF Young Global Leader and currently sits on the boards of Girl Effect, Mookh Africa and Atlas AI.In 2018, she was appointed as a Member of the Ministerial Task Force on Blockchain, AI & Emerging Technology under the Ministry of ICT, Innovation & Youth Affairs in Kenya. She also previously served as a board member/advisory of several public and private institutions, including Bankinter Foundation, Microsoft 4Afrika, BASF, Standard Group Media and the Kenya Vision 2030 Delivery Board.  She has had a stellar professional career spanning close to two decades with numerous achievements during her role as the Co-Founder/Executive Director of BRCK.org, an integrated hardware and software company that designs and engineers rugged, self-powered, mobile WiFi devices as well as at Ushahidi, a not-for-profit technology company that develops tools used globally in mapping disaster responses. She received the 2019 German Africa Prize from German Chancellor Angela Merkel as a tribute not only for her business achievements and technological innovations, but also for her outstanding sense of social responsibility. 

Paul Salem is president and CEO of the Middle East Institute. He focuses on issues of political change, transition, and conflict as well as the regional and international relations of the Middle East. Salem is the author and editor of a number of books and reports including Escaping the Conflict Trap: Toward Ending Civil Wars in the Middle East (ed. with Ross Harrison, MEI 2019). Prior to joining MEI, Salem was the founding director of the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut, Lebanon between 2006 and 2013.  From 1999 to 2006, he was director of the Fares Foundation and in 1989-1999 founded and directed the Lebanese Center for Policy Studies, Lebanon's leading public policy think tank.

Omar Shakir serves as the Israel and Palestine Director at Human Rights Watch, where he investigates human rights abuses in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza and has authored several major reports, including a 2021 report comprehensively documenting how Israeli authorities are committing the crimes against humanity of apartheid and persecution against millions of Palestinians. As a result of his advocacy, the Israeli government deported Omar in November 2019. Prior to his current role, he was a Bertha Fellow at the Center for Constitutional Rights, where he focused on US counterterrorism policies, including legal representation of Guantanamo detainees. As the 2013-14 Arthur R. and Barbara D. Finberg Fellow at Human Rights Watch, he investigated human rights violations in Egypt, including the Rab’a massacre, one of the largest killings of protesters in a single day. A former Fulbright Scholar in Syria, Omar holds a JD from Stanford Law School, where he co-authored a report on the civilian consequences of US drone strikes in Pakistan as a part of the International Human Rights & Conflict Resolution Clinic, an MA in Arab Studies from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Affairs, and a BA in International Relations from Stanford.