Ambassador (ret.) Greta C. Holtz joined Amideast in August 2023, following 35 years as a career diplomat with extensive experience in the Middle East and North Africa. She served as the U.S. Ambassador to Oman from 2012 to 2015, the Chargé d'affaires in Qatar from 2020-2021, and the Minister-Counselor for Provincial Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad from 2009 to 2010.

Ms. Dana Al-Ajlani is currently Senior Director of Corporate Affairs at Eli Lilly, with close to 20 years’ experience in public and government affairs. She is a strong leader who held different positions in the corporate and nonprofit industries. 

Ambassador (ret.) Michael Ratney served for over three decades as a distinguished U.S. diplomat, most recently as the U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Amb. Ratney served as the U.S. Consul General in Jerusalem, as the Chargé d’Affaires of the U.S. Embassy to Israel, as well as postings in Baghdad, Beirut, Casablanca, Doha, Mexico City, Tunis, Bridgetown, and Washington DC. Over his career, Amb. Ratney has been at the center of high-profile diplomatic initiatives throughout the Middle East, including as U.S. Special Envoy for Syria.

F. Gregory Gause III is Professor of International Affairs and John H.

Mr. Jonathan McKay currently serves as the Head of Growth at OpenAI, where he is responsible for driving user and revenue growth for ChatGPT. His responsibilities also extend to the strategic allocation of the GPU fleet and developing product infrastructure to support GPU allocation, internationalization, and comprehensive A/B testing initiatives across ChatGPT platforms.

Ms. Dena H. Elkhatib is the general counsel for Riyadh Air. She is a transactional lawyer with over 20 years of experience and a specialty in high-value transactions in various sectors, including banking and aviation. Her experiences include aircraft portfolio acquisition/sales, finance/operating leases, debt financing, and restructuring transactions.

Dr. Mondher Ben Ayed is a Tunisian entrepreneur, engineer, and academic. He is the president and CEO of TMI, a leading company in the field of information and communication technologies, and Oradist, a distributor of Oracle products and services in Tunisia. He is also a former professor of computer engineering at the University of Rochester, where he obtained his PhD in 1990. He holds an MS and a BS in electrical engineering from the same institution.

Mr. Antoine N. Frem is the co-founder and vice chairman of INDEVCO, a group of manufacturing enterprises that produce paperboard, corrugated cartons, plastics, and sanitary products. He is also the chairman of the board of UNIPAK, a subsidiary of INDEVCO that specializes in packaging solutions. He has more than 45 years of experience in the packaging and paperboard industry and has worked in the US and international markets.

Ambassador (ret.) Deborah K. Jones​ retired from the U.S. Department of State in November 2016 with the rank of Career Minister​ following 34 years of service. Her last assignment was as Deputy Commandant/International Affairs Advisor​ at the Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy​ (formerly ICAF) of the National Defense University​ from October 2015 to November 2016, following her appointment as U.S. Ambassador to Libya​ from June 2013 until September 2015. She served as Scholar-in-Residence at the Middle East Institute​ from August 2012 to March 2013.

Ambassador (ret.) William A. Rugh was the president of Amideast from 1995 to 2003, following a distinguished diplomatic career that included service as U.S. ambassador to Yemen (1984-86) and to the UAE (1992-95). He was a foreign service officer with the U.S. Information Agency (USIA) from 1964 to 1995 and served at six posts, all in the MENA region: Cairo (twice), Jidda, Riyadh, Damascus, Sanaa, and Abu Dhabi. In Washington, he served in USIA’s Near East/South Asia Bureau three times. He retired in 1995 as a career minister.