Professor Safwan M. Masri is Dean of Georgetown University in Qatar and Distinguished Professor of the Practice at Georgetown’s Walsh School of Foreign Service. Before joining Georgetown in October 2022, Professor Masri was Executive Vice President for Global Centers and Global Development at Columbia University, and a Senior Research Scholar at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs.

Dr. Mary Gray is the author of books and papers in the fields of mathematics, mathematics education, computer science, applied statistics, economic equity, discrimination law, and academic freedom. She has lectured throughout the United States, Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America. Her current research interests include applications of statistics in litigation, ethical issues in statistics, intellectual property and academic freedom, and language and gender issues in mathematics. Her work has been supported by grants from the National Science Foundation, the Alfred P.

Ambassador (ret.) Gordon Gray is the Kuwait Professor of Gulf and Arabian Peninsula Affairs at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University. Before he retired from the US government after 35 years of public service, Ambassador Gray was the Deputy Commandant at the National War College. He was the US ambassador to Tunisia from 2009 until 2012, witnessing the start of the Arab Spring and directing the US response in support of Tunisia’s transition.  

Mr. Hisham Fahmy is the CEO of AmCham Egypt Inc., a mirror organization for AmCham Egypt based in Washington D.C., and advisor to the AmCham Egypt Board of Governors. Under his leadership, AmCham Egypt’s membership reached over 1,900 members and 90 staff. He also helped create the AmCham MENA Regional Council to promote U.S. business and investment in the MENA region and served as the council’s Regional Coordinating CEO. 

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. Kutayba Yusuf Alghanim is currently the Executive Chairman at Alghanim Industries, where he leads one of the largest privately owned companies in the region. Since the early 1970s, when he was appointed to lead the company, Mr. Alghanim introduced contemporary business culture and modernized the organization. He is also the largest shareholder of one of Kuwait’s leading conventional financial institutions, Gulf Bank – which he also chaired in 2008. 

Mr. Amjad Ahmad is a Managing Partner and Emerging Market Advisor at 500 Global, a venture capital firm that invests in founders building fast-growing technology companies. He is also an instructor for 500 Global’s Venture Education, training the next generation of venture capitalists and angel investors in various markets. Mr. Ahmad serves on the board of directors of Amideast, Homzmart, Koita Foods, and Tapal Tea. 

Mr. Hussam Abu Issa has distinguished himself in a variety of fields, including entrepreneurship, business, finance, philanthropy, and intercultural relations. His interests lie in promoting higher education, research on health issues, and inter-Arab trade and investment. He is a regular attendee of various international forums and council meetings.

Ambassador (ret.) Michael Pelletier was appointed as the founding Executive Director of the Aspire Initiative Endowed Institute for Global Engagement at the University of Houston on August 1, 2021. 

Dr. Odeh Aburdene is President of OAI Advisors, which provides advice and consultancy on Middle East business, energy, and private equity. Before OAI, he was a Managing Partner of CT Capital International, Inc. Dr. Aburdene received his PhD from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, specializing in oil economics. His thesis analyzed the impact of Middle East oil on the U.S. balance of payments.