Dr. Thoraya Obaid was the first Saudi Arabian to head a UN agency. She was appointed head of UNFPA in 2001 with the rank of Under-Secretary General of the United Nations. Before this position, Ms. Obaid was Director of Division for Arab States and Europe at UNFPA. From 1975 to 1992 she was Chief of the Social Affairs Office at ESCWA, responsible for the advancement of women. Between 1984 and 1985 she was a member of the League of Arab States Working Group for Formulating the Arab Strategy for Social Development. From 1992 to 1993 she was Chief of Social Development and Population Division at ESCWA. In 1996, Dr. Obaid chaired the UN Inter-Agency Task Force on Gender in Amman and in 1997 she was a member of the UN Inter-Agency Gender Mission to Afghanistan.

Dr. Obaid is one of the 30 Saudi women who were appointed in 2013 as members in the Shura Council (Consultative Council) that provides advice to King Abdallah bin Abdulaziz and presently to King Salman bin Abdulaziz. It is the first group of women to be appointed to what was once an all-male council. She is also the first woman to chair one of the Council's Committee, and she has been the chair of the Human Rights and Oversight Commissions 2015 - 2016. She is also one of three women who received King Abdulaziz Medal of the First Degree for her international service. Ds. Obaid was the first Saudi Arabian woman to receive a government scholarship to study in the United States. She has a doctorate degree in English Literature and Cultural Anthropology from Wayne State University in Michigan. She received a B.A. in English Literature and Sociology from Mills College in California.

Lamah joined Aramco in 1999 and work for the Employee Information Systems Division under HR Policy and Planning Department, providing technical support to some of the company’s in-house built systems with a Bachelor’s Degree in Information Technology (University of Phoenix, AZ) as well as a Master’s Degree in HR Management (Texas A&M, TX). In 2003, Lamah moved to Personnel Department where she worked on several projects such as the development of HR Online website.

Lamah was also appointed as the Employee Relations & Training Admin Area representative on several projects and committees. After 7 years in the industry, she was then transferred to Training and Development heading the Non-Employee Planning group. During which she established the first KAUST (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology) CO-OP Program with Saudi Aramco. During that time, Lamah was able to obtain her Master’s Degree in HR Management from Texas A&M University through the Company’s Hosted University Program.

In 2012 Lamah moved to the Upstream Business Line working with Upstream Professional Development Center. In 2017, Lamah covered as the acting administrator for the Corporate Academy Development Division before moving back to HR where she was appointed as the acting division head of Women Development & Diversity Division. In 2019 Lamah moved to Training and Development organization and is now heading the Saudi Aramco Driving Center.

Ahmad AR Bin Dawood is the CEO of BinDawood Holdings. He graduated from King Abdulaziz University with a degree in International Business Administration. He completed his Investcorp Leadership Program in Cambridge, UK and participated as a public speaker at Investcorp conferences. He is one of the Forbes Middle East contributors and an active member of Young President’s Organization (YPO). To mastering up his business and leadership skills, he is currently pursuing his Executive Management Program in Columbia Business School, New York. Ahmad joined the company at the early stage of his career path and had held several positions in the company.

In 2014, he was appointed to the board of directors and as the CEO of Danube. Later in 2018, he was appointed as the new CEO of both Danube and BinDawood Holding. As CEO of the company, oversees the strategic direction of the Saudi Arabian based retail company, the BinDawood Group’s Danube and BinDawood stores. Founded in 1984 with more than 10,000 employees across the Kingdom, BinDawood Group has become one of MENA region’s largest retail operators, providing the Kingdom the widest international offering of food and grocery items. Under his leadership, the company has continued to sustain and growing in the industry in the Kingdom.

Biography of her Royal Highness Princess Haifa bint Faisal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud
Her Royal Highness Princess Haifa bint Faisal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud is a humanitarian with distinction, who believes that developing people together with their environment is the first building block of sustainable development. Therefore, she devoted much of her time and efforts to establishing and serving a number of developmental, cultural, philanthropic, and educational projects. Princess Haifa has founded “Zahra Breast Cancer Association” and she is still chairing its Board of Trustees, to this day.

The association is literally an integrated center where the activities are dedicated to spreading awareness, education and knowledge. It also strives to turn the experience of overcoming cancer from a mere hope carried by patients into an actual reality with so many meaningful benefits. HRH has participated as a founder member in the Trusteeship Board of “Mosaic” humanitarian organization and chaired its board of directors, later. Mosaic is an American charitable and educational organization that was established in Washington from 1998 to 2009.

Since first established it aimed at raising the standard of living of women and children, as well as assessing and developing means of understanding the Arab world in the United States. It has served as a center for Princess Haifa’s philanthropic and humanitarian activities, as she was an active member of the Saudi diplomatic community in Washington DC.

Mariam Saleh Binladen is a Saudi humanitarian who is a dentist by profession and a certified endurance swimmer.Starting in 2015, Mariam swam the Hellespont open water swim in Turkey and was the first GCC and Saudi female to complete the race from Europe to Asia of 6.5 km in 1 hour, 27 minutes and 26 seconds. The following year - in June 2016 – she broke a record and became the first woman ever to swim the entire length of the River Thames from Oxford to London of 101 miles (162 km) in 10 days. Two months later, she achieved another world record of becoming the first GCC and Saudi woman to complete an assisted swim across the English Channel of 24.6 miles (39.7 km) which she completed in a total of 11 hours and 41 minutes.

On the 10th March 2017, under the patronage of HH Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and President of the Dubai Sports Council, Mariam has set a new record, adding to her tally of world records, as the first swimmer ever to cross the Dubai Creek and the Dubai Water Canal swimming a total distance of 14.9 miles (24km). In December 2016, Dr. Mariam has opened the first Dental Center built at the IMC Hospital site in Al Azraq Refugee camp in Jordan. The center is a joint collaboration with the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organization (JHCO) and IMC Hospital and provides dental and oral care all cost-free. Mariam has joined hands with the UNHCR and other non-profit organizations, to continue to raise awareness about what is considered to be the greatest humanitarian disaster of our time.

Tadweeer was established in Riyadh, KSA on May 2015. TADWEEER scope is “Recycling of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment - WEEE”. The company’s vision is to be the pioneer and the leader for electric and electronic recycling within GGC and top 10 worldwide. Its mission is to develop recycling material solutions that exceed its customers’ satisfaction, with respect to reduce the negative impact on environment, to ensure the safety of the community, in addition to maximize shareholder value, professionally foster its crewmembers, and make a contribution that improves the community.

Since its 2 years’ establishment in the Kingdom, TADWEEER had succeeded to develop a partnership with the biggest organization such Ministry of commerce, Modon, Huawei, SIMS, Ericsson, Major Saudi Banks and Companies complying with ISO 9001: 2015 , ISO 14001: 2015 and ISO 45001:2018. In addition, using the highest available technology worldwide and even develop some of them locally.

Eng. Al-Khafrah was a member of the Shura Council and Deputy Minister for Industrial Affairs under the Ministry of Industry and Electricity and Secretary General for Foreign Capital Investment Committee of the Ministry of Industry and Electricity. Currently, he seats in the Board of the U.S.–Saudi Arabian Business Council and Vice-Chairman of Saudi–Japanese Business Council , Co-Chairman of Saudi-German Business Dialogue. Besides his Chairmanship of Saudi Hollandi Bank (Alawwal Bank).

It is one of the ten largest banks in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Besides that, he is also the Chairman of the National Industrialization Company (Tasnee), the second largest industrial company in Saudi Arabia and the second largest producer of titanium dioxide in the world, Gulf Chemicals and Industrial Oils, Malath Insurance Company and others . Eng . Al-Khafrah Born in Riyadh, received a B.S. in Industrial Engineering in the United States in 1973 and an Advanced Diploma in Management in Canada in 1976.

Majed M Al Tahan is an award-winning entrepreneur and young e-commerce leader in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with a great passion to impact the apps market. A first mover in the Kingdom to tackle e-commerce grocery space, he is eager to build his own businesses and take the entrepreneurial plunge. After graduating from university with an architecture degree, he first started working as a real estate developer alongside the biggest names in the industry.

As young entrepreneur in the Kingdom, he had a vision to move the industry in the country to higher levels. His vision had made him to grab the opportunity to begin his journey to build the first ever online services for grocery shopping in the Kingdom. In 2016, he founded the AYM Commerce and under his leadership and mission, he has built a platform to revolutionise the technology needed in the Middle East’s e-commerce space. Within a one-year life span of the new founded company, he has led AYM Commerce to be named as a “Start Up of the Year”.

Majed M Al Tahan thrives on excellence and believes in the concept of “people first”. Today, at the helm of AYM Commerce, he’s focused on developing the technology behind the e-commerce app and spearheading the transformation of grocery shopping industry. Being as one of the aspiring young entrepreneurs in the Kingdom, he was recognised as a contender for the “Digital Leader of the Year” award.

Always a curious child, for as long as she can remember, Raha dreamt of challenging adventures, seeing the world and perhaps even changeling it. From a young age her eccentricity was obvious, blessed with parents who never asked her to change, teaching her to dream big and live even bigger, and raised her with the belief that life is what she makes of it and her dreams are a reflection of the endlessness of her capabilities.

Graduating with a bachelors in Visional Communications from the American University of Sharjah, she then started her career at a leading advertising agency. Raha’s life changed the day she summited Kilimanjaro and challenged herself, her society, and culture. It was there, between the clouds, standing on Africa’s roof where her spirit could no longer be silenced and nothing could hold her back from her love of adventure. Kilimanjaro open the doors to 8 more summits, yet still her love affair with altitude was insatiable, and her curiosity as to where her limits were growing fierce. Just when she thought she found them, she set eyes on Everest and the dream that turned her into an accidental role model was born.

On May 18th 2013, a year after seeing the legendary mountain, Raha made history by being the first Saudi woman to summit Everest and the seven highest mountains in each continent, forever proving we could attempt the impossible and maybe even achieve it no matter where we are from. She’s living proof that if children are raised confident and curious,unapologetically who they are, then¬ we’re capable of anything. Even for a Saudi woman to stand on top of the world.

Hamad Abdullah Matar El-Onizi , is an Entrepreneur, venture capitalist and CEO of Faden Media Group. Earlier in his career as Regional Marketing Manager at Savola Group, he realized the great potential of Saudi Indoor OOH advertising market versus Outdoor OOH advertising industry. Hamad accepted the challenge of leading Faden Media Advertising Agency in 2009 and convinced brands & decision makers to get out of their comfort zone and invest in new indoor OOH media.

As CEO, Hamad curated FMG’s media networks by focusing the company’s growth on not only acquiring premium strategic locations but pioneering an indoor OOH industry that was based on the best OTS, deeper engagement, latest digital technology, accurate traffic reports and talented Saudis into this industry. Since his appointment, Hamad has achieved nearly 200% in exponential total revenue-growth and leads Faden Media Group as one of the largest advertising corporations with some of the most exclusive media networks in Retail-sector, premium malls and fitness centers. A social media consultancy company.

A boutique technology studio that supplies and executes creative digital installations. A printing & branding house that is driven by utilizing sustainable and environment friendly methods for branding services and a real-estate company that helps strategize business growth inside the ‘indoor market’.

Dr. Shadi Fouad Khawandanah - Chairman of the Board of Special Direction - Business Consultancy House Dr. Khawandanah holds a Bachelor Degree in Electrical Engineering (EE) from KFUPM, Master of business Administration (MBA) from the AAST, and Doctorate of Business Administration (DBA) from the EU Business School in Geneva.

Dr. Khawandanah is a Board Member & the President of the Youth & Corporate Responsibility Committees at the International Chamber of Commerce – Saudi Arabia (ICC–SA) and an Executive Member of the National Entrepreneurship Committee at the Council of Saudi Chambers. Dr. Khawandanah was honored by the Former President of Swiss Mr. Adolf Ogi with the EU Award for CSR in 2016. In addition, he was honored by King Salman bin Abdul Aziz with King Khalid Award for responsible competitiveness for three consecutive years 2015 & 2016 & 2017.

Dr. Khawandanah has established Direction Knowledge & Cultural Exchange Programs inter-civilizational dialogue and to strengthen the Saudi character which serves the soft diplomacy and achieves the goals of the Vision 2030.

A young driving force in Saudi’s renewable energy sector, Khaled Sharbatly is Managing Partner at Desert Technologies, a Saudi PV solar energy platform that manufactures, builds, develops and operates solar energy systems.

Through DT’s products and advanced technology, a positive impact is made for the environment and its people. Through his experiences, Khaled Sharbatly has accumulated an in-depth knowledge and understanding of the renewable energy sector at quite a young age. A leader amongst his peers, Khaled is a multi-faceted entrepreneur, and a talented artist during his free time. He obtained both his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the University of Miami, where he majored in international finance and international business.

He’s gained valuable experience with Al-Nahla Group, one of the largest family-run firms in the GCC, where he holds a consultancy role to this day. Just as well, he’s earned a certificate in negotiation from Harvard Law School, as well as a certificate in sustainability through the United Nations body. Khaled Sharbatly aims to continue his work in promoting solar energy, and playing his part in the Kingdom’s journey towards the energy objectives of Vision2030. Dr. Khawandanah has established Direction Knowledge & Cultural Exchange Programs inter-civilizational dialogue and to strengthen the Saudi character which serves the soft diplomacy and achieves the goals of the Vision 2030.

KSI Financial Consultants is a financial consulting firm based in the Kingdom of Bahrain which started the operations in February 2016. The management team has extensive regional and international experience and long-established relationships with many stakeholders in the Middle East. The company attract, recruit, train, and retain the most knowledgeable and passionate professionals, and they provide a collaborative culture that enables them to thrive professionally and personally.

Their staff consists of highly qualified personnel who possess extensive and diversified experience in manufacturing, international trade, financial services and business consulting in Asia, Middle East and North America. Their philosophy is unique in that we focus on engaging with all our stakeholders with utmost trust to deliver an excellent client service which ensures the importance of having a capable and trustworthy financial advisor in your need.

Our present clientele comprises of financial institutions, limited liability companies and many numbers of business individuals who seek our services to improve their processes with the aim of delivering high quality products and services to the end users which in turn enhance their profitability. We provide auditing services through our affiliate company KSI – Consultants & Public Accountants.

Ahmed Binzagr is the President and Chief Operating Officer of Binzagr Company, a leading sales and logistics company in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. With nearly 20 years of work experience in varied fields within Binzagr Company, Ahmed Binzagr is a transformational and enterprising executive leading a company with an impressive track record onto even greater achievements and accolades. Whilst maintaining the present core business of the Company in growing globally renowned fast-moving consumer goods brands.

Ahmed Binzagr is forging the Company’s new vision as the leading third-party logistics Company in the Region through an impressive investment in the most advanced logistics facility in the Middle East located in the King Abdullah Economic City. Ahmed Binzagr holds a Bachelor of Science Degree from Babson College, which is in Wellesley, Massachusetts. Babson College is ranked by U.S. News & World Report as the No. 1 undergraduate school for entrepreneurship in the United States for the 21st consecutive time.

Danube Online and the Danube App is the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s largest e-commerce grocery platform in the country. Danube Online and Danube App is a luxury brand supermarket owned and operated by the leading Saudi Arabian retailer, the BinDawood Group. A first mover in the Middle East’s e-commerce grocery space, Danube Online was launched in June 2017.

Since its establishment throughout the years, the company has lived across six cities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Up until now, Danube Online continues its progressive movement and had expanded across the United Kingdom. With a strong business root and strong leadership within the company, Danube Online had come a long way.

In just within a life span of one year since its launch, Danube Online and Danube App had redefined the grocery retail landscape in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and had won “Retail Technology of the Year” award at the Seamless Awards. With award-winning technology, Danube Online is committed to offering best in class customer experience by adopting cutting edge technologies to enhance and drive our customer offering.