Rola Abdul-Latif is Research Manager at the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) in Washington, a non-profit organization that supports democracy and elections around the world. As IFES’ Research Manager, Rola specializes in designing and implementing public opinion and evaluation research projects to inform and support IFES’ core functions in elections and democracy assistance.

Alaa is CEO of the retail chain Kazyon, as well as Co-founder and Board member of Checkmate. Alaa holds an MBA from INSEAD and has had a highly successful career working for Mars Inc; as an investment banker and as an angel investor. He is also a keen sportsman and has dedicated a large part of his life to social and environmental projects across the globe.

After qualifying with an MBA from the London School of Business & Finance in 2010, Abdul was employed by the Shihab Insurance and Trading Agencies Ltd, Deloitte, UNITE Group plc (UK). He then moved to the Yemen MicroFinance Network where he worked as a Financial Controller. He is now a Finance Manager for ‘Yemen Education For Employment’. Abdul's long-term objective is to become a highly-skilled financial analyst and start his own financial consulting firm.

Barakat has extensive experience in media, governance, development and capacity building, and has worked with a wide range of policy-makers, corporate clients, and international agencies in Iraq and the UK, including British Department for International Development.

Areej holds an MBA in Public Governance. She has led and conducted several campaigns for the Syrian and Iraqi refugees in cooperation with Caritas and has also founded and co-managed a number of educational institutes under a company called Thaqafaty. In addition, Areej has led the marketing team at Teamwork, developing several key marketing plans and strategies.

Fahmia graduated from the University of Westminster in 2009 with an MA in International Relations. She is currently working for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) as a Communication Analyst, promoting and raising awareness about reproductive health, reproductive rights, gender, and population issues in order to help reduce maternal mortality in Yemen.

Mohammed graduated with an MSc in Energy and Environmental Technology and Economics. With a long history of volunteer work, he has undertaken numerous PR and journalist roles across the Middle East. Mohammed currently works as an Educational Consultant at the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in London.

Samah graduated from Goldsmiths in 2004 with an MA in Management of Learning and Teaching. She’s an internationally recognized educational expert with more than 12 years of experience and is currently working as a senior consultant on advanced Learning Difficulties Assessments and IQ Tests at Tamayuz Centre – Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Antar Abdellah is an MA linguistics graduate from SOAS university. He has published 13 books and has a specialist understanding of the relationship between the West and the Arab world. Antar is currently an Associate Professor of Foreign Language Pedagogy at the College of Education, Taibeh University, in Saudi Arabia.

Ibrahim Natil is the founder of Society Voice Foundation in Palestine. Dr. Natil is an international development consultant and has worked for many international organisations such as UNDP, GTZ, a World Bank project and other Palestinian NGOs. He has also launched and managed more than 45 human rights organisations that deal with, women empowerment, peace building and good governance in Palestine.