Amnah Ajmal is the Executive Vice President, Market Development, MEA for Mastercard. In this role, she is responsible for acceptance, acquiring, merchants, digital partnerships, strategy and M&A for the region. Prior to this role she led the North America product organization, based out of the US, responsible for the development and management of consumer and small business payment solutions, including credit, debit, prepaid, small business and acceptance solutions, with a focus on creating sustainable competitive differentiation for Mastercard and its customers.

Amnah joined Mastercard in 2015 as Head of Products for Middle East & Africa where she focused on driving innovation across consumer and commercial payments based on technology, partnerships and delivering digitally integrated consumer experiences.

Prior to joining Mastercard she was heading the consumer bank franchise for Standard Chartered Malaysia responsible for end-end P&L. She was also responsible for retail banking strategy for Indonesia, Malaysia & Taiwan in a global role based out of Singapore. Prior to Standard Chartered, Amnah worked at Citigroup in UAE, Egypt, UK and Poland. She held a number of positions at Citigroup including Asset Business Head for Poland responsible for full range of consumer asset products, innovation and distribution including credit cards, co brands, personal loans and mortgages

She was honored to be listed as the top 100 women in Fintech, across the globe, for 2019 by Lattice80 and recognized as the top 25 women leaders in financial technology by the Financial Technology Report US. She holds a master’s degree from London School of Economics & Political Science (LSE).

Manuel Arnaut is the Editor-in-Chief of Vogue Arabia.

Manuel Arnaut is a Portuguese journalist and editor graduated from Lisbon’s Higher School of Media and Studies and the Complutense Mr. University of Madrid, with a specialization in Social History of Fashion.

Mr. Arnaut began his professional career at Vogue Portugal, where over a period of seven years he interviewed fashion’s leading figures such as Tom Ford, Peter Dundas, Marc Jacobs, Emanuele Ungaro, and Diane von Fürstenberg, among others. After a three-year stint at GQ Portugal, where he held the position of Editor, Mr. Arnaut moved to Dubai to successfully launch Architectural Digest Middle East. Within a short period of time, Mr. Arnaut secured covers with international icons such as Zaha Hadid, Donatella Versace, and Elie Saab, and was granted exclusive access to royal palaces from across the Gulf, in an unprecedented regional coup. Mr. Arnaut is active in philanthropic work in the region: while at Architectural Digest Middle East, he organized charity events to benefit Dubai Cares and UNICEF MENA.

Mr. Arnaut has also contributed to some of the world’s top publications including the Brazilian editions of Vogue and GQ, Architectural Digest Mexico, Madame Figaro (Maxima), and Wallpaper. Aside from fashion and writing, music is one of the accomplished cellist’s passions.

Beatrice Cornacchia is the creative force leading the company’s brand strategy across the region’s markets. After starting her journey with the company in 1991, Cornacchia went on to head strategic sales functions and numerous marketing teams in a succession of key roles including Head of Consumer Marketing, Europe; Head of Issuer and Merchant Marketing, Europe; and Head of Marketing, Italy and Greece. In 2019, she was ranked among the Top 30 Most Influential Women in the Arab World by Arabian Business.

Through strategic brand engagement and captivating story creation, Cornacchia balances Mastercard’s growing positioning as a tech company with an aspirational approach that taps into its heritage of creating ‘Priceless Possibilities’. Her exceptional brand-building work over the past few years included launching the company’s innovative symbolic and sonic identity across the region, and during the pandemic resulted in enhancing Mastercard’s positioning as a trusted voice for safe, secure and seamless transactions.

Cornacchia’s efforts included the rollout of an evolved ecommerce thrust, and diligently leveraging data and tech expertise to inform stakeholders on contactless adoption as part of a winning campaign at the 2020 MEPRA Awards. Another much-publicized award-winning initiative – the Astronomical Sales campaign that tied 97% discounts to a rare solar eclipse – contributed to a sustained, dynamic progression of differentiating Mastercard’s marketing and communications.

Cornacchia is systematically leveraging the underlying concept of Priceless – the deep emotional connection that fills people’s life with meaning and purpose – to empower Mastercard’s consumers in the region to pursue their passions with priceless possibilities. Cornacchia’s secret sauce for marketing combines great content with the science of data analytics, precision targeting and an innate understanding of human emotions.

As Director of Sustainability Operations at Expo 2020 Dubai, Dina Storey leads the development and implementation of the next World Expo’s sustainable event management strategy.

Dina’s current focuses include sustainable development and integration of sustainability into both the built environment and operations. Her mandate is to ensure that Expo 2020 meets and exceeds its sustainability commitments both locally and globally. This includes planning for event and legacy, stakeholder and market engagement, and communications and awareness campaigns designed to extend Expo 2020’s sustainable impact beyond the boundaries of its physical site.

Before joining Expo 2020, Dina worked for Ernst and Young – Climate Change and Sustainability Services, advising high-profile clients, including the UAE Ministry of Interior (MOI), Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) and the other sustainability focused government and privet sector organizations globally and in the region.

Dina is a LEED-certified sustainability expert with more than 16 years of public and private sector experience. Her expertise enables her to develop innovative and cost-effective solutions that help Expo 2020 achieve its sustainability goals.

Dina has a BSc in Chemical Engineering, an MBA in international Business, and a Masters in Sustainability Management from Columbia University NYC. She has worked for the United Nations, a number of global consulting firms as well as the City of NYC and the Earth Institute. She has written a number of articles and spoken on a number of platforms with a focus on the intrinsic value of sustainability as a driver for economic development.

Nisreen joins the Group with extensive global retail and e-commerce expertise, holding senior positions across the Middle East, Europe and New York. She joins the company from HSE24, an omnichannel retailer offering fashion and beauty through digital channels and television. Nisreen led the company’s merchandising, planning, supply chain and digital strategies, with a particular focus on engaging with the young Middle East customer.

Prior to this Nisreen was the President of Virgin Megastore, Middle East and North Africa, for more than ten years, where she introduced leading retail and digital initiatives that delivered outstanding levels of customer experience. Nisreen has also held senior marketing roles at Hearst Entertainment and Bertelsmann AG.

Iqra Ismail is the director of Women’s Football at Hilltop Women’s Football Club (previously known as NUR Womens Football Club) which is a sports organization aimed at engaging women and girls in football. The club has been running for almost 3 years and Iqra strives to create a safe, comfortable space for women and girls to play football. She is also an FA qualified football coach. Iqra is the youngest Football Black List Winner of 2019, having won the coveted award at just 19 years old. She has worked with Nike, Chelsea FC and Pepsi and been featured in the Telegraph, FIFA.com, BBC, Al Jazeera and Vogue for her work in football. She is the first ever and current Captain of the Somali Women’s National Football Team, getting her first international cap in December 2019. She is also a FA qualified football coach. 

H.E Hend al Otaiba is the United Arab Emirates’ ambassador to France, a position she was appointed to in July 2021.

France is a first diplomatic posting for this seasoned government official, who established and led the first strategic communications department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Co-Operation; and was an advisor to Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, on international diplomacy issues.

Fluent in French, H.E. Al Otaiba was central to the creation of the Louvre Abu Dhabi and the promotion of enhanced economic and touristic integration between the countries.

Tracy is an Investment Banker turned Athlete & Entrepreneur. She gave up a 10-year career in Finance to venture into entrepreneurship in the fitness and wellness space. Tracy has hosted several wellness retreats and workshops across the GCC, Africa, & Asia and launched her fitness and nutrition App in May 2021. Tracy is one of the GCC’s most influential fitness entrepreneurs and has been invited to share her journey across several panels and summits.

Ioanna was born and raised, Greece and holds a diploma in Mechanical Engineering along with a Marketing Management MScBA from the Technical University of Crete. She is experienced in social media management and digital marketing having worked remotely from Greece with companies abroad at a freelance base for 5 years before starting her own company.

She has prior experience in the startup industry, co-founding Vound, a voice social application, along with John (Co-founder & CEO of InstaShop). This endeavor might not have had successful results but through it both Ioanna & John gained experience on the startup industry, traveled to San Francisco in order to secure investment & explored the entrepreneurial world.

Currently, she is residing in Dubai being the co-founder & CMO of InstaShop, what started in 2015 as a grocery shopping app in Dubai and today is available in 6 countries as the leading on demand marketplace app, nominated for 3 consecutive years as one of the most promising startups in the Arab world by Forbes.

In 2020 InstaShop was acquires by Delivery Hero, the Berlin-based global takeaway giant, for a whopping US$360 million, marking it one of the region’s largest acquisitions.

TBA

Ms Susanne Mikhail is the Regional Director of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) for the Arab States. In this capacity, she leads UN Women’s normative, programme and coordination work in the Middle East and North Africa.

Susanne brings with her over 20 years of experience in development and humanitarian work in the Middle East, Asia and Africa. Before, she was the Head of Humanitarian Aid at the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), covering over 25 countries, including Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Palestine, Syria and Yemen.

She has several years of experience in the UN system, including as the first Head of Office and Resident Programme Coordinator of UNICEF in South Sudan as well as the UNICEF Regional Office for South Asia, where she managed a number of regional protection programmes for children and women in countries such Bangladesh, India, and Sri Lanka, as well as humanitarian initiatives including on disarmament and reintegration of child soldiers in Afghanistan and Nepal.

Prior to UNICEF, she worked as Regional Advisor for the Middle East and North Africa for ECPAT International. She has also supported World Bank’s programmes on community-based economic development in fragile settings. In 1999, Susanne started her international career at OCHA in Africa, covering countries such as Burundi, Kenya Rwanda and Somalia. A national of Sweden and Egypt, Susanne holds a Master of Arts Degree in Political Science from the Uppsala University of Sweden.

Syrian refugee and Olympic swimmer Yusra Mardini was appointed the youngest ever Goodwill Ambassador for UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency in April 2017, aged just 19. She advocates for refugees globally through sharing her own inspiring story and has become a powerful voice for the forcibly displaced across the world and an example of their resilience and determination to rebuild lives and positively contribute to host communities.

Yusra was selected to compete at Rio 2016 as part of the first ever Refugee Olympic Team. She was catapulted on to the world’s stage and subsequently went on to address world leaders at the UN General Assembly, meet the Pope and be honoured with several awards.

Five years after she was a part of the inaugural IOC Refugee Olympic Team in the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics, the German resident once again contested in the 100m butterfly race at Tokyo 2020 Olypmics.