Ghenwa is a Global HR, Talent Management, and Workplace Culture professional and advisor, a certified Brain-Based and Resilience Coach, a Co-Author of the book “Shaken Stirred But Deterred”, a jury member and a Judge serving a few organizations across EMEA on HR, Culture and Talent Management topics, a Keynote Speaker, an MSc holder in Business Psychology with coaching, and an award-winning Best Influential Coach and recognized as Asia’s Top 100 Women Power Leaders, her career spans two decades of working to advance start-ups and Fortune 500 companies by applying leading strategies from my “Navigating VUCA” insights, leadership, change management, and human-centric organizational cultures. Ghenwa has been featured on TV talking about Women in Leadership while Navigating VUCA and has been also a regular feature, at renowned HR summits in the UAE, on various strategic Talent Management topics and recently started publishing her articles on leadership, self-development, diversity and inclusivity, culture, and functional synergies for business success at NEXUS via LinkedIn and other business magazines. A highly engaging keynote speaker, conducting hundreds of workshops globally within Ford each year.

Sewar Azzouni is a dynamic and a strategic business partner leading talent management for the MENA Region. Sewar started her career at Nestlé where she fortified her passion in driving Talent management excellence followed by a move to Publicis Groupe. Sewar has around 10 years of experience in talent strategy development and delivery across multiple industries. Sewar is an experienced professional and skilled in mitigating change management to streamline cultural and business transformation. She is widely praised for her ability to lead teams and influence the business. In her most recent and current role, Sewar is the Head of Talent and Transformation at Publicis Groupe ME in a hybrid strategy and innovation role that is responsible for leading a large team of HR professionals, talent products and design strategy across the core Talent categories and verticals of Talent Acquisition, compensations and benefits, Performance management, Education, operational excellence and analytics and community and engagement vertical. Sewar’s career growth to a leadership role is based on the high-performance standards set by the organization for allowing young high potential that thrive and deliver to have career accelerant opportunities.

As Senior Director of Human Capital at Majid Al Futtaim – Development, Naoum Barakat is an integral member of the leadership team, overseeing all five core communities, including the company’s flagship lifestyle destination, Tilal Al Ghaf. Reporting directly to the Chief Executive Officer, Barakat is responsible for shaping robust development schemes, building corporate infrastructure, empowering employees, and fostering the business’ high-performing, dynamic culture. Maintaining a proactive and high standard of talent management is core to Barakat’s leadership approach and instrumental to ensuring the company’s mission of delivering ‘great moments for everyone, every day’ is mirrored within its internal structure. In his role, Barakat employs time-proven, actionable strategies for leadership development, employee engagement, and human resource planning, all strongly backed by talent data, HR analytics, and workforce trends. Given the nature of the real estate industry, these strategies include systemic models designed to drive employee engagement, morale, and performance in an environment experiencing both significant external and internal organisational change. Barakat is also responsible for defining a lean organisational structure and capabilities that support the growth and direction of the business, in addition to spearheading the business’ Diversity and Inclusion practices and Emiratisation initiatives. His unrivalled regional employment law expertise, coupled with top human capital best practices, are leveraged across the business to attract and retain high-potential talent, while continuously evolving the culture to aid each team in exceeding corporate objectives through various economic cycles. A longstanding member of Majid Al Futtaim over the past five years, Barakat initially joined as Human Capital Business Partner for the company’s Corporate and Hotels business unit before transitioning into his current role. Prior to Majid Al Futtaim, Barakat held leadership positions at various global multinational corporations including MARS, LaFarge, and Al Tayer Group.

Amardeep Monteiro is the Head of Partner Commercial Distribution for Sukoon Insurance for their international health plans in the UAE, internationally administered by Bupa Global. With over two decades of experience in employee benefits in the region, Amardeep has led key initiatives in sales, distribution, technical excellence, strategy, and risk management. Having worked in various roles across health and protection for leading intermediaries and insurers, she has comprehensive experience across the value chain. This diverse background has provided Amardeep with extensive knowledge of regional market dynamics, employee benefit propositions, and operating models. Her expertise encompasses strong technical and sales skills, enabling her to effectively support stakeholders in the employee benefits space. Amardeep's deep experience as an employee benefits specialist, along with her multifaceted understanding of the industry, make her well-positioned to drive success in this field.

Kathy Sorenson, Director of Human Resources at Premier Inn MENA, is a seasoned HR professional with nearly 30 years’ global experience through inhouse and consultancy roles in New Zealand, Canada and, for the last 14 years, the UAE. After running a successful Dubai-based HR consultancy for six years, Kathy joined Premier Inn MENA in 2018 to redesign and centralise the HR function, focussing on driving team engagement and company culture as well as overseeing all HR activities at the company’s Middle East corporate office and 11 hotels in the UAE and Qatar. Kathy plays a leading role in delivering new team member-focussed initiatives, including Premier Inn’s inhouse Moon & Stars Awards programme and One Team One Heartbeat, the company’s culture, training and development programme. She is also pivotal in achieving the company’s continued record-breaking team member engagement scores, and is the driving force of Premier Inn’s team member development policy of promoting from within wherever possible.