Focus: Business
Imane Rtabi
Imane Rtabi is a Moroccan information technology entrepreneur and has been instrumental in leading and developing the country's information technology infrastructure through her company, Maghrebnet. Initially founded to bring internet access to homes and businesses in Morocco, Imane restructured Maghrebnet to focus on the integration of communications solutions within large infrastructures, including network installations, perimeter security, electricity and green energy, establishing the company as a major solutions integrator in Morocco while expanding to neighboring countries. Imane co-founded and co-chairs INC Group, an investment company involved in renewable energies, light steel construction, and electrical panel building and distribution. She formerly served as vice president of AFEM in charge of International Relations (The Association…
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Jacob Ritvo
Jacob Ritvo is Head of Consumer Product Marketing at Facebook. He was previously Education and Policy Industry Marketing Lead at Twitter, serving as Twitter's primary expert on the education and politics verticals and working to align its value proposition with customers in those industries. Before that he lead marketing and operations at 2ndLine.tv, a performing arts technology startup that was acquired. Earlier in his career, Jacob served as Congressman Pete Visclosky's Director of Communications, as Congresswoman Grace Napolitano's Press Secretary and Legislative Assistant, and in Senator Chuck Schumer's press office, as well as a variety of political campaigns. Jacob has a BA in sociology from Cornell and an MBA in…
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Fares Mabrouk
Fares Mabrouk is Country Director and Fund Manager for Yunus Social Business (YSB) in Tunisia. Founded and led by Professor Muhammad Yunus, YSB helps create social businesses around the world by setting up incubator funds and providing services to companies, governments, foundations, and NGOs. Previously, Fares founded a number of for-profit and nonprofit organizations in North Africa focused on mobile banking and oil logistics. He is a co-founder of and advisor to HuffingtonPost Maghreb, a French language edition of the Huffington Post covering Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco. Fares has degrees from Pierre and Marie Curie University, ENSAE Paris, and Havard's Kennedy School of Government.
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Chude Jideonwo
Chude Jideonwo is Co-Founder of the media group RED | For Africa, and human flourishing company Joy, Inc. Chude's work centers on storytelling from across disciplines, to inspire new, human-centered narratives about politics, markets, faith, identity, and society in Africa. He is also host of #WithChude, a TV and podcast network syndicated across Africa, telling stories that enable and strengthen the mind, the heart, and the spirit. He also hosts #ChudeExplains with documentaries focused on social justice, true crime and culture from the Black African perspective. RED, one of Africa’s leading media content and consulting companies, has worked on national elections and social movements in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Sierra Leone…
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Saleh Barakat
Saleh Barakat is an expert in contemporary Arab art and founded the Agial Art Gallery in 1991 and Saleh Barakat Gallery in 2016, both in Beirut. As the executive manager of the two galleries, he has participated in building major collections of modern and contemporary Arab art. With a strong business background with decades of experience in the art sector, Saleh is deeply engaged in developing a healthy market environment for creative expression in the Arab world. He has curated several pan-Arab exhibitions including the IXth Francophone Summit in Beirut, the 2003 World Bank Summit in Dubai, and "The Road to Peace: Painting in Times of War 1975-1991" at the…
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Mohamed Baba
Mohamed Baba is Chairman of the Board of Haag Wonen, an Amsterdam-based non-profit organization helping to provide safe and affordable housing for vulnerable populations in the city. He previously worked as the Director of Strategy and Policymaking for the city of Amsterdam where he focused on the nexus between multiculturalism and economic expansion in the greater city area. Prior to working for the city of Amsterdam, in 2000, Mohamed co-founded Mexit Intercultural Management, a consultancy working to overcome cultural barriers and promote successful integration of immigrant communities in Europe with a specialization in intercultural change management. From 2011 to 2015, Mohamed served as Vice-Chairman of the international supervisory board of Rutgers…
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Srikumar Misra
Sri Misra is a serial entrepreneur shaping the future of decentralized finance through aarnâ protocol, an AI-crypto platform creating the next generation web3 asset management stack to democratize access to the rapidly evolving world of digital assets. As the founder of Milk Mantra, India’s first VC-funded agri-food startup, Sri championed a new-age ethically sourced premium dairy products, gaining recognition as a practitioner of conscious capitalism. His innovative work has earned global media attention and features in top business school case studies. Previously a key member of the Tata Group’s elite TAS, Sri gained international experience in London and Johannesburg and spearheaded M&A in the consumer food & beverage sector. He…
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Sarah Toomey
Sarah Toomey is an engagement manager at the Camber Collective, a strategy consulting firm helping clients navigate complex change. She graduated from Yale College in 2011 and from Yale's School of Management in 2017. Prior to Yale she worked as a Strategy & Research Analyst at the One Acre Fund in Nairobi, Kenya and as a Strategy & Operations Consultant at Deloitte Consulting in Washington, D.C. At the One Acre Fund Sarah led internal consulting projects to improve the livelihoods of over 300,000 smallholder farmers in East and Southern Africa. Sarah previously worked at Deloitte where she was a fellow within the Emerging Markets practice and provided technical assistance to…
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Lai Yahaya
Lai Yahaya is a lawyer, political economy analyst, and public policy policy advisor with more than 20 years’ experience advising development finance institutions, senior government officials, and leading corporatations in Sub-Saharan Africa on infrastructure development, public private partnerships, and energy sector reform. He is currently Senior Special Assistant (Planning and Strategy) to President Muhammadu Buhari in Nigeria and was most recently Senior Policy Advisor to Rt. Hon. Raila Odinga, in his role as African Union High Representative for Infrastructure Development in Africa. Lai previously led the Senior Advisors Group of the Power Africa Initiative, working with a group of former Heads of State and industry leaders, advising them on how…
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WEN Yuanhua
WEN Yuanhua manages the Corporate Banking, International Trade Finance, e-Banking, Information Technology, and Research and Product Development departments of the China Construction Bank, Tianjin Branch. He is responsible for over 6,000 employees and has led successful reform, reorganization, and restructuring efforts resulting in increased competitiveness and market share for CCB. He has extensive experience with banking reform in China and has held a variety of management positions at several of China’s major banks. Previously, Yuanhua worked for China CITIC Bank and Central Huijin Company Ltd., a shareholder of the Big 4 Chinese banks. There, he took part in the financial restructuring of ICBC, the largest commercial bank in China, and…
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