Paul Salem is president and CEO of the Middle East Institute. He focuses on issues of political change, transition, and conflict as well as the regional and international relations of the Middle East. Salem is the author and editor of a number of books and reports including Escaping the Conflict Trap: Toward Ending Civil Wars in the Middle East (ed. with Ross Harrison, MEI 2019). Prior to joining MEI, Salem was the founding director of the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut, Lebanon between 2006 and 2013.  From 1999 to 2006, he was director of the Fares Foundation and in 1989-1999 founded and directed the Lebanese Center for Policy Studies, Lebanon's leading public policy think tank.

Omar Shakir serves as the Israel and Palestine Director at Human Rights Watch, where he investigates human rights abuses in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza and has authored several major reports, including a 2021 report comprehensively documenting how Israeli authorities are committing the crimes against humanity of apartheid and persecution against millions of Palestinians. As a result of his advocacy, the Israeli government deported Omar in November 2019. Prior to his current role, he was a Bertha Fellow at the Center for Constitutional Rights, where he focused on US counterterrorism policies, including legal representation of Guantanamo detainees. As the 2013-14 Arthur R. and Barbara D. Finberg Fellow at Human Rights Watch, he investigated human rights violations in Egypt, including the Rab’a massacre, one of the largest killings of protesters in a single day. A former Fulbright Scholar in Syria, Omar holds a JD from Stanford Law School, where he co-authored a report on the civilian consequences of US drone strikes in Pakistan as a part of the International Human Rights & Conflict Resolution Clinic, an MA in Arab Studies from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Affairs, and a BA in International Relations from Stanford.

Wadah Khanfar currently is the president of Al Sharq Forum, an NGO that is specilised in networking amongst policy makers and strategists in Al Sharq region, he is the chairman and co-founder of Common Action Forum, and he is a member of board of trustees of International Crisis Group ICG, the former Director General of Al Jazeera Network.

Niels Annen is a German politician who has been serving as Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development in the coalition government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz since 2021. He served as Minister of State at the Federal Foreign Office from 2018 to 2021 in the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel. Mr. Annen has served as member of the German Bundestag from 2005 to 2009 and since 2013. As a long-time member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Annen established himself as a foreign policy expert, focusing largely on the German engagement in Afghanistan and the Middle East. As a Spanish speaker, he is also well versed in the history and politics of Latin and Central America. Within the Committee on Foreign Affairs, he has served on the Subcommittee for Arms Control and Non Proliferation as well as the Subcommittee for the United Nations. From 2014 to 2018, he served as the Foreign Policy Spokesperson for the Social Democratic Party of Germany. Mr. Annen was a Senior Transatlantic Resident at the German Marshall Fund in Washington between 2010 and 2011. From 2011 until 2013 he worked for the department for International Policy Analysis of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Berlin. He holds a Master Degree in International Public Policy of the Johns Hopkins University, Washington D.C., USA. Twitter & Instagram: @NielsAnnen

 Logan Cochrane is an Associate Professor at HBKU and is Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in the College of Public Policy. He is an Associate Fellow of the Ethiopian Academy of Sciences.

Sami Abu Shehadeh is a Palestinian politician based in Jaffa. He is the chairman of the National Democratic Assembly party since August 2022. He served as a member of the Israeli Parliament in the Joint List on behalf of the National Democratic Assembly party from September 2019 until November 2022. In addition, from 2010 till 2013, Abu Shehadeh served as a member of the Tel Aviv-Jaffa Municipality Council on behalf of the Jaffa List.Abu Shehadeh studied History of the Middle East and Political Sciences at Tel Aviv University and specialized in researching the history of Jaffa as an Arab cultural center during the Mandate period. He also studied Career Counseling at Tel Aviv University and Youth Studies at the Tel Aviv-Jaffa College.Since mid-1990’s Abu Shehadeh was an active member and on the board of several NGOs that worked with the Palestinian minority in Jaffa and within the Arab-Palestinian minority in Israel in general, such as: Darna – the Popular Committee for Housing and Land Rights in Jaffa, Mada Al-Karmel Research Center, The Arab Cultural Association, Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel.Abu Shehadeh established in 2010 the Jaffa Youth Movement that has been working on empowering Arab-Palestinian youth in Jaffa, developing their national awareness and identity, and preparing high school students for academic careers.

Erin McCandless is an academic and policy advisor with three decades experience working on and in conflict- and crisis-affected settings in over 20 countries globally. Her focus lies on understanding these contexts and how processes of peacemaking, peacebuilding and transformative social change unfold and nurtured in synergistic ways towards the fostering of more just, sustainable and peaceful futures. Dr. McCandless is affiliated with the Politics Department at the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa (where she resides), the Institute for Development and Sustainability in Germany and the Global Institute for Strategic Research in Qatar. For the spring semester of 2024 she will join the Hamad Bin Khalifa University’s College of Public Policy as a Distinguished Visiting Professor of Public Value. Dr. McCandless has worked extensively with the United Nations in Liberia and across UN agencies combining research, policy advising and strategic facilitation. From 2015-2018 she directed a multi-country research and policy dialogue project on Forging Resilient Social Contracts, and from 2011-2018 she served as a senior civil society representative in the International Dialogue on Peacebuilding and Statebuilding ‘New Deal’ process. Dr. McCandless is a sought after speaker and author of more than 100 publications, including three books (one edited), several impactful United Nations studies.

Adrian V. S. Hill is the Director and Founder of the Jenner Institute and Mittal Professor of Vaccinology at Oxford University. His group has been one of the leaders in the development of adenoviral and other vaccines against infectious diseases and he has tested these in extensively in clinical trials in Africa and Europe. In partnership with the Serum Institute of India and AstraZeneca the Jenner Institute developed rapidly a ChAdOx1 vector-based SARS-CoV-2 vaccine which saved an estimated 6.2 million lives in 2021 alone. His lab has also designed a new malaria vaccine, R21/Matrix-MTM, which has recently reached regulatory reviews for licensure, again in partnership with the Serum Institute of India and also Novavax Inc. In 2021 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society and appointed an Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) in Queen Elizabeth’s Birthday Honours.

Dr Hossam Elsharkawi has over 30 years of professional experience in the humanitarian world, spanning assignments in more than 35 countries, comprising volunteer and professional work with many National Societies, ICRC and IFRC. He was previously Vice President of Health in Emergencies, Learning and Innovation at the Canadian Red Cross, where he led the preparedness and response for complex humanitarian emergencies.Previously, Dr Hossam worked with the World Health Organization (WHO) to develop guidance for medical teams responding to health emergencies in armed conflict and insecure environments.Dr Hossam holds a Bachelor’s degree in Clinical Biochemistry, from City University in London, United Kingdom, a Certificate in Healthcare Management from the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts, and a Ph.D. degree in Health Management from Alberta University in Canada. He is currently an Adjunct Professor at the University of British Columbia and guest faculty at McGill and McMaster Universities. He teaches disaster response and healthcare in complex humanitarian crises.

Nudhara Yusuf is Executive Coordinator of the Global Governance Innovation Network (GGIN) and Researcher with Stimson’s Global Governance, Justice & Security Program. She also serves as Global Youth Coordinator at the Coalition for the UN We Need (C4UN), and advisor to several civil society organizations including UNA-UK and NGOCSD-NY; serving on the Board of foundations and charities focused on empowering young people and women. Prior to Stimson, Nudhara worked with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)’s SDG Integration Team and helped build the UNDP Regional Bureau for the Asia Pacific’s Strategic Foresight Unit. She has supported both Indian state welfare ministers in designing social inclusion programs at the grassroots, and the British Shadow Secretary of State for Justice in UK’s Parliament. Nudhara’s research and advocacy primarily focuses on governance of and with future generations, the role of globalization, technology, and development in shifting the multilateral architecture, and engaging youth in governance. She is lead author of the AI and Cyber Chapter of the Doha Forum’s Future of International Cooperation Report 2023.

Bruno Lanvin is currently the President of IMD’s Smart City Observatory, and a Distinguished Fellow at INSEAD. He is the co-founder and co-author of four of the most widely used global indices on technology (Network Readiness Index), innovation (Global Innovation Index), talent (Global Talent Competitiveness Index) and Smart Cities (Smart City Index). He is also the author of the Future Readiness Economic Index Report (FREI). He is co-founder and advisor of Portulans Institute, a thinktank based in Washington DC. He is the founder and president of DL Partners, a Geneva-based consultancy, and of Descartes Institute, a think tank also based in Geneva.During 30 years, he worked at the United Nations and at the World Bank, where he held senior positions. He currently advises governments, international organizations and multinational companies on strategic issues and the overall notion of future readiness. He is a member of several boards in different parts of the world. His latest book (The Future Is Young) was published in July 2022.Previously, he was the Executive Director for Global Indices at INSEAD. From 2007 to 2012, he was the Executive Director of INSEAD’s eLab, managing INSEAD’s teams in Paris, Singapore and Abu Dhabi. From 2000 to 2007, Bruno Lanvin worked for the World Bank, where he was inter alia Senior Advisor for E-strategies, and Regional Coordinator (Europe and Central Asia) for ICT and e-government issues. He was also heading the Capacity Building Practice of the World Bank’s Global ICT Department, and Chairman of the Bank’s e‐Thematic Group. He has taught in a number of universities in Europe and in the United States.Bruno Lanvin studied in France and in the USA. He holds a BA in Mathematics and Physics, an MBA (HEC), a PhD in Economics (La Sorbonne), and certificates from INSEAD (IDP-C) and MIT (Smart Cities).A French national, and the proud father of four, he currently lives in Switzerland.

Ghida Fakhry is an international broadcast journalist with over 20 years experience as a reporter, news anchor, columnist/opinion writer, and moderator. She is currently based in Washington DC and hosts Inside America with Ghida Fakhry, a weekly program covering US politics, and Bigger than Five, a monthly global affairs program for international broadcaster TRT World. She regularly moderates UN conferences and other global forums, including the World Economic Forum. She was Moderator of season 1 of the recently-relaunched Doha debates. She has also been a contributor to the Huffington Post. At the launch of Aljazeera English in 2006, she served as a Lead Anchor for the Washington D.C. broadcast center.* She presented the daily prime time 'Newshour' and conducted high-level interviews for 'Talk to Aljazeera'’ In November 2008, she co-anchored the channel's 12-hour live coverage of the US presidential election from Washington D.C. She moved to the channel's Doha headquarters in 2010 as Senior News and Programs Presenter. She also hosted the award-winning program 'Witness' and was a regular presenter of the current affairs program 'Inside Story.'’A passionate journalist, Ghida started her career as a Political Correspondent for a leading UK-based Middle East newspaper before moving into television news. She was a frequent analyst on CNN International and a CNN World Report Contributor. As New York Bureau Chief for Aljazeera, she covered the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center and its aftermath. She reported on-location from Iraq and Afghanistan following the US-led invasion in 2003 and conducted in-depth interviews with senior US officials, including Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Colin Powell. Ghida Fakhry has also reported extensively from the United Nations in New York, covering the Security Council and annual sessions of the General Assembly. She traveled with Secretary-General Kofi Annan throughout the Middle East and Africa and conducted several in-depth interviews with him throughout his 10-year tenure. She also interviewed several Heads of State/Government, including Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi, Israeli President Shimon Peres, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, among others.

Ann Snow MBE was appointed UK Special Representative for Syria in succession to Jonathan Hargreaves. She took up her appointment in May 2023.Ms Snow joined the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) in 2009. She has served in Malaysia and worked on Iran, China and Counter Terrorism. Before joining the FCDO, she worked for an international human rights organisation, the UK Parliament and as a Middle East analyst in the private sector.Curriculum vitae2023 to present UK Special Representative for Syria2022 to present Full-time Language Training (Arabic)2020-2022 FCDO, Deputy Head, China Department2017 to 2020 FCO, Head Iran Nuclear, Middle East and North Africa Directorate2012 to 2017 Kuala Lumpur, Political Section, British High Commission2012  Full-time Language Training (Bahasa Malaysia)2009 to 2012 FCO, Research Analyst, Counter Terrorism Department2006 to 2009 Amnesty International UK, Policy Advisor2003 to 2006 UK Parliament, Committee Specialist, Foreign Affairs Committee2002 to 2003 Dunn & Bradstreet, Analyst/Editor2000 to 2002 Oxford Analytica, Middle East Editor

Dr. Al-Khal earned his MBBCh from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland in 1989. He undertook his internship at Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) in the State of Qatar, and in 1991, joined the Internal Medicine Residency Training Program at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine, CT, USA, followed by completion of a 2-year fellowship in Infectious Diseases at Hartford Hospital. He was awarded the Diploma of the American Board of Infectious Diseases in 1996. He was recertified in Infectious Diseases in 2013.Dr. Al-Khal holds several clinical positions, chairs a variety of committees, and has led number of strategic projects at HMC. Between 1999-2001, he servwd as the Chair of Family Medicine and as the Chair of Department of Medicine from 2001 until 2012. Dr. Al-Khal has been the Head of Infectious Diseases  Division since 1998 and the Lead of the Communicable Disease Center and is also the National TB Program Manager and the Director of the Clinical AIDS Program. As Deputy Chief Medical Officer and the Director of Medical Education/DIO, he has notably led HMC's achievement of ACGME-I accreditation, and in 2018 recieved ACGME's Physician  International Award, to recognize his outstanding contributions to improving the quality of graduate medical education in Qatar. Dr. Al-Khal also has an advisory role to several public health programs under the umbrella of Qatar's Ministry of Public Health.Dr. Al-Khal currently holds an appointment as Adjunct Professor of Clinical Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine Qatar (WCM-Q) and as Clinical Professor of Medicine at Qatar University  College of Medicine  (QU CMED) as well as serves as QU CMED's Director of the Clinical Affairs  Department. He remains active in research and publishes regularly in the fields of Internal Medicine,.Pharmacology, Infectious Diseases  and Medical Education.

On 31 October 2022, Mr. Othman BELBEISI was appointed Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa (RD, MENA) with the IOM Regional Office, Cairo.Between September 2019 and September 2022, Mr. BELBEISI served as the Senior Regional Advisor for the MENA in Geneva HQ.Mr. BELBEISI joined IOM in March 2003. He has since held various positionsacross multiple IOM portfolios, including Chief of Mission, Libya (April 2013 to September 2019). He was the IOM Country Representative in Lebanon (February 2008 to April 2013) Mr. BELBEISI is of Jordanian nationality and commenced with IOM in Amman.Mr. BELBEISI has been deployed to numerous MENA locations throughout his career, with a focus on managing migration crises. He served as Emergency Coordinator for the Syrian and Libyan crises and act as the Director General's Special Envoy for Iraq since early 2022. Mr. BELBEISI has attained a wide experience in Emergency Responses and Migration Management.Holding both a bachelor's and master's degree in Business Administration, Mr. BELBEISI also contributed to numerous research papers on topics related to migration and displacement.

Dr Khalid Koser is the founding Executive Director of the Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund, the global fund dedicated to preventing violent extremism. He is Professor of Conflict, Peace, and Security at the University of Maastricht. Khalid was appointed MBE for services to asylum seekers and refugees, chaired the World Economic Forum Future Council on Migration, and was editor of the Journal of Refugee Studies. He was recently ranked by Stanford University in the top 2 percent of scientists worldwide.

Debjani Ghosh is the President of the nasscom since April 2018. A veteran of the technology industry, she is the first women at the helm of the organization’s three-decade history. Driven by a strong belief in the need for human-centric technology that enhances lives and livelihood, Debjani is a vocal advocate for the ethical and responsible use of technology. Under her leadership, nasscom actively works with the industry to ensure responsible practices and build trust as a core competitive advantage for the tech industry in India. Under her guidance, NASSCOM has prioritized the development of a Responsible AI Resource Kit, in partnership with leading industry stakeholders, to promote the adoption of responsible tech solutions. Back in 2019, nasscom under her leadership coined the term “Techade” to define a decade where technology will play a transformative role to create a sustainable, equitable and safe future, powered by human-centric innovation.  Debjani also believes that by the end of this Techade  the Tech Industry in India will be established as the world’s leading technology ecosystem and the ""I"" in innovation will stand for India, fuelled by India’s young talent, the growing confidence in our capabilities to solve for the world and our proven success in building open and interoperable tech ecosystems like the Digital Public Infrastructure, to deliver at scale services grounds up. Debjani is also a vocal advocate for building a truly inclusive technology sector where talent and meritocracy thrives above all.  In January 2018, Debjani was felicitated by the President of India under the auspices of the ‘First Ladies’ program, which honors exceptional women pioneers in their respective fields. In 2020, she has been honored by Vogue as the Tech Leader of the year 2020. Recognizing her contribution in the field of technology, Debjani was also facilitated in ‘40 over 40 - World’s Most Inspiring Women’ list by Fe:maleOneZero (F10) Magazine in 2022. With multiple feathers in her cap, before joining nasscom, she was the first woman to lead Intel India and the Manufacturers' Association for Information Technology (MAIT), she was also a member of the executive council at nasscom. She believes that learning never stops, and a trainable mindset is the biggest strength one can have. Debjani holds a bachelor's degree in political science from Osmania University in Hyderabad, India, and an MBA degree in marketing from S.P. Jain Institute of Management and Research in Mumbai, India.

Ms. Afrah Al-Zouba, is the managing director of the Executive Bureau for the Acceleration of Aid absorption and Support for Policy Reforms, as the bureau supports the government's efforts in priority areas. Al-Zouba was appointed as an advisor in the area of humanitarian relief to the Prime Minister, in 2019. She also served as Deputy Secretary-General of the National Dialogue Conference and the Constitution Drafting Committee (2013-2015).Al-Zouba was among a delegation of Yemeni women leaders participating in the Kuwait negotiations in 2017, at the invitation of the Office of the UN Special Envoy to Yemen. She  Participated in dialogues and seminars with other high-caliber Yemeni politicians and peacemakers to support UN efforts for peace building,   and represented Yemen in many regional and international events. She has worked for more than 20 years in development, research, conflict resolution and peacebuilding, and has extensive experience working with local communities, identifying their needs and strengthening their resilience. Her development experience covers a wide range of issues such as poverty reduction interventions to health and education, etc.She undertook supervisory roles for projects related to capacity building of youth and inclusion in political and social life. In addition to women’s empowerment programs.Al-Zouba holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Science and Technology in Sana’a, a Master’s degree in Community Health from the National University of Malaysia and a Bachelor’s degree in Pharmaceutical sciences from Sana’a University.