Founder Creative Confidence

Sumayah is the Founder and Managing Director of Creative Confidence. She is at the forefront of innovation, collaboration, creativity coaching & facilitation. She is a respected coach, trainer, and public speaker. With a deep understanding of the local mindset, Sumayah brings new and practical methodologies and tools, helping people collaborate and bring ideas to life. Her clients range across sectors from business leaders, to entrepreneurs and educational institutions.

Senior Planner, KOC

Mr. Qutaiba M. Okasha currently holds the position of Senior Planner at Kuwait Oil Company, Corporate Planning Group, specificity in Performance Management Team; whereby his role is oversee the short term implantation of the 2040 Strategy by utilizing various business tools; for example (Scorecards, Business Intelligent tools) and introducing new business processes and tools that will help the organization achieve its targets and optimize its resources.

Mr. Okasha held several positions at prestigious companies ranging from Oil& Gas, Hospitality to I.T. Services Companies bringing with him over 22 year experience in the field of Strategic Planning, Performance Management and Information Technology and extensive experience and proven success leading strategy and developing new business and maximizing profit for various business fields. An innovative and resourceful results-orientated professional, with extensive negotiation skills and proven ability to capitalize on business opportunities. He holds an MBA in General & Strategic Management, a BSc Degree in Information Technology & Computing and a higher Diploma in Accounting. Mr. Okasha has over 10 international publication ranging from upstream to downstream. He is also a member of Harvard Business School Alumni, Thukhur Club (National Project for Leaders of Development) and a member in KMBS Alumni.

General Manager HR Group, NBK

Mr. Emad joined the National Bank of Kuwait on March 2003 where he started his career as a Manager heading the Recruitment Department. Moreover, he headed the HR Operations and then deputized for the General Manager of Group Human Resources. He has been officially appointed as Head of Group Human Resources for NBK on a General Manager level reporting to the Chief Executive Officer since October 2014. Before joining NBK, Emad has been appointed in several managerial roles at Kuwait University and Qualitynet, among others.

Emad is an alumni from both Harvard Business School and American University of Beirut (AUB) after completing the General Management Program (GMP) at HBS and an Executive MBA at AUB respectively. Additionally, he holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Educational Psychology from Kuwait University.

Legal Department, Al Ghanim Industries

Santiago Lucero is Deputy Chief Legal Officer at Alghanim Industries, one of the largest privately-owned companies in the Gulf region. He graduated from Harvard Business School’s General Management Program (GMP 27) in 2019. Lucero’s broad experience encompasses various areas of law relating to cross-border practice, including corporate and commercial law, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, franchising and international dispute resolution. He regularly advises all Alghanim Industries business units worldwide with respect to diverse legal matters, with a particular focus on strategic partnerships and overseas operations. Prior to joining Alghanim Industries in 2007, Lucero was an associate in private international law firms in New York and Paris. He is dual-qualified (New York, 2002 and England and Wales, 2013) and holds degrees from l’Institut d’Études Politiques et Sociales de Paris (Sciences-Po) (1997), Amherst College (BA, 1998) and New York University School of Law (JD, 2001). Mr. Lucero is fluent in English, Spanish and French, and has a working knowledge of several other languages, including Arabic.

Vice President, Harvard Club of Kuwait

Mrs. Nadia Al-Zeabot is a Senior Planner with the Innovation & Technology group at Kuwait Oil Company (KOC). She has over 18 years of rich experience in the areas of Petroleum Engineering and Geosciences, having worked with the Exploration, Field development, and Drilling functions at KOC. Combining an impeccable academic and professional record, Nadia has played a key role in implementing various transformational initiatives, such as Kuwait International Petroleum Research Center, Upstream Center of Excellence, Innovation Excellence, amongst others. She has participated in various local and international conferences as a speaker, author, and panel chair. Mrs. Nadia previously chaired the Women in Geoscience and Engineering Special Interest Community (WGE SIC) under the European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers (EAGE). She is also a member of the Professional Women Network (PWN) for KPC and its subsidiaries. Most recently, she was elected as the Vice President - Programs and Schools for the Harvard Club of Kuwait.

Mrs. Nadia completed her Bachelors and Masters degree in Petroleum Geology from Kuwait University. She has a Masters in Petroleum Engineering from University of Southern California (USA), and an MBA with specialization in General and Strategic Management from Maastricht School of Management (Kuwait). She also completed the extended program on Leadership Development from Harvard University in 2014.

President and CEO, Roots Pharmaceutical Company

Mr. Zayed has led a very successful career in the Pharmaceutical arena in the Middle East. He progressively moved in his professional career from a sales head of Biologics in Kuwait, moving to heading sales across all the GCC countries. Thereafter he was appointed as a regional sales head of the entire Middle East, including Egypt market, and eventually as the head of Rare disease Franchise of Biologics across the MENA region. Mr. Zayed is a clinical Pharmacist who graduated from Cairo University in 1996 and passed the Canadian Pharmacy board.

Mr. Zayed also completed a Master’s degree in Customer Relation Management in Pharmaceuticals at KMBS. He successfully completed a General Management Program (GMP23) at Harvard Business School, Boston MA, in 2017.