HE Marwan bin Jassim Al Sarkal was appointed Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Shurooq in 2009 at the time of its establishment as per the Emiri Decree no.2 of 2009 that was issued by His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah. In his capacity as CEO, he intensified efforts to drive and lead the investment and cultural growth and development of Sharjah.

HE Marwan bin Jassim Al Sarkal is Executive Chairman of the Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq), an entity tasked with leading the continued transformation and economic diversification of the emirate of Sharjah.

Operating under the wise directives of His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah, and under the vision of Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi, Chairperson of Shurooq, HE Marwan bin Jassim Al Sarkal played an integral role in transforming Sharjah’s economic infrastructure, diversifying markets and facilitating new investments by leading projects and partnerships across major sectors such as tourism, healthcare, environmental, logistics, real-estate, retail and light manufacturing.

Al Sarkal has spearheaded all the major infrastructural projects and key partnerships at Shurooq, initiating the development of its portfolio of projects, initiatives and partnerships estimated at a total value of more than AED 10 billion (more than USD 2 billion), and covering Sharjah’s western, central and eastern regions.

His creative, innovative thinking and ambitious drive, rooted in the emirate’s traditions, has enabled Shurooq to adopt worldclass standards in providing an array of services and infrastructural facilities to attract investors from the UAE, the Middle East, and beyond.

At the age of 23, Salbi founded Women for Women International, a grassroots humanitarian and development organization dedicated to serving women survivors of wars rebuild their lives. Under her leadership as the organization’s CEO (1993-2011), the organization grew from helping 30 women upon its inception to more than 460,000 women in 8 conflict areas leading to a distribution of more than $140 million dollars in aid and loans, and has impacted more than 1.7 million family members.

In 2015, Zainab Salbi launched Adin Productions, a company specializes in content for women and by women. Under her leadership, she created and hosted award winning The Nida’a Show, a talk show dedicated to addressing and inspiring women in the Middle East, The Zainab Salbi Project, an original global series in collaboration with Huffington Post US and AOL, #MeToo, Now What? original series with PBS, and Through Her Eyes with Yahoo News.

Salbi is the author of several books including the national bestseller Between Two Worlds: Escape from Tyranny: Growing Up in the Shadow of Saddam; The Other Side of War; Women’s Stories of Survivor and Hope; If you Knew Me You Would Care; and Freedom is an Inside Job. She is frequent commentator on MSNBC, BBC, CNN, Al Jazeera as well as a contributor to Women in the World in association with the New York Times, Fortune Magazine, Worth Magazine, Porter Magazine, Elle among others.

Salbi is consistently identified as one of the most influential women in the world from Newsweek (2011), Fortune Magazine (2014), The Guardian (2015), and Fast Company (2015), Arabian Business (2016/17/18). She serves as a jury member of The Conrad Hilton Humanitarian Prize (a 2 million dollars annual award), and a board member of Synergos Institute, and International Refugee Assistant Project. She advises and speaks at various corporate retreats and women’s summits about women’s issues, the Middle East, and value driven leadership.

Oprah Winfrey named her as one of 25 women changing the world to People’s Magazine (2015), President Clinton named her as one of the 21 Century heroes to Harper’s Bazaar (2011), and Foreign Policy Magazine named her as one of the 100 Global Thinkers (2016).

Mr. Jafar started several businesses including: banking, insurance company, aviation, real estate development company, hospitality management, and now healthcare. His development experience in Dubai includes Palazzo Versace Hotel, Emirates Financial Towers and Dubai’s D1 Tower. The businesses also include Signature Clubs International, the investor and operate of Capital Clubs, in Dubai, Bahrain, Nairobi, and Lagos.

He is now focused on The Health Bank, a global health management company that focuses in bridging the gap between patients and the healthcare industry through health tech & excellence in service.

He believes in the principles of Triple Bottom Line which focuses on social responsibility, environmental sustainability, and economic growth.

He is currently on the board of like-minded organizations such as Synergos, Education for Employment (EFE), and Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi’s Foundation.

In 2015 he founded the Global Sustainability Network (GSN) along with Monsignor Sanchez Sorondo and Lord Bishop Alistair Redford, establishing a platform to achieve Goal 8 of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Goal 8 is about sustainable economic growth, job creation & youth unemployment with a main focus on Ending Modern Day Slavery.

The GSN brings together over 1500 leaders from each respective sector; Faith, Government, Business, Media, and Non-profits to work collaboratively to accelerate the achievement of Goal 8. The group meets quarterly, rotating between venues such as the Vatican, the UN HQ in New York, Lambeth Palace in London, and Dubai.

Xavi Nunes experience covers FMCG, Sports & Tech Industries across Europe, AP and MEA in companies & organizations such as Mondelez, Nestle, ASICS, Adidas and AIESEC Global Youth Organization before joining elGrocer. Xavi is passionate about Creativity, Marketing, Social Impact & Sports, and that mix has led him to massively build & grow Brands & Businesses across the GCC & beyond. Now, Xavi leads Marketing for elGrocer, driving change in the ecom grocery for the UAE market.

With over 15 years of marketing experience, Layal has contributed to the growth of key brands by creating and executing B2C and B2B strategies. She kicked off her career in Lebanon, and joined Coca-Cola in 2006, where she was responsible for product development, campaign launches and partnerships. She moved to OMD in Dubai in 2008, joining the branded entertainment unit and creating award-winning content for brands such as Pepsico, Henkel and du. Her most recent role was Head of Marketing at OMD, where she led its brand transformation and raised the profile of the company through events, editorial, new business and thought-leadership initiatives. She joined the Omniwomen committee in 2017 and launched the Dubai chapter to champion diversity and inclusion in the workplace.

When she 's not working, you' ll find her writing, reading, creating content for her baking blog, and supporting her favourite football team, Juventus.

Sirine is a strategy, innovation and growth expert with more than 15 years of experience across Europe and MENA. In her role as Strategic Partnerships, Fintech and Ventures Lead at Visa CEMEA, she led the launch of the first Visa Fintech Partner Program and managed various digital strategic partnerships with fintech challengers and ecosystem enablers. Prior to Visa, Sirine led the early-stage investment arm of Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority, Government of Dubai, investing in and managing a portfolio of 20+ tech startups.
Sirine is passionate about social impact, D&I and philanthropy.

Mark is a Commonwealth qualified lawyer who has spent the past 12 years working as a corporate counsel for several multinationals based out of Dubai. Previous to this, Mark worked for a top tier law firm in London and Sydney. For the past 5 years Mark has held the role of Head of Legal for the digital marketplace division for one of the world’s largest technology investors.