Leehee Goldenberg
Israel
Israel
Leehee is a lawyer and policy professional specializing in energy, infrastructure, climate change, carbon markets and resource governance.
She began her legal career at the Israeli Ministry of Justice, working on UNCLOS, trade agreements and security issues, and currently works as the VP of Policy & Head of Legal at Oporto Carbon, helping companies navigate the voluntary carbon market.
With 20 years of experience in policy and cross-sectoral collaboration, she has led successful partnerships and coalitions with government ministers, senior regulators, municipalities as well as civil society and the private sector.
As a senior lawyer and litigator, in her previous position as Director of the Economic Department at the Israeli NGO Adam Teva V’Din, she led some of the most important environmental lawsuits of the last decade: successfully securing amendments to the government’s road map for the offshore natural gas industry; preventing the expansion of the oil refinery in Haifa; limiting the industrial use of Dead Sea water and led to the approval of the National Energy Efficiency Plan.
Israel
She is an active member of the Indices Committee of the TA-125 Fossil Fuel Free Climate Index and Ecopeace’s MENA Regional Forum.
Dr. Hosni Ghedira
Tunisia
Tunisia
Dr. Hosni Ghedira is presently the Director of Research Engagement at Mohamed Bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI), the world’s first graduate-level research-based AI university. He received his MSc degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of Sherbrooke (Canada) and his PhD in Water Sciences from the University of Quebec (Canada) in 1997 and 2001, respectively. Before joining MBZUAI, Dr. Ghedira served as a Director of the Research Centre for Renewable Energy Mapping and Assessment at Masdar Institute from 2010 to 2020. Before moving to the UAE, he spent six years at the City University of New York as Assistant Professor and Research Associate Professor. He was the founding Director (in 2003) of the Environmental Remote Sensing and Image Processing Laboratory at the NOAA Cooperative Remote Sensing Science & Technology Center (NOAA-CREST) in New York.
Dr. Ghedira has 20 years of rich and progressively responsible experience in diverse sectors of Energy, Environment, Water, Innovation and Climate with a total of 10 years at managerial level in national and regional institutions. Dr. Ghedira is an active member in several regional and international working groups in the field of clean energy, space technologies, water security and environmental monitoring. Dr. Ghedira has participated in several studies with international organizations (UN-ESCWA, World Bank, IRENA, AfDB) on clean energy, water security and water-energy nexus. Dr. Ghedira was nominated in January 2019 by Solar Quarter Magazine in the list of Most Influential Solar Business Leaders in The MENA PV Market. He was nominated in January 2018 as a member of Mohammed bin Rashid Academy of Scientists (MBRAS).
Mustafa Oğuz
Turkey
Turkey
Mustafa Oğuz is an Istanbul-based business consultant specialized in political risk, corporate affairs and policy & strategy development He received his BA degree in International Relations from Istanbul Beylent University in 2003 and graduate degree in Conflict Analysis and Resolution from Sabancı University (İstanbul) in 2005. He was a visiting researcher at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies (BESA Center) at Bar-Ilan University in Tel Aviv, Israel, in the 2005-2006 academic year.
He completed his military service at the Turkish General Staff in June 2007 and started worked at the Foreign Economic Relations Board of Türkiye (DEIK). During this duty, he has been in charge of speech writing, policy and strategy development. He served in technical committees of national organizations such as the Investment Environment Improvement Coordination Board (YOİKK) of Türkiye and international organizations such as the Organization of Turkic States. Within the Board, he served as the director of DEIK Business Councils on regulated issues such as health, education, logistics, energy, and consultancy services.
In addition to his duties at DEIK, he served as the special advisor to Minister of Commerce of Türkiye in 2018-2019. Additionally, he was the youngest member of the Istanbul Development Agency Development Board between 2014-2017 and is a member of the advisory board of Istanbul Aydın University Chinese Studies Center and African Studies Center.
Since October 2019, he is managing his consulting firm based in Istanbul.
Dr. Shamal Abdulkhaliq Mohammed
Kurdistan (Iraq), UAE
Kurdistan (Iraq), UAE
Dr Shamal Mohammed is an accomplished AgriTech executive with extensive experience in leading innovation research and development and digital transformation in the agricultural industry. Shamal holds a PhD in remote sensing and machine learning applications in agriculture and is presently the AgriTech Director at Silal in the UAE.
He is responsible for the AgriTech innovation program, leading R&D activities and building strategic partnerships nationally and internationally to develop an innovative ecosystem for AgriTech innovation. Before his current role, Shamal held leadership positions at the AGRI-EPI Centre, Agrii, and AHDB, in the UK, where he led various projects and teams focused on digital agriculture, soil health, crop nutrition, and precision farming. Shamal has a track record of developing and implementing digital solutions that improve food production systems, increase environmental sustainability, and enhance farmers’ livelihoods.
He is a member of the National Committee for Local Production and Technology in the UAE Government and an Advisory Board member of the Water Research Centre at New York University in Abu Dhabi.
Raphael Luzon
Libya
A confident, versatile and enthusiastic media and management professional with extensive knowledge
and skills across a variety of fields,..Read More
Dr. Najah Al Otaibe
Saudi Arabia
A Saudi researcher and journalist. She is a specialist in International relations and diplomacy- with a
particular focus on Saudi Arabia and the Gulf region… Read More
Abdalaziz Alkhamis, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Member of the Executive Committee
Saudi Arabia, UAE
Saudi Arabia, UAE
A Saudi journalist and researcher, he is the editor-in-chief of many newspapers and magazines and has researched the Middle East, the Arabian Gulf, and Islamic movements. Graduated from the University of Milton Keynes, UK, Sociology.
Postgraduate studies at the University of St Andrews. Political Science.
Economic editor at Al-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper. Editor-in-Chief of Al Jadeeda Magazine from 1996 to 1998.
Editor-in-Chief of Al Majalla magazine from 1998 to 2000. Editor-in-chief of the Arab Observer magazine from 2000 to 2006.
Executive Editor-in-Chief of the London-based Al-Arab newspaper until 2015
Producer and presenter of the Gulf Talk program at the Arab News Network.
Presenter of the “Friendly Fire” program on Sky News Arabia. Research member at the Royal Institute of International Relations “Chatham House”.
Eli Bar-On
Eli Bar-On is the CEO and Head of the Executive Committee of MENA2050. He served in various senior legal positions in the Israeli government. He was also a professor at the Israel National Defense College, with a focus on matters of national security, strategy, and international relations.
Eli has provided expert presentations to high-level delegations throughout the world. He also led strategic international dialogues and lectured at preeminent academic institutions around the world.
Upon his retirement as a civil servant, Eli co-founded and was the CEO of a start-up company dealing with wireless optical communication.
Eli has a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) degree and an Executive Master of Business Administration (E.M.B.A.) degree (cum laude) from Tel Aviv University and a Master’s degree in Political Science (M.A.) (cum laude) from Haifa University.
Eli Bar-On presents MENA2050 at the University of Oxford
Watch Eli Bar-On, the Executive Director of MENA2050, presents MENA2050 at the 10th Anniversary Conference on the Resolution of Intractable Conflict (CRIC) at the University of Oxford.
The MENA2050 Regional Vision Team for the Day after the Gaza War Research Note 0
An Introductory Note March 2024 Authors: Omar Al-Ubaydli, Layal Alghoozi, Noora Alozaibi, Arnon Bersson, Noor Elgallal, Ben Grischeff, and Munya Yusuf. Designers: Karim Al-Nassar, Hayvi Bouzi. Acknowledgments: We wish to thank Eli Bar-On, Sarah Aweida, and Anissa El Kattani for their support throughout this project. We are especially grateful for the 10 participants who shared […]