Dr. Shira Efron
Israel
Israel
Dr. Shira Efron is director of research at Israel Policy Forum and a special climate change advisor to Israel’s Ministry of Defense and National Security Council. She is also the co-chair of the subgroup on regional cooperation of President Herzog’s climate forum. Dr. Efron is currently on sabbatical from the RAND Corporation, where she founded and led the Israel program between 2016-2022. At RAND, she led and participated in several studies at the nexus of climate change and national security including on Gaza’s water crisis and the implications of climate change for the U.S. Air Force.
Several of her studies directly addressed food security challenges in the MENA region, such as making the case for the Global Dry Land Alliance and a project on GCC food security challenges in partnership with the UAE-based Emerge85. Previously, Dr. Efron was a fellow at several think tanks in Washington, D.C., including the Center for American Progress and Middle East Institute, and at the Tel Aviv-based Institute for National Security Studies (INSS). She has a PhD and MPhil in policy analysis from RAND’s Graduate School, an MA in international relations/international business from New York University, and a BSc in biology (major) and computer science (minor) from Tel Aviv University.
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.
Meriem Jouaoui
Morrocco
Morrocco
Meriem is the Founder of the DAR IMMA association which concerns inter-religion Development of women and children in rural areas. She was also a Member of the friends of minor prisoners chaired by ASSIAE OUADII.she holds a certificate of Healthy optometrist optician diploma from the IPDO Plus Marrakech institute.
Mohamed Aldhuhoori
UAE
UAE
Mohammed Al-Dhuhouri joined TRENDS Research and Advisory at the beginning of 2023 as a senior researcher interested in Israeli affairs. Prior to joining TRENDS, he worked as researcher at the Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research from 2017 to 2022. During his undergraduate studies, he trained in a number of sovereign entities, such as the Policy and Strategies Sector at the Prime Minister’s Office in Dubai, and various political departments at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in Abu Dhabi. He is active in the voluntary field, having carried out volunteer work at official bodies such as the Federal National Council, the Dubai Future Foundation, and the Emirates Foundation. Al-Dhuhouri was chosen to represent the UAE within the UAE Youth Ambassadors Program to Germany under the generous patronage of the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince’s Court in 2014. He won a number of awards, including the Sharjah Award for Educational Excellence twice, and the Certificate of Excellence from the Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Award for Distinguished Academic Performance.
Al-Dhuhouri has obtained a master’s degree in international security from Khalifa University of Science and Technology in 2021, and a bachelor’s degree with honors in political science from the United Arab Emirates University in 2015. He also attended several professional courses specialized in the field of self-development and leadership.
Hind Khlaifat
Jordan, UAE
Jordan, UAE
Hind Khlaifat is the General Manager of Deraya Speakers and an ambitious Bedouin Writer and artist from Petra Jordan. Living now in Abu Dhabi, Hind continues to seek challenges in the media world by implementing different innovative programs that help Arab youth improve their public speaking and communication skills and Media appearances.
Hind also uses social media as a tool to empower Arab women and Arab youth and to discuss different topics related to self growth and aspirations.
Dr. Sercan Canbolat
Turkey
Turkey
Dr. Sercan Canbolat is currently the inaugural director of Abrahamic Programs at the University of Connecticut’s (UConn) Global Affairs and a post-doctoral lecturer at UConn’s Department of Political Science. Born and raised in Turkey, Dr. Canbolat obtained two BA degrees in International Relations and Economics from Izmir University of Economics in 2011. He earned his MA degrees in International Relations and Political Science respectively from Bilkent University in 2014 and the University of Connecticut in 2017. Dr. Canbolat received a Fulbright scholarship in 2014 to continue his doctoral studies in the US. Dr. Canbolat has recently graduated from the University of Connecticut with a PhD in Political Science whose doctoral dissertation focuses on the patterns of organizational formation and leadership styles of militant organizations in the Middle East and North Africa. His scholarly works are featured and/or forthcoming in prestigious scholarly outlets including International Studies Review, Political Research Quarterly, Polity, Canadian Foreign Policy Journal, and Journal of International Relations (Uluslararası İlişkiler Dergisi). Dr. Canbolat’s book, co-authored with Dr. Özgür Özdamar, titled Leaders in the Middle East and North Africa: How Ideology Shapes Foreign Policy is slated to be published in September 2023 by Cambridge University Press. Dr. Canbolat is currently serving as one of the guest editors of a special issue (along with Dr. Patrick James and Dr. Sarah Gansen) entitled “Visualization and International Relations in the Digital Age” for the Journal of International Relations. He and his co-authors earned the “Polity Prize” in 2018, which is conferred on the best research article published in the journal’s previous volume. Dr. Canbolat received the ISA—Midwest Region’s 2020 “Margaret G. Hermann Award” for a paper he presented in St. Louis in November 2019. The paper was entitled “Understanding Extreme Islamists in Their Native Language.” The award is given for the best use of text analysis in leadership studies. He obtained the “Margaret G. Hermann Award” two years in a row in 2021 for his paper titled “Deciphering Political Islamists’ Rhetoric in Their Native Language: ATurkish Operational Code Analysis Approach.” Dr. Canbolat also earned the “University Outstanding Graduate Teaching Award” from the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at the University of Connecticut in 2020.
Danielle Abraham
Israel
Israel
Danielle has spent her career in Israel dedicated to connecting Israeli expertise to needs in developing countries. At present she is the Executive Director of Volcani International Partnerships, an NGO dedicated to promoting Israeli agricultural innovation and expertise for the benefit of Israel and the world. Prior to this position, Danielle was the Co-Chair of the annual ID2 Conference and co-founder of Impact Investing Israel, working to develop the impact investment sector in Israel. Danielle started her career in Israel as a senior policy advisor in MASHAV, Israel’s agency for International Development Cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In this role she represented Israel, as a guest speaker, at the UN, OECD and German Development Bank. Danielle made Aliyah from London, where she worked for the Strategy and International Directorate of the UK Home Office. Danielle holds a B.A. and an M.A. from the University of Oxford and lives in Tel Aviv with her family.
Maria Maalouf
Lebanon, USA
Lebanon, USA
Tv Host political analyst Maria Maalouf is a Broadcaster and owner of theCapitol talk show from Washington DC. Maria Maalouf is a stalwart opponent of the Iranian regime and its Lebanese Shi’a surrogate Hezbollah, Maalouf quoted that the damage visited on Lebanon by Israel did not compare to Iran’s record in that regard.
Rabbi Elhanan Miller
Israel
Israel
Rabbi Elhanan Miller is the founding editor of People of the Book, an online initiative that teaches Jewish faith and culture to Muslim audiences through educational videos shared on social media. An Arabic specialist, Miller is a research fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem and a faculty member at Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies. He previously served as the Arab Affairs Reporter for The Times of Israel and as rabbi of the Jewish community in Canberra, Australia.Born and raised in Jerusalem, Miller began studying Arabic at 13, serving as a linguist in the IDF’s Intelligence Unit 8200. He completed his BA (cum laude) and MA degrees in Middle East History and Islamic Studies at Hebrew University. While studying for Orthodox rabbinic ordination at Beit Midrash Harel, he founded People of the Book in July 2017. The initiative’s YouTube and Facebook pages now boasts over 260,000 subscribers and millions of annual video views across the Arab world.As a student, Miller was an avid debater, winning the title of Second-Best Speaker at the World University Debating Championships in Vancouver, Canada. He participated in multiple dialogue groups with Palestinians, and interned in the office of Knesset Member Colette Avital (Labour) as a Legacy Heritage fellow. Miller completed research on the Palestinian refugee issue as an Atkin Fellow at Kings College, London, and was the Richard Beeston scholar at the foreign desk of the London Times.Miller regularly comments on Israeli politics in Arabic news channels including Al- Jazeera, BBC Arabic, Sky News Arabia and Israel’s public broadcaster Kan. His opinion articles have appeared in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.He is fluent in English, Hebrew, Arabic, French and Yiddish.
Dr. Hassan Heshmat
Iraq, UK
Iraq, UK
Dr. Hasan Heshmat Managing Director of Hydro-C Ltd, Holding BDS University of Baghdad, college of dentistry and MPhil degree from Strathclyde University – Engineering Dept. with several certificates in business management and leadership. 13 years of experience working alongside international companies and organizations specialized in Energy, Water, Construction, Agriculture and Innovation. Focusing on building sustainable relations between nations and states to develop peace and business for mutual interest, stabilizing renewable energy, Oil&Gas, Infrastructure investment, humanitarian aid and education. Concentrating on taking the energy sector up to a greener level by incorporating sustainable clean solutions Energy industry allowing transforming the future to adopt innovative solutions. Achieved successful results by teaming with pioneer partners in UK, US, Israel, EU, China, Iraq and UAE. I enjoy walking my pet in the green dear place, water polo and swimming, obsessed with tech-related advancements for interstellar traveling. I do believe humanity as a race can achieve impossible when united, stronger together