Streams Of Progress

Majed Al Suwaidi, Board Member at Young Arab Leaders, is the Managing Director of Dubai Media City, Dubai Studio City, and Dubai Production City as well as Head of in5 – members of TECOM Group.He provides strategic direction and ensures steady growth of the Media business communities, home to thousands of media companies, and tens of thousands of creative professionals. As the Managing Director of this integrated creative ecosystem which is home to many Fortune 500 companies from around the world, entrepreneurs and startups alike, Majed plays a key role in positioning Dubai as an international media hub.Prior to this role, Majed was Managing Director of Dubai Internet City and Dubai Outsource City. Under his leadership, the integrated ICT hub became a strategic partner of the Smart Dubai initiative that is driving Dubai’s transformation into one of the smartest cities in the world.In a previous role as Director of Business Development for Dubai Internet City and Dubai Outsource City, he was part of the team t

Helen Al Uzaizi is an established businesswoman and an active community member. With over 17 years of experience spanning marketing, non-profit management, and entrepreneurship, Helen has been supporting major brands, non-profit organizations, and startups across the region as a mentor and Board member and advisor. She is a member of the Board of Trustees of PACES Charity working with Palestinian refugee children through sports, and an Advisor and Brand Ambassador for SEP, The Social Enterprise Project working on empowering Palestinian & Syrian refugee women.Helen is the CEO of BizWorld UAE, Egypt, and Jordan, social enterprises that teach kids entrepreneurship skills. She is also the Founder of Future Entrepreneurs, a platform that aims to empower youth entrepreneurs in MENA. Most recently, she also took on the role of Director of Entrepreneurs hip & Youth Start up, Innovation & Social Impact with GEMS Education. She was recently named one of the UAE’s 100 Smartest People and one of the 50 Most I

Farah Al Qaissieh is a mother of three boys and social entrepreneur and motivational speaker; she holds a Bachelors of Finance from Zayed University.Farah launched Stutter UAE in 2013 to raise awareness and support people who stutter through various workshops and events.In 2016, Farah was featured in a book chapter titled “Game Changers: How Women in the Arab World Are Changing the Rules and Shaping the Future”.In 2017, a short film documentary ‘Just Another Accent’ premiered at the Cannes Film Festival’s Short Film Corner and Malmo Arab Film Festival in Sweden; shedding light on Farah’s journey with Stutter UAE.In 2018, Farah was awarded the Abu Dhabi Award; the highest civilian medal and recognition granted by the Emirate of Abu Dhabi for her positive impact in the community.In 2020, Farah launched iStutter Center in partnership with SpeechCare Center in Portugal, an online speech therapy center focusing on treatments for stuttering.Also in 2020, Farah co-founded Guiding Stars, an online platform guiding mo

Muna Easa Al Gurg is the Director of Retail of Easa Saleh Al Gurg Group, a multidivisional conglomerate with 27 companies. The Group is active in several industry sectors that include retail, building and construction, industrial, real estate and joint ventures.Since 2008, Al Gurg has been Chairwoman of Young Arab Leaders UAE, where she promotes education, entrepreneurship and youth development.Al Gurg has been advocating a greater role for women in business. In 2015 she launched the Muna Al Gurg Scholarship at London Business School, supporting female students studying in the school’s MBA and Executive MBA programme.Al Gurg is on the board of several non-profit organisations, such as the Emirates Foundation for Youth Development where she works closely with its Chairman, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan. At the Easa Saleh Al Gurg Charity Foundation, she is responsible for strategy and initiatives both in the UAE and internationally. She is a member of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Sust

Najla Ahmed Al-Midfa, Vice-Chairwoman of Young Arab Leaders, is the Chief Executive Officer of the Sharjah Entrepreneurship Center (Sheraa), a government-supported entity launched in January 2016, with a mandate to build the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Sharjah, and support entrepreneurs as they build and grow innovative startups that will contribute positively to the region’s economy. To date, Sheraa has built a portfolio of over 100 startups, which have raised over $50m in investment, created over 600 jobs, and generated over $35m in cumulative revenue. Sheraa also hosts the annual Sharjah Entrepreneurship Festival (SharjahEF), a gathering of over 3000 entrepreneurs, investors, mentors, and ecosystem supporters.In her previous role as Senior Manager at Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development, Najla led a team of business counselors through the due diligence process of selecting ventures for financing. She also set up and operated the Northern Emirate branch of Khalifa Fund, covering Ajman, Dubai, and Sharja

This week on Streams of Progress, while at the 2020 Step Conference we sat down with various speakers who were in Dubai for this occasion.This episode’s guest is Robert Scoble from Infinite Retina, where he shared some highlights from his keynote talk about Spatial Computing.These mini episodes offer insights into the trends they are seeing from their respective roles as well as their thoughts on the MENA startup ecosystem and their takeaways from the 2020 Step Conference.Please enjoy this discussion with one of our guest speakers and be sure to check out more episodes from the 2020 Step Conference. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week on Streams of Progress, while at the 2020 Step Conference we sat down with various speakers who were in Dubai for this occasion.This episode’s guest is Hasan Haider from 500 Startups, where as a regional venture capitalist, provides us some insights into the 500 Falcons Fund.These mini episodes offer insights into the trends they are seeing from their respective roles as well as their thoughts on the MENA startup ecosystem and their takeaways from the 2020 Step Conference.Please enjoy this discussion with one of our guest speakers and be sure to check out more episodes from the 2020 Step Conference. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week on Streams of Progress, while at the 2020 Step Conference we sat down with various speakers who were in Dubai for this occasion.This episode’s guest is Alicia Sornson from Village Capital, where she gives us some highlights into their recent Finance Forward initiative in the MENA region.These mini episodes offer insights into the trends they are seeing from their respective roles as well as their thoughts on the MENA startup ecosystem and their takeaways from the 2020 Step Conference.Please enjoy this discussion with one of our guest speakers and be sure to check out more episodes from the 2020 Step Conference. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week on Streams of Progress, while at the 2020 Step Conference we sat down with various speakers who were in Dubai for this occasion.This episode’s guest is Jeremiah Owyang from Kaleido Insights, where he provides some highlights from his keynote talk about the six digital eras.These mini episodes offer insights into the trends they are seeing from their respective roles as well as their thoughts on the MENA startup ecosystem and their takeaways from the 2020 Step Conference.Please enjoy this discussion with one of our guest speakers and be sure to check out more episodes from the 2020 Step Conference. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Stuart Oda is an investment banker turned urban farmer with a passion for innovation and sustainability. In 2013, Stuart founded Alesca Life, an agricultural technology company that builds indoor, vertical farms and farm management software to make food production more localized and data driven.Stuart is a World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer and Alesca has been part of multiple prestigious accelerator programs including Stanford StartX, Thrive Agtech, Unreasonable Impact, Pearse Lyons, BitsxBites, and Dubai Future Accelerator as an innovator in the field of controlled environment agriculture, hyper-local urban farming, and Farming-as-a-Service.Alesca’s focus on emerging markets and re-framing our conversation around food and agriculture is making positive changes on a global scale for all of humanity.Stuart is an UCLA alumni and previously worked in the investment banking division of Merrill Lynch Japan Securities in Tokyo and the emerging market business strategy team at Dell China in Beijing.Enjoy the s

Asunción Molinos Gordo is a research-based artist strongly influenced by disciplines such as anthropology, sociology and cultural studies. In her practice she questions the categories that define ‘innovation’ in mainstream discourses today, working to generate a less urban-centric way of understanding progress.Her latest work, In Transit: Botany of a Journey, is on display at the Jameel Arts Centre's Artist's Garden until May 2020. It consists of a garden grown from seeds that have travelled in the intestines of people that either live in or visit the city of Dubai. Most of the seeds we eat in our daily meals pass unnoticed and survive the process of human digestion, leaving our bodies undamaged and remaining germinable. Dubai as a global city and the business hub of the Middle East receives an average of 90 million travellers a year, coming from 270 destinations, across six continents. The culinary habits of such a heterogeneous population is incomparable; all of the seeds ingested by Dubai’s fluid

Jasper Hope has had a prestigious career in the music and entertainment industry over the last 2 decades and continues to impact our region's arts and entertainment scene. Since departing from his role at the Dubai Opera, he has continued to engage with various figures and entities in the promotion of the arts and music industries in the MENA region, through his work at Proscenium Arts.  He is considered one of the most influential figures in Dubai, as voted amongst the 100 most inspirational leaders in the business world for the year 2018. Driven by a passion for enticing creative performances, he travelled worldwide to renowned performance halls, going from being the Head of Operations in Royal Albert Hall in London to be the CEO of Dubai Opera. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Marc Cirera is the founder and CEO of Companies for Good, a social enterprise designed to help businesses change for good. Marc is a business ethics, CSR and sustainability specialist with a clear vision: a world where companies operate in a more sustainable and responsible way. He strongly believes that good business practices help companies outperform, while benefiting employees, the environment, and society at large.He believes doing business in a more ethical and sustainable way not only benefits society and the environment, but it helps companies outperform too.Enjoy the show!Show Notes:02:15 - His love for traveling and meeting new people03:00 - Studying economics, realizing how lucky he was and his decision to pursue business ethics and giving back.04:30 - Setting up his first business in Barcelona while being bored in university classes.05:30 - On moving to London for love05:45 - Moving to London and working there.07:15 - At the age of 25 in London and not knowing how the corporate world works af

As a dynamic entrepreneur in the automotive industry, Oweis Zahran is the force behind launching innovative solutions in this sector in the Middle East. Born and educated in the USA, Oweis has a strong affinity to this region since his father set up businesses in the UAE under MZ Holdings in the early 90s. The Holding company’s 16 subsidiaries, in three continents, are primarily in the field of equipment supply, industrial manufacturing, automotive R&D, oil and gas as well as construction.Before he joined University of Maryland as a business undergrad, Oweis was being mentored by his father and unlike other teenagers he was involved in major international business deals. This hands-on experience prepared him for a leadership role, which helped in the evolution and expansion of MZ Holdings’ B2C business. From setting up the largest auto remanufacturing unit in the UAE and expanding it to seven countries, to developing exclusive auto solutions with international celebrities, to launching a joint v

Briar Prestidge is the CEO and founder of Briar Prestidge International, a high-profile marketing, branding and reputation building agency operating in Dubai, London and New York. Working with world leaders, top CEOs, government, entertainers and strategists, they boost client’s prestige and elevate them to become impactful international business influencers.A qualified digital marketer with an international career spanning across Dubai, New York, London and Australia, Briar specialises in building engaging and ‘human’ content strategises in what she refers to as ‘new-age PR.’ In 2018, Briar and her team launched a leading regional podcasting series with experts and were part of a global Amazon Prime TV series, overseeing teams of well-known entrepreneurs in the Middle East and APAC regions. Speaking on international stages, Briar delivers engaging keynotes on personal branding, “no-fluff” Instagram and LinkedIn strategies, new-age PR and digital media, and building an online-offline reputation.Briar practice

Karl W. Feilder is a serial entrepreneur, Founder and Chairman of The Neutral Group and CEO of Neutral Fuels. “I’m not an environmentalist, I’m just trying to save the planet,” Karl says, and his direct actions to mitigate climate change have already resulted in over 10.5 million tonnes of CO2e savings from global corporations, such as DHL, Del Monte, Anglo American, and McDonald’s. In the last decade, Karl has built up The Neutral Group from a two-person start-up to an international business, and is now preparing its Neutral Fuels LLC subsidiary, a company that produces biofuel from used cooking oil, for an IPO on the London AIM stock market in 2023. Simultaneously, Karl is building another subsidiary Neutral Assets LLC into an “Internet of Things” asset management company. Since starting his first company in 1990, and selling it to Microsoft, Karl has built and sold five companies, and led two companies to their Initial Public Offering. He has conducted business in 46 countries and has created a w

In this episode, we sat down with Dr. Corrie Block, CEO of Paragon Consulting, where he shared some great stories about his experiences in Estonia & Yemen prior to making Dubai his home.Dr Corrie Block is a leading business strategist and CEO of Paragon Consulting, Professor of Strategic Management at Monarch Business School, and certified NLP Executive Coach, with over 20 years’ experience working on more than 100 companies.Dr Corrie has provided strategic consulting for the Council of Europe and World Bank, tech start-ups, multinationals and governments, across more than 30 continents. He’s founded 5 successful businesses in Europe and MENA and received awards for his product innovations.As both an academic and practitioner, he completed all of his post-grad studies (including master’s in business administration & Global Leadership, a Doctorate in Business Administration and a PhD in Arab and Islamic Studies), all while working full time. He has been published in Gulf Business, Forbes, CEO Magazine,

This week on Streams of Progress, we met up with the startups taking part in this year's Techstars Dubai program.These mini episodes offer insights into what the startups are working on and the founders behind the startups. The guest for this episode is Toghrul Samadov, CEO of Buglance.Buglance is a crowd testing company that connects software testers with software development companies all over the world. We test mobile apps, games and websites for bugs, security and UX/UI issues.Toghrul is a serial entrepreneur and growth hacker. All his businesses combine 3 ingredients: Technology, Art and Science. He has been building teams, developing products such as e-commerce websites, entertainment and productivity apps and mobile games for the past 14 years. Please enjoy this discussion from the Techstars Dubai program and be sure to check out more episodes from the 2019 Techstars Dubai Program. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week on Streams of Progress, we met up with the startups taking part in this year's Techstars Dubai program.These mini episodes offer insights into what the startups are working on and the founders behind the startups. The guest for this episode is Patrick Rogers, CEO of Clara. Clara is a SaaS platform that digitises and automates startup legal expertise. Clara empowers founders to efficiently set up and manage their legal structure to ensure their startup's venture-readiness while providing unmatched portfolio management and market intelligence to investors.Patrick has been a previous guest on Streams of Progress, as a partner at the law firm, Support Legal. The founding team of Support Legal are the same founders behind Clara Technologies, joined alongside their CTO, Arthur Guest.Arthur is an MIT-trained systems architect with a speciality in complex decision modelling. While at MIT, he helped conceive and design the 20-year program human spaceflight strategy known as Flexible Path for t

This week on Streams of Progress, we met up with startups taking part in this year's Techstars Dubai program.These mini episodes offer insights into what the startups are working on and the founders behind the startups. The guest for this episode is Lance Lin, CEO of LuggAgent.LuggAgent is a Global Concierge that offers the luxury of Time and Freedom. It started with the goal of eliminating the burden of luggage hassles. Lance is an Economics major with a deep interest in numbers and analytics. He dabbled in the insurance industry leading a team of 20 before founding LuggAgent where he excelled at networking across multiple regions and building meaningful relationships and opportunities.Please enjoy this discussion with one of our guests from the Techstars Dubai program and be sure to check out more episodes from the 2019 Techstars Dubai Program. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.