KULLUNA IRADA - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Economist
- Managing Partner - Levant Consult
Albert Kostanian is an economist and an expert in strategy. He is also the content producer and host of "Vision 2030", a leading TV show on LBCI that provides a platform for an in-depth debate around politics and policy making in Lebanon. He has founded and is heading the Beirut office of Arthur D. Little, the world premier strategy consulting firm, after having spent years with the firm in France. His main areas of expertise are in Telecom and infrastructure and he worked for major international corporations and governments in a dozen of countries. Kostanian has also established a boutique consultancy "Levant Consult". He is a Senior Fellow for economy in Issam Fares Institute for Public Policies at the American University of Beirut. He is committed to promoting reforms in Lebanon and regularly publishes articles and studies in various domains in addition to having been active in politics and policy making. Albert Kostanian holds an MSc from the HEC School in Paris and a BA in Economics from the Saint-Joseph University in Beirut.
Job Titles:
- CEO - Kuwait Financial Center "Markaz"
- Chief Executive Officer of Kuwait Financial Centre "Markaz
Ali Khalil is the Chief Executive Officer of Kuwait Financial Centre "Markaz" a publicly listed Kuwaiti investment company. He has more than 33 years of investment banking and asset management experience spent between Kuwait and the United States, with the Markaz Group of Companies. He is the Chairman of the Board of First-Equilease, and the Vice Chairman at Kuwait's Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Company, (PLC). He is the Chairman of the Lebanese Business Council in Kuwait since 2020. Ali Khalil holds an MBA from INSEAD, a M.Sc., and a B.Sc. in Industrial Engineering from Texas A&M University, USA.
Job Titles:
- Global Head of Emerging Markets at BlackRock
Amer Bisat, PhD, is the Global Head of Emerging Markets at BlackRock and a member of the firm's Global Fixed Income Executive Committee. In this capacity, he leads a team managing approximately $40 billion in government and corporate bonds. Dr. Bisat's service with BlackRock dates back to 2013. Prior to that, he was a partner in two macro hedge funds, and held portfolio management responsibilities at UBS and Morgan Stanley. Between 1991 and 1998, he was a senior economist at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) where he helped negotiate high profile programs with Russia, Ukraine, and Egypt. Dr. Bisat taught graduate level economics courses at Columbia University, co-authored a book on globalization and academic and policy papers on growth and financial sector development. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and sits on the Advisory Council of the Carnegie Middle East Center. He is a trustee of a number of Middle Eastern cultural and art institutions. Dr. Bisat earned a bacherlor's degree in economics from the American University of Beirut and a PhD in economics from Columbia University.
Job Titles:
- Networking Strategist
- Political Networking Director
Carole Abi Jaoude is a networking strategist. After a long-standing career with Air France - KLM across the region, she took on an advisory role with the Center for Educational Research and Development (CERD) as part of the largest World Bank education-funded program in Lebanon.
Carole has equally several credentials in community service as she partook in initiatives around parliamentary elections, municipalities and detention centers. She collaborated in different projects with the Professional Mediation Center of Saint Joseph University focusing on mediation and nonviolent communication as well as with GIZ tackling women's empowerment and decision making in politics. Carole Abi Jaoude is a certified mediator. She holds a BA in Business& Social Sciences and a masters in Marketing & Management from Saint Joseph University in Lebanon.
Job Titles:
- Publisher
- Owner - Hood Hood Books
Dalia Salaam Rishani is a publisher, an Educational and Scholarships Advisor and a Human Rights Advocate. After debuting her career in Finance at SG Warburg Securities, she established Hood Hood Books, a publishing house specializing in interfaith and the Islamic and Eastern civilizations. She is Vice-Chair at the Centre for Lebanese Studies, an independent academic research institution, based in Lebanon, and affiliated with St. Antony's College, Oxford, and more recently with the University of Cambridge. She is also a Global Advisor to the Knight Hennessy Scholarship Program at Stanford University and a trustee of St. Peter's Foundation at Oxford University. Rishani has a particular interest in advancing Women's Rights in Lebanon and sits on the committee of Human Rights Watch (Beirut). Dalia Salaam Rishani obtained a BSc in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from St. Peter's College, Oxford University and a MSc. from Georgetown University, School of Foreign Service, Washington D.C.
Job Titles:
- Managing Director
- Economist, Public Policy Expert
Diana Menhem is an economist, public policy expert, and strategist. She leads Kulluna Irada's executive team after extensive expertise with the United Nations, where she last occupied the position of Senior Economic Advisor at the UN Resident Coordinator's Office in Beirut. There, she advised on national economic priorities, development policies, and government reform commitments on portfolios including CEDRE and the Beirut Port Blast Response. Previously, Diana held an extended tenure at leading management consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton, where she advised MENA governments on public policy development, public sector restructuring, and economic growth strategies. She is also politically engaged and has held a leadership position with emerging opposition group Beirut Madinati. Diana Menhem holds a Master in Economic Development from the University of London - School of Oriental and African Studies and a BBA in Finance from the American University of Beirut.
Job Titles:
- Partner - Assaf & Associates Law Firm
- Partner at Assaf & Associate Law Firm
Diane Assaf is a partner at Assaf & Associate Law Firm. Prior to joining the firm, she worked at DS Avocats in Paris and briefly worked at Dewey & Leboeuf in London. Her practice focuses on real estate, corporate and commercial, employment law and dispute resolution. Following the Beirut Port explosion on August 4, 2020, and after having lost one of her closest friends, Assaf launched a platform to spread legal awareness. Through this platform, she plays an active role in shedding the light on the flaws of the Lebanese judiciary. Assaf has been a member of a number of committees of the Beirut Bar Association and is currently a member of the Beirut Bar Association legal team in charge of reviewing the National Action Plan for Human Rights in cooperation with the Regional Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). Diane Assaf earned her Master's degree in Media and Communication Law from Université Paris-2 Pantheon Assas and a law degree from Université Saint Joseph in Beirut.
Job Titles:
- Co - Founder and Managing Partner of Teleios Capital
- Managing Partner - Teleios Capital Partners
Firas Abi-Nassif is a co-founder and Managing Partner of Teleios Capital, an activist hedge fund based in Switzerland with over $1 billion in assets. He currently also serves as Chairman of the Board of Kongsberg Automotive, a publicly traded company and leading global automotive supplier. From 2008 to 2011, Abi-Nassif served as Director of Investments at Vision Capital, a New York-based special situations hedge fund with $1 billion in assets, after working in Investment Banking at Credit Suisse in New York. Formerly, Abi-Nassif was a member of the founding team of Airvana, a leading global telecommunications equipment vendor, acquired for $535 million after going public on the Nasdaq. Prior to that, he held senior engineering roles at Motorola. Over the course of his career, Abi-Nassif produced seven internationally patented inventions in the field of telecommunications. Firas Abi-Nassif obtained an Engineering degree in Computer and Communications with Distinction from the American University of Beirut, an MS in Telecommunications Engineering from Northeastern University, and an MBA in Finance and Economics with honors from Harvard Business School.
Jihane Zgheib plans and implements Kulluna Irada's events, mobilization and campaigning activities and trainings. She is an events manager with over 10 years of experience in the field, during which she has organized hundreds of corporate and social events. Jihane has also managed electoral mobilization activities during the 2018 parliamentary elections, and has been key in coordinating ground action and advocacy activities as part of the 17 October 2019 uprising. Jihane Zgheib holds a masters' degree from the Academie Libanaise des Beaux Arts (ALBA).
Job Titles:
- Director - Institute of Political Science at USJ
- Director of the Institute of Political Science
Karim Bitar is the Director of the Institute of Political Science at Université Saint-Joseph in Beirut (USJ) and Senior Fellow at the Institute for International and Strategic Relations in Paris (IRIS). He is an Associate Fellow at the Geneva Center for Security Policy (GCSP) and a Research Associate at Brussels' Institut Medea. In addition, Bitar is the Vice-President of the Circle of Arab Economists and the secretary general of the Emile Bitar Foundation. Karim Bitar graduated from France's National School of Administration and from the Paris Institute of Political Studies. He also studied Law at the University of Paris Sorbonne and obtained a BA in Economics and International Relations from McGill University. He spent his senior year at Harvard where he studied Government and specialized in Middle East Studies.
Job Titles:
- Cardiothoracic Surgeon and CEO - Labib Medical Center
Labib AbouZahr is a Cardiothoracic surgeon and CEO of the Labib Medical Center in Sidon. He established the Cardiac Surgery program at the Labib Medical Center and the Clemenceau Medical Center in Beirut, where he also practices. Prior to that, he had a career in Cardiothoracic surgery at the University of Toronto from 1997 to 1999 and McMaster University from 1999 to 2005. Labib AbouZahr is a medical graduate from the American University in Beirut. He specialized in General Surgery and Cardiothoracic Surgery at the University of Toronto.
Job Titles:
- Journalist
- Media Monitoring Specialist
Nathalie Abou Harb is a journalist, public speaker, debater, and a political and social activist. She has won several local and regional debating competitions and has led advocacy campaigns for the upcoming Lebanese parliamentary elections. Prior to her work at Kulluna Irada, Nathalie worked in managing social media, monitoring media, and in youth meditation. Nathalie Abou Harb has a bachelor's degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik (USEK).
Job Titles:
- Founder and CEO - Alef International
- Founder and CEO of Alef
Rabih El-Amine is the founder and CEO of Alef international, a major force in Saudi Arabia's marketing communications industry, specialized in public relations and content management. El-Amine has built an extensive business network within the GCC, Levant and European markets, and with over 30 years of media and marketing communications experience under his belt, he is deemed as an excellent source of counsel for organizations and businessmen on diverse aspects of the local and regional market. In early 2021 El-Amine joined the Lebanese American University's (LAU) "President's Advancement Advisory Council", a select group of volunteers in pursuit of resources to fulfill LAU's mission of quality higher education and health care. He recently launched the Lebanese Executive Council, a diaspora platform to bring together Lebanese professionals and businessmen. He was also a member of the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce Marketing Committee between 2005 and 2012, and the Secretary of the Lebanese Business Council in KSA for 14 years.
Job Titles:
- Designer and Owner of Randa Khalil Raad Jewelry
Randa Khalil is a jewelry designer and owner of Randa Khalil Raad Jewelry. She learned jewelry design at the Museum of Islamic Art, during the late 1980s in Kuwait. Her extensive collaborations with goldsmiths, stone setters and enamelists allowed her to develop her creativity from experts and creatives from around the world. Khalil has long used her talents to benefit charities, first for organizations helping the handicapped in Geneva and later by giving proceeds from her sales to Medecins Sans Frontieres in the Emirates and the Children's Cancer Center of Lebanon.
Rita Bahout is the organizational backbone of Kulluna Irada. With over ten years of experience in the administrative sector, she manages a wide range of functions related to HR, logistics, office management, accounting and procurement. She is currently taking a workshop in the Human Resources Management program as part of the HRM Certificate at the Lebanese American University Continuing Education Program (LAU CE). Rita Bahout holds a Bachelor's degree in Public Relations from the Lebanese University.
Job Titles:
- Director of Public Policies
Sibylle Rizk brings in an extensive policy expertise and a wide knowledge of Lebanon's socio-economic challenges from her former experience as Editor in Chief of the leading Lebanese monthly Le Commerce du Levant. She previously headed the economy and business section at L'Orient-Le Jour and has been the correspondent for Le Figaro in Beirut since the year 2000. She is a board member of LOGI (Lebanese Oil and Gas Initiative), founding board member of ALDIC (Association Libanaise pour les Droits et l'Information des Contribuables), and served as board member of Sakker el Dekkené. Sibylle Rizk holds a Master's degree in Economics and Finance from the Paris Institute of Political Studies.
Job Titles:
- Communication Officer, at
Job Titles:
- CEO - Tinol Paints International
- CEO of Tinol Paints
Wafa Saab is the CEO of Tinol Paints, a leader in the Paint & Coatings industry in the Middle East. She was elected as the Personality of the Year in the Industry Sector in 2012 and was the first woman to be elected as President of the Worldwide Alumni Association of AUB in 2015. She is currently chair of the AMIDEAST/Lebanon Board, and sits on the boards of various non-profit organizations, namely Embrace, the Beiteddine Festival, the Lebanese Red Cross, and Mission Joy. Wafa Saab holds a BA in Human Development from LAU and an Executive MBA from AUB.