Theme: Exponential Impact

TEDxOudMetha explores change through the lens of cross-industry collaborators and visionaries, exploring new ways to embrace ethical and equitable approaches to everything we do as we seek to be socially conscious global citizens, together.

OudMaitha - TBD
TBD
Dubai, Dubayy, 00000
United Arab Emirates

Anissa Saunder

Anissa Saunder studied international trade, geopolitics and military strategy and she used to sell surveillance tools that governments use to intercept communications and monitor their residents and citizens. Her areas of expertise are Politics, Geopolitics, Privacy & Surveillance, Security and Intelligence. In the age of surveillance and powerful digital technology, Anissa brings a different perspective from the other side of the table. Anissa focuses on combating criminals and terrorist organizations. She believes government surveillance is required but we must also continue to fight for data privacy. She believes that the surveillance market requires regulations to find the right balance. She exposes the unknown, and the limits of this controversial market. She explores the intersection of national security, government surveillance and online privacy.

David Goldsmith

David Goldsmith, President and Co-Founder of the Goldsmith Organization (New York and Hong Kong) and the author of Paid to THINK: A Leader’s Toolkit for Redefining Your Future, is an international consultant, adviser, and professional speaker to C-level leaders in commerce, non-profits, government, military, and education for his expertise on leadership and strategic decision making. David is Co-founder of Buzd, LLC (San Diego) – tech patents and Ecosystem/AI, Inc. (San Francisco) – big data predictive analytics; Co-founder and CEO of TymSync, Inc. (San Diego); and Founder of Project Moon Hut, a three-year effort with NASA to enable sustainable life on the Moon through the accelerated development of a space based economy.

Dr. Ammar Albanna

Dr. Ammar Albanna is a Canadian trained Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist and the Head of the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Center of Excellence at Al Jalila Children’s Specialty Hospital in Dubai. He is the founding president of the Emirates Society for Child and Adolescent Mental Health, the national representative society for this field in United Arab Emirates. Dr. Albanna completed his residency and training at McGill University, Canada. He then Joined the Toronto Hospital for Sick Children as a fellow in Pediatric Neuropsychiatry. He is also a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, and an international fellow of the American Psychiatric Association. His current research focus is on neuropsychiatric disorders in the UAE including Autism Spectrum Disorder and innovative models for healthcare delivery. He is the Co-Principle Investigator for the research project that received the first cycle funding from SWARD (Sandooq Al Watan Research Award), entitled : “Application of Machine Intelligence to Quantify Neuronal Pathogenicity and Phenotypic Progression for Mutations in Autism Spectrum Disorders”. Dr. Albanna has received awards for recognition of his clinical, research and educational work. He is scheduled to chair the global congress of the International Association of Child and Adolescent Psychiatrists and Allied Professionals (IACAPAP) in 2022 in Dubai, following a winning bid for Dubai to host this prestigious congress.

Dr. Jennifer Camulli

Dr. Jennifer brings 30 years of experience working with people of determination. Trained in psycho-educational diagnostic assessment and evaluation, she has a deep understanding of the complexities that underpin challenging diagnoses. She has worked with government and schools in Asia to implement inclusive education practices and pioneered a vocational work apprenticeship program in Macau, SAR. As an accessibility and inclusion specialist, she now works for Expo 2020 Dubai as Manager- People with Accessible Needs to ensure the built and soft environments will offer full accessibility for all people with access needs. She has facilitated multiple workshops, professional development and has frequently been a presenter at conferences in Canada, southeast Asia, and now the Middle East. She publishes in a variety of peer-reviewed academic journals, mostly about autism and savant syndrome and advocacy for inclusion. Her current publishing work provides an employment framework in Dubai for people of determination. Profoundly deaf since birth, Steve works as an Accessibility Consultant in the United Arab Emirates advising organisations on how to become accessible for people of determination. In September 2019, as part of Direct Access, he was awarded the inaugural MEED Editors’ Award for Inclusivity, recognising the drive to achieve accessibility. He works closely with Jennifer at Expo 2020 Dubai to create an “Expo for Everyone” advising not just on the physical construction, but also the accessibility of the curation and programming for the entire event. Steve has written several articles on accessibility and how the Dubai Universal Design Code should be implemented.

Dr. Salmaan Keshavjee

Dr. Salmaan Keshavjee, MD, PhD, ScM,is the Director of Harvard Medical School’s Center for Global Health Delivery—Dubai since 2014. He is also an Associate Professor of Global Health and Social Medicine at the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine (DGHSM) at Harvard Medical School and an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Global Health Equity at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He has worked extensively with the Boston-based non-profit Partners InHealth (PIH) on the treatment of drug-resistant tuberculosis. Over the last 14 years has conducted clinical and implementation research in Russia (2000-present). He was also the Deputy-Director for the PIH Lesotho Initiative (2006-2008), launching one of the first community-based treatment programs for multi-drug resistant tuberculosis/HIV co-infection in sub-Saharan Africa. In 2005, he became a member of the World Health Organization/Stop TB Partnership’s Green Light Committee for MDR-TB Treatment. From 2007 to 2010, he was the committee’s chair. He has spent considerable time working on alternate mechanisms for drug procurement, technical assistance delivery, and program implementation. He is currently leading an initiative at Harvard Medical School on how to achieve zero deaths from tuberculosis. In addition to his research and policy work, Dr. Keshavjee is also an active member of the teaching faculty at Harvard.

Laura Cincera

Laura Cincera is the Head of partnerships and content for Grow with Google, a global social impact initiative focused on empowering people to thrive in the future by equipping them with the skills required to flourish. More than 11 Million people have been trained in Europe, the Middle East and Africa to date. Laura is a certified Executive Coach, qualified yoga and mindfulness facilitator and writer. Her passion lies where education, art and wellbeing merge. Previously, she advocated for gender equality in business at the Australian Women Chamber of Commerce, was a World Economic Forum Global Shaper and organized TEDx conferences.

Lena Slachmuijlder

Lena Slachmuijlder is the Senior Vice President for Programs at Search for Common Ground, the world’s largest peacebuilding organization. For the last 30 years she has worked for peaceful social change, including living and working in Africa for 21 years as a journalist, editor, producer, musician and cultural facilitator. She has spearheaded Search’s work to transform violent extremism, publishing ‘Transforming Violent Extremism: a Peacebuilder’s Guide’. She led the codification of the Common Ground Approach, publishing an11-module curriculum which is mandated throughout the organization. Lena is a graduate of Stanford University, an alumni of the Amsterdam THNK School for Creative Leadership, and a past Fellow at Brandeis University. She speaks English, French, Zulu, Swahili and Lingala and has general knowledge of Kirundi and Spanish.

Nick Watson

Nick has lived in Dubai, United Arab Emirates since 1998. He has been a professional in the health and fitness world for over 22 years. When he was 16 years old, his family moved to France, where he discovered his true love for triathlon, and, health & fitness. This led to him joining the British Royal Marine. Amongst the many experiences he has had in the Royal Marines, he also became qualified as a skiing instructor. After his service with the Royal Marines, he became retrained for civilian life in Personal Training, Sports Specific Coaching, Sports Therapy and as a certified Ironman Triathlon Coach; for which he has dedicated the past 22 years of his life to. He considers himself an entrepreneur, with a lot of heart and strong vision.

Owen Farrow

Owen is a consulting and technology leader who spends his time with retailers across the Middle East and Africa. He works with some of the biggest brand names in the region, helping them shape customer experiences using digital technologies. He is both a proponent and practitioner of the discipline of Design Thinking which helps him, help retailers get closer to their consumer. Owen is, as he says “an enthusiastic consumer” himself, and so he is doing what he loves, and this helps him make a difference for his clients and their customer.

Sara Alawadhi

Sara Al Awadhi – International Lawyer, diversity advocate, and outdoor enthusiast. Sara Al Awadhi is an international lawyer, currently working at the global law firm Winston & Strawn, LLP. Sara advises government institutions and private investors on large corporate transactions, conventional and Islamic financing arrangements, and large energy and infrastructure projects throughout the Middle East and Africa. Sara obtained her law degree in the UK, and has practiced law with multiple global law firms at their offices in the UAE, London and New York. Sara spends a large part of her personal time advocating for female empowerment and diversity and inclusion in the workplace, and discussing the legal sector to ensure access by young females and other underrepresented groups to the legal sector. To further these goal, Sara has taken part in multiple panel discussions and given interviews on these topics. When she is not in her office practicing law, or busy advocating for women empowerment and diversity and inclusion, Sara spends her time exploring the mountains of the UAE to find new routes to hike and boulders to climb. Sara has also begun to speak more publically, through podcasts and articles, about the importance of exploring the UAE’s outdoors as a way to truly understand Emirati culture and values, and seeks to empower more women to do the same.

Steve Dering

Profoundly deaf since birth, Steve works as an Accessibility Consultant in the United Arab Emirates advising organisations on how to become accessible for people of determination. In September 2019, as part of Direct Access, he was awarded the inaugural MEED Editors’ Award for Inclusivity, recognising the drive to achieve accessibility. He works closely with Jennifer at Expo 2020 Dubai to create an “Expo for Everyone” advising not just on the physical construction, but also the accessibility of the curation and programming for the entire event. Steve has written several articles on accessibility and how the Dubai Universal Design Code should be implemented.

Sultan AlShaali

Sultan A. Alshaali, is the founding Director of the Government Accelerators in the UAE Prime Minister’s Office overseeing the operations of the world’s first Government Accelerators, which is a platform for cross-sectoral government focusing on challenges. He serves on the Board of Directors of the World Congress of Muslim Philanthropist, a global network of affluent individuals, foundations, and socially responsible corporations established to advance effective and accountable giving. He also serves as a member of the board of directors of Ajman Modern School, the first international school of the northern emirates and an associate member of the UNESCO and Counsels of International Schools. He has extensive experience in various areas, including strategic planning, organizational development, manufacturing, education, and entrepreneurship. He holds two master’s degrees, in Business Administration and Entrepreneurship from Liverpool University in the UK, and Business Strategy and Development from City & Guilds also in the UK. Sultan is an Executive Director, Strategist, published author and Coach and is an Alumni of the UAE Government Leadership Program.

Tracy Pepe

For 25 years, Tracy Pepe has been developing solutions to rethink practical synesthesia in architecture and interior design. Tracy has built dozens of experiential design collaborations with architects and interior designers that are based on sensorial expansion—adding the intertwinement of scent strategy and color to create newly deepened ways of visitor sensation. Published author, “So What’s all the sniff about?” and a distinguished lecturer. She offers the only IDC (Interior Design Credit) accredited seminar on Scent Design. She was recently featured at 2019 Dubai Design Week, Smelling Colours. Tracy Pepe is the owner of The Scented L’air, the first essential oil bar, located in Brampton, Ontario, Canada. She is a published author, and the Chief Perfumer of Nose Knows Design.

Vithika Yadhav

ithika Yadav is an anti slavery, sexual rights and gender rights activist; she is a social entrepreneur with over ten years of experience. She was recently named one of the Top 120 under 40 New Generation of Family Planning leaders in the world in 2016 . In 2007 she was awarded the Atlas Corps Fellowship and in 2012 she was awarded as one of the Top 99 under 33 young foreign policy leaders in the world by Diplomatic Courier and Young Professionals in Foreign Policy in USA. She has had an extensive career working for premier organizations such as UN Office on Drugs and Crime, BBC World Service Trust, Free the Slaves and MTV EXIT. She is the Co-founder and the Head of Love Matters India, an award winning initiative which was the first Digital Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights platform in India to provide complete and unbiased information to young people in both Hindi and English. Love Matters won the Award for Excellence &Innovation in Sexuality Education from the World Association for Sexual Health in 2013.