H.E. Hussein El Hage Hassan

Minister of Industry - Lebanon 

Shereen Ibrahim Allam

Founder and President of AWTAD 

An Egyptian entrepreneur with 30 years experience in the business and development field.  She is passionate about her work and founded three companies and one NGO so far and believes in the economic power of women and youth in positively shaping the future of Egypt.

Emma Bonino

Former Minister of Foreign Affairs and Founder of No Peace Without Justice 

Emma Bonino is a former Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs.From 2008 to 2013 she served as Vice-Chair of the Italian Senate. She has been Minister for International Trade and European Affairs. First elected to the Italian Chamber of Deputies in 1976, she has served either in the Italian or in the European Parliament continuously since then, except when she was European Commissioner from 1994 to 1999. Download the full biography

Delphine Borione

Deputy Secretary General, Union for the Mediterranean

Delphine Borione is a French diplomat who has held numerous high-level positions in multilateral, economic, environment and cultural fields. She was appointed Deputy Secretary General in the Secretariat of the Union for the Mediterranean in 2013, in charge of Social and Civil Affairs. 

Soukeina Bouraoui

CEO, Center of Arab Women for Training and Research (CAWTAR)

Soukeina Bouraoui is a legal expert and one of the greatest militants for women’s rights in The Region  A pioneer of Environmental Law she is today an important figure in active feminism in Tunisia. Exécutive Director of Cawtar (Center of Arab Women for Training and Research), a regional institution working on gender equality in Arab States by promoting training, research, and networking. Cawtar works to generate knowledge and to support institutions working to strengthen the role of Arab women so that it may be recognized as an essential kingpin of social and economic developpment 

Monica Carcò

Chief of the Investment and Technology, UNIDO

Monica is Chief of the Investment and Technology at UNIDO HQs. She has  worked  as International Civil Servant for  UNDP, WFP and UNIDO and  the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for more than 25 years. Having covered Representation  and Management positions, Monica strives to build up public and private partnerships and strategic -multi stakeholder- alliances to boost local development. Monica - firmly believes that through promoting  entrepreneurship  development  for youth and women and strengthening the entrepreneurial eco-system will contribute to a more inclusive and sustainable socio-economic development.

Marta Dassù

Executive President of Women for Expo

Marta Dassù was Italy’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs from November 2011 to February 2014. Ms Dassù is Executive President of Women for Expo and Vice President of The Center for American Studies in Rome. She is Senior Director, European Affairs, of the The Aspen Institute.She sits on the Board of Directors of IAI (Istituto Affari Internazionali), as well as on the Board of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London. She is member of the Advisory Council of the European Policy Centre in Brussels and a member of the scientific committee of the LUISS School of Government in Rome. She is a regular contributor to the Italian newspaper La Stampa. And is the author of various books and essays.

Haifa Hajjar Najjar 

Senator in the Upper House of Jordanian Parliament and President of Business and Professioal Women - Jordan 

A prominent figure in the educational realm, takes a definitive endeavor to reshape education in Jordan. A Senator in the Upper House of the Jordanian Parliament (Jordanian Senate) for the second session, the Superintendent of the Ahliyyah School for Girls and the Bishop’s School for Boys, she was selected amongst the most powerful women in Jordan in the Jordan Business Magazine in 2008 and 2014, and amongst the most 200 powerful women in the Arab World in Forbes Middle East Magazine in 2014.  

Alia Farhat 

The Lebanese Association for Development, Al Majmoua

With a Master in Political Sciences, a MBA in Management and Finance and a DEA (Pre-doctoral Year) in European Studies, Alia has been working with the Lebanese Association for Development - Al Majmoua since February 1999 first as financial analyst, then as Finance Manager from January 2002 to December 2004, Business Development Manager from January 2005 to September 2009. Since then, Alia Farhat has been the Human Resources Manager also heading the Non-Financial Services Department that is providing business support services to micro-entrepreneurs.

Sana Fathallah Ghenima 

President of "Femmes and Leadership" Association - Tunisia

Graduated as Industrial engineer and business leader in new technologies for many years ago, she is Founder and CEO of Med Sanabil a digital publishing company founded in 2004 in Tunisia. She is currently president of the association Women & Leadership whose main mission is to propel women in decision-making positions in all sectors.

Marta Marti

Currently, Marta is an entrepreneur with 20 years of experience in managerial and business communication management, corporate social responsibility and social action organizations working both nationally, and internationally; specializing in internal communication and sectors related to the environment. The projects and companies created by Marta Marti are inspired by specialized  professionals who share attitudes, values and desires to offer customized solutions to the specific needs of companies and teams. This takes place through 4 tools,  her own brands: SHAKeON (on / off line platform dedicated to awakening entrepreneurial attitudes and co-creating value), TRIBU RESPIRA ( TRIBE BREATHE communications and corporate social responsibility consultancy that promotes a voluntary Emotional contract between people and organizations), SIPS of LIGHT (Creativity and motivation Workshops based on the observation of light to strengthen mind) MM soul coaching (personal training to work emotion-reason-physical-consciousness of managers and entrepreneurs)

Asmaa Morine Azzouzi

President of the association Femmes Entrepreneurs of Morocco

Titulaire d’un troisième cycle en commerce international, de l’executive MBA d’intelligence économique de l’EGE Paris et diplômée de l’ISCAE Casablanca, Asmâa MORINE AZZOUZI  est une chef d’entreprise chevronnée et une femme très active dans le domaine économique en faveur de la femme. Très active au Maroc, Asmâa MORINE AZZOUZI  cumule diverses expériences en conseil financier, gestion du patrimoine et en développement stratégique de 1992 à 2004. Asmâa MORINE AZZOUZI  est également Présidente de l’association des Femmes Entrepreneurs du Maroc et membre du CA de la CGEM le patronat marocain. Elle met ainsi tout son savoir et son savoir-faire au service des femmes aspirant à des projets de création d’entreprise et à plus de responsabilités dans la vie économique et sociale par le biais d’incubateurs au féminin  MAROC PIONNIERES installés dans diverses régions du Maroc et partenaires de la fédération française des Pionnières.

Pierre Omran

Head of Beirut Permits Committee, Ministry of Industry - Lebanon

Control Engineering in the Ministry of Industry Permits Dept. since 2006. Focal point for the Ministry in many UNIDO Projects since 2012 to support SMEs in machinery industry and capacity building.

Paola Ravacchioli

Investment Officer, European Investment Bank

Paola Ravacchioli is a member of the European Investment Bank’s Equity Division for operations in the MENA and ACP countries. Having spent 20 years at the European Investment Bank financing the development of the private sector in the EU and the MENA region, she has a considerable experience in fostering entrepreneurship and innovation, not only through equity investments in companies and VC funds, but also by supporting business incubators and seed accelerators. She is currently involved in creating and implementing new knowledge transfer mechanisms between European players (such as the European Space Agency) and MENA entrepreneurs.

Serena Romano

International Consultant - Telecommunication, Energy, Gender Parity

Serena Romano is co-founder and currently President of Corrente Rosa, a women’s advocacy association that promotes women’s participation in business, institutions and politics to achieve a greater balance of talents in society. In 2009, she became a participating member of the OECD-MENA Women’s Business Forum and has been actively pursuing since the development of an action plan for women in the Middle East and North Africa region. Serena Romano is a member of the Comité d’honneur of Women’s Tribune Morocco, an association that takes stock of the progress of women in the MENA region, a member of La Pietra Coalition, a NYU-sponsored breakthrough initiative to advance women and the world, a Member of the Governors of the Euro-Mediterranean Women's Foundation, that promotes gender equality in the Euro-Mediterranean and a member of the pool of expert resources of the European Institute for Gender Equality. Since 2010, Serena Romano manages a consultancy business advising corporations and institutions in the telecommunications, energy and gender parity sectors. Her customers include the OECD and Italy’s largest power company ENEL.  Currently she is leading two EuropeAid-funded projects on gender-related issues, in the Eastern Partnership countries of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, and in the South Neighbourhood countries of the South Mediterranean border.

Emanuele Santi

Lead Strategy Advisor, African Development Bank

Emanuele Santi is a lead advisor at African Development Bank, after holding various senior positions at African Development Bank and at World Bank. Founder and coordinator of Souk At-tanmia, the largest mobilization of partners to support social entrepreneurship in Tunisia in the aftermath of the Arab Spring, he is currently developing a new partnership aimed at catalyzing the Africa’s dynamic entrepreneurial class, supporting the market emergence of innovative forms of financing and developing entrepreneurial capacity.

Annamaria Simonazzi

Director of the Scientific Board of the Fondazione Brodolini

Prof. Annamaria Simonazzi is Full Professor of Economic Policy and Italian and European Economics at the University of Rome La Sapienza. She is Coordinator of the Laurea Magistrale in Economics, "EPOS" and national coordinator of the European PhD in Socio-Economic and Statistical Studies. Prof. Annamaria Simonazzi is Director of the Scientific board of the Fondazione Giacomo Brodolini

Doa Wadi

General Director, Business Women Forum - Palestine

Hana Abdul Rahman Uraidi

CEO, Jordan Enterprise Development Corporation (JEDCO)

With postgraduate degrees in Development Studies and Marketing, Ms. Uraidi has accumulated 23 years of a unique combination of experiences related to sustainable economic development. Ms. Uraidi is a resource person in entrepreneurship and SME development policies and initiatives with particular expertise in relation to Jordan and the MENA region, in particular she has held the position of the EU-Mediterranean Enterprise Charter since 2008.  Furthermore she has been a member of Jordan's specialized economic delegations in national and international forums. In particular, represented Jordan in bilateral and multilateral trade and cooperation negotiations; accession team to the WTO, the Jordan-USA Free Trade Agreement, EU and EFTA States, specialized working party groups at the EU and OECD, and as a speaker in national and international business, entrepreneurship, enterprise, innovation and economic development conferences.

Anna Zattoni

General Manager, Valore D

Anna Zattoni is General Manager of Valore D since February 2012. She is responsible for managing and developing Valore D membership and activities in Italy. With Valore D (the first association of large companies formed in Italy in order to support women’s leadership in the corporate world), Ms Zattoni works to support and increase women’s representation in top positions in major Italian companies through tangible and concrete actions.