Bloomberg GEI: Building the Business Case for Gender Equality – Middle East Focus

Dr. Mohamed Farid Saleh, PhD

Executive Chairman

The Egyptian Exchange (EGX)

Dr. Mohamed Farid Saleh was appointed as the Executive Chairman of EGX since August 2017 as per the Prime Ministerial Decree No. 1759/2017. Currently, Dr. Farid is the board member of The Arab Federation of Exchanges (AFE), a Board member of the African Securities Exchanges Association (ASEA), the Chairman of the Federation of Euro‐Asian Stock Exchanges’ (FEAS) Working Groups and the Chairman of the Emerging Markets Working Group at the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE). Prior to his appointment as EGX Executive Chairman, Farid served as the Chairman and CEO of Dcode EFC, a leading economic forecasting and advisory firm in Egypt.

Furthermore, between 2013 & 2016, Mr. Farid was an external consultant on Venture Capital and Financial Leasing for the World Bank Group in Egypt, and was a member of the Capital Market Advisory Committee established by the Financial Regulatory Authority [FRA]. Additionally, he was the Vice Chairman of the Egyptian Exchange in 2010-2011.

Farid holds a PhD in Financial Economics from Cardiff Metropolitan University, an MSc in Quantitative Finance from CASS Business School in the United Kingdom, an MSc in Economics, Finance & Investment from York University, an MBA from the Arab Academy for Science, Technology & Maritime Transport (ASST), a certificate in Venture Capital form UC Berkley, the United States of America, a certificate in Time Series Analysis from Timberlake’s Cambridge, and BSc in Foreign Trade and Economics from Helwan University.

He also served as a part time lecturer in Financial Markets, International Finance, and Financial Derivatives at the American University in Egypt (AUC) and at the Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport (ASST).

Heba El Serafi

Assistant Chairman and Head of Disclosure Sector

The Egyptian Exchange (EGX)

After having managed the Surveillance, Market & Research, Strategic Planning, and International Relations Departments at the Egyptian Exchange, Heba el Serafi currently occupies the position of Assistant Chairman and Head of Disclosure & Corporate Governance Sector at EGX. Alongside that, she is a member of the EGX Listing and Trading Committees as well as a member of the World Federation of Exchanges’ SMEs working committee. She has more than 20 years of experience in the fields of research and capital market development, securities trading, market surveillance, companies’ governance, credit analysis and risk assessment.

Mona Hosny

Sustainability Strategy Manager

Commercial International Bank in Egypt (

Mona Hosny has seven years of Corporate Sustainability expertise in the Financial Industry and its global practices. With a Master’s Degree in International Studies and Diplomacy from the University of London, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), she currently holds the position of CIB Sustainability Strategy Manager. Her areas of expertise include initiation of Responsible Banking practices, Sustainability Reporting, Social and Environment Impact Assessment, and Sustainable Finance solutions. She is an active and founding member of CIB’s Gender Empowerment & Environmental Footprint initiatives. She served as the Project Manager of CIB’s Egyptian Gender Equity Seal, as the first bank in Egypt and CIB's inclusion in the Bloomberg Gender Equality Index, for three consecutive years. She has led the development of CIB’s Sustainability Reporting (GRI) for five consecutive years, and is a member of the Bank’s team for Advocacy and Training of Employees on Sustainability.

Dr. Sherif H. Kamel

Dean

The American University in Cairo School

Kamel is professor of management and dean of the School of Business at The American University in Cairo. Before that, he served as the university vice president for information management. Prior to joining the university, he was director of the Regional IT Institute and managed the training department of the Cabinet of Egypt Information and Decision Support Center.

He is a trustee and an international board member of the Association of MBAs and the Business Graduate Association. He is an independent non-executive board member of Raya Holdings for Financial Investments and Education for Employment. He is the co-chair of the board of stewards of the African Women Entrepreneurship Cooperative; member of the AACSB MENA Advisory Council, Egypt-U.S. Business Council and founding member of the Internet Society of Egypt. Previously, he was the president of the board of governors of the American Chamber of Commerce, an independent non-executive board member of the Commercial International Bank, member of the World Bank Knowledge Advisory Commission and chairman of the Chevening Association in Egypt. He was a non-executive board member of the Egyptian American Enterprise Fund, the Association of African Business Schools and Friends of the Museum of Islamic Arts.

Kamel is an Eisenhower Fellow and the Center for Global Enterprise Fellow. His research and teaching interests include digital transformation, IT transfer to emerging economies, decision support systems and entrepreneurship. His work is broadly published in articles, chapters and cases in IS and management journals and books and the author of the NileView article series. He is the editor of three books and serves on the editorial board of Case Focus: The Journal of Business and Management Teaching Cases in the Middle East and Africa. He is the associate editor of the Journal of IT for Development and the Journal of Cases on Information Technology.

Dr. Ghada Howaidy

Associate Dean for Executive Education

The AUC School of Business, Founder of E

Dr. Ghada Howaidy is the Associate Dean for Executive Education and External Relations at the American University in Cairo School of Business. Before joining AUC in 2008, she was the founding director of international relations at the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in Egypt. She has MA and MSc degrees in Middle East Studies and public management from AUC and the London School of Economics, as well as senior executive training at Harvard Business School. She holds a professional doctorate in Organizational Change from Ashridge School of Business. She taught Organizational Change as adjunct faculty in the core curriculum of AUC. She is also the founder of the Women on Boards Observatory and is a certified board director by IFC.

Farah Foustok

Chief Executive Officer

Lazard Gulf Ltd, Founder, 30%25 Club MENA

Farah Foustok is the Chief Executive Officer of Lazard Gulf Ltd. based in Dubai. She began working in the investment field in 1994. Prior to joining Lazard in 2014, she was Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of ING Investment Management Middle East from 2008.

Previously, she was the Head of Asset Management at NBD Investment Bank. Farah was a senior fund manager at EFG-Hermes prior to NBD IB, responsible for managing GCC and MENA funds and portfolios. Farah spent five years at Deutsche Bank in London, in Equity Strategy. She has also worked at Morgan Stanley within Equity Sales, followed by three years in commercial real estate advisory in Europe. Farah also has Private Equity exposure through a private venture in Argentina and an internet start-up in the UK.

In 2012 Farah was elected as the chairperson of the board for the UAE Financial Services Association. In 2013, Farah co-founded the first non-profit female mentoring program in the DIFC, Dubai; Reach. In 2015 Farah co-founded and chaired the Steering Committee for the MENA chapter of the 30% club to develop & promote female leadership in the region. In 2019, Farah was awarded International Investment Woman of the Year by Women in Investment Awards, London. Farah is a finance leaders fellow of the Aspen Institute. In January 2020, Farah launched TARA, speed mentoring NGO platform to connect the Education sector to the Corporate world and develop future female leaders.

Farah holds an MBA from Imperial College London and a BSc Hons in Mathematics from King’s College, London.

Raeda Al Sarayreh

Chair of Steering Committee

30%25 Club

Raeda started her career as a diplomate in Washington DC back in 1998, then moved to take on various roles across strategy, innovation, and marketing communications with government organization and fortune 500 companies, covering advanced technology investment, consulting and engineering sectors. Her career highlights included working as the Head of Press for HM the Queen of Jordan, global communications lead for a 12 billion advanced tech investment fund, and a country manager for CH2M where she managed a 50 million dollar revenue stream.

Raeda shares a genuine passion for advancing women within the workplace, with a focus on creating enabling environments for a more inclusive and diverse work ecosystems. She is the chair of the 30% Club MENA since 2018.

Raeda is a certified executive coach, she was awarded The Independence Medal by the King of Jordan in 2012 for outstanding service to the country.

Patricia Leandro

Global Head, Sustainable Finance Solutions,

Bloomberg

Patricia Torres heads the business development team for Sustainable Finance Solutions at Bloomberg. Patricia has spent 19 years with Bloomberg in diverse roles ranging from sales, strategy, data management, to product development. Prior to that she started her career as a management consultant. Patricia graduated as an economist and has done various post-graduate courses, including corporate finance, enterprise selling, corporate governance and negotiation.

Sabina Mehmood

Product Manager, Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index

Bloomberg L.P.

Sabina Mehmood joined Bloomberg in March 2015 where she serves as product manager of the Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index (GEI). The GEI, which sits in Bloomberg's Sustainable Finance Solutions team, tracks the financial performance of companies committed to advancing women in the workplace globally. Previously specializing in marketing management, Sabina has supported government relations, media and communications initiatives across the firm as well as well as philanthropic programming at Bloomberg Philanthropies. Sabina also sits as a steering committee member of the US 30% Club, managing client relations and programming. In this role, Sabina builds regionalized, targeted, and integrated event strategies that enable cross-business integration and influence business value and results. Sabina has a BBA in Finance from the Zicklin School of Business, Baruch College, and a MS in Corporate Communications from The Weissman School of Arts and Sciences, Baruch College.