Abdulrahman graduated from Indiana State University in 1996 majoring in Instrumentation and Control Engineering. After spending nine years in oil and gas between different offshore and onshore fields in the Empty Quarter, Libyan desert and North Sea he decided to take a different career direction in banking. He joined Standard Chartered Bank as an Associate Director of Global markets. After two years, he then moved to LloydsTSM ME as the UAE Business Advisor and Head of Emiratisation; taking ownership of enhancing the recruitment and development of Emiratis in addition to supporting the local-related businesses at the bank.

Ali Alsaloom is an author, cultural expert, professional speaker, , TV show host And is one of the fastest rising media stars and public speakers in the Gulf. He has delivered his intercultural awareness talks to hundreds of business groups and has given tours of Abu Dhabi to such luminaries as Frank Gehry and Antonio Banderas as well as heads of state. His TV show, Ask Ali, reaches thousands, as does his column in the weekly magazine M. For his work as a cultural ambassador. Time Out Dubai even recognised him as one of their 40 Local Heroes in 2008. His portal www.ask-ali.com answers questions on various topics related to the UAE culture and in his Embrace Arabia events he helps people of different cultures to connect. Ali studied in North America, obtaining his undergraduate degree in hospitality from the University of Central Florida and his Masters in Business Administration from Laurier University in Canada. He worked in hospitality for the Beach Rotana chain as well as a stint setting up a brand new meetings, incentives, conferences, exhibitions department with the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority. Add to that, his extensive worldwide travels and you can see why he is considered the pre-eminent Emirati expert in intercultural affairs.

Fahad Al Hassawi is the Chief Human Resources and Corporate Services Officer at du. As head Fahad is tasked with developing and managing du's strategic human resources plan. His focus is on creating a working environment that fosters organisational performance, productivity and customer service. He is responsible for implementing best practices in recruitment, training and development, compensation and benefits, policies and procedures and organisational design. Emiratisation is a priority in delivering programmes dedicated to the recruitment and development of UAE Nationals. Also he is responsible for ensuring availability, achieving cost efficiencies and driving quality in sourcing materials and services for du, with the aim of optimising supply chain management in line with customer service goals of the organisation. Prior to joining du, Fahad served as Vice President, Human Resources (Employee Services) for Emirates Airlines. In this role, he devised and implemented a full process improvement exercise of all HR transactional activities to achieve optimal process productivity and internal customer satisfaction. He also established and executed the group’s national career development strategy and developed its talent pool of UAE Nationals. Before becoming Vice President, he served in various HR positions for the group. Fahad holds a Master of Science in Industrial Engineering from the University of Miami, USA and a Bachelor of Engineering in Communication and a BTEC National Diploma in Engineering, both from the Etisalat College of Engineering.

Faiza Essa Jaffer Rahmatullah has been the Resourcing and Development Manager at PDO since 2007. Faiza holds a BSC in Business Administration -1992 from Texas A&M University with a distinction. Faiza joined Petroleum Development Oman immediately upon graduation in 1992, and then worked until 2006 within the supply chain management team holding various posts from Procurement Manager to heading the operations and project supply chain management team.

Kanchan Ghoshal is the Director - HR Advisory Services, at KPMG Bahrain & Qatar. He has 14 years of varied work experience ranging from HR consulting and talent acquisition to project management in the process industry and heads the HR Advisory Business Unit for KPMG in Bahrain & Qatar. His areas of HR Consulting expertise include large scale change management, organisation & job structures and manpower planning; HR strategy and diagnostics, career & succession planning, training & development solutions, competency development and performance management; and compensation & rewards. Having spent more than 6 years continuously in the GCC region, Kanchan has worked with the national oil companies and their subsidiaries in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar and focused on people & change advisory assistance closely related to Nationalisation related issues which has led him to initiate relevant research on this subject to make his work with future clients more effective. Kanchan is the HR Advisory lead for KPMG’s people related plans and initiatives directed to assist the Nationalisation strategy implementation led by Tamkeen – the Bahrain Labour Fund. He has additionally provided start –up structuring and restructuring assistance for a number of organisations across Government, Investment Banking, Real Estate, Oil & Gas and diversified family run businesses. Prior to joining KPMG, Kanchan worked for Ernst & Young and Andersen including their Middle East offices.

Abdulla Al-Tamimi, is Head of Human Resources at Standard Chartered Bank in Qatar, and has over 26 years of experience in one of the biggest industries in world. He is a chemical engineer by trade, and he changed his career in 2003 by doing a diploma in management. He then became acting Head of Training and Development in his company at that time, and his job was to look after 1200 employees, and complete the TNA, arrange the in-house, local, and abroad courses. Besides that he was responsible for arranging all the requirements for company nominees for further education, local and abroad. He built very good relations with lots of venders around the world, and very good relations with the administration departments in local and abroad universities; his last day in the industry sectors was 28/08/2009. In 01/09/2009, he joined banking sectors with SCB in the HR department. Since then he developed the relationships with local labour departments, and understood the matrix system. He worked in forming a Qatarisation committee, by setting the committee objectives, how often they should meet, and what issues shall be discussed. He has about 180 employees in his three branch’s, about 35 of them are Nationals, he developed the IDP, so every individual has a target position and fixed numbers of months to take the responsibility of their positions. The programme is comprehensive in content from the requirements, to make sure that within the frame of time, the candidate would take the targeted position.

Ayadh Farooq is the Head National Development at Emirates NBD, and will be completing 21 years in March 2010. He currently Heads the UAE Nationals Development programme for the bank which totals an excess of 8000 personnel. He was awarded the HR Leadership Award by the World HRD Congress 2009 in Mumbai, India.

Dr. Naji Al Mahdi is a dedicated Human Resources Development and Management professional with over 27 years experience in the field. He holds a first degree in Mechanical Engineering and a Ph.D. in Engineering and Numerical Analysis from the United Kingdom. Dr. Al Mahdi held senior management roles within the education, training and employment sectors. His performance record includes providing strategic, academic and operational leadership to promote high level performance and innovation in the development and delivery of quality vocational education in accordance to the needs of the business community and society at large. He has a wealth of experience in developing policies and strategies related to the management, budget, performance, quality, standards, evaluation, licensing, accreditation, funding, delivery, assessment, verification and organisation of educational institutions. Dr. Al Mahdi has the breadth and depth of experiences across all aspects of vocational education in Arabian Gulf countries and is well informed about the vocational education systems in developed countries. He has been able to contextualise his international experience to the needs of the people and economies of Bahrain, the UAE and other Arabian Gulf countries. Dr. Al Mahdi’s extensive knowledge of government, business and industry as well as his ability to develop partnerships has enabled him to forge links between education and the market place. His continuing interest and professional development in all these areas has greatly enhanced the value of his contributions to vocational education throughout his career.

Dr. Ingo Forstenlechner is an Assistant Professor of Human Resources Management at United Arab Emirates University, with a strong focus on Emiratisation in both research and consulting. His core expertise is implications of Emiratisation for both strategic and operational aspects of HR and management. Recent consulting assignments include a project on retention of national trainees for a federal ministry, a recruiting strategy for a government backed high technology startup, Emiratisation workshops for tier two and three management of a three top UAE insurance companies as well as several workshops with a UK law firm in Abu Dhabi on Emiratisation. In June 2009 Dr. Forstenlechner has finished a major research project into Emiratisation funded by Emirates Foundation and has won competitive funding for two further Emiratisation projects due to finish in June 2010. He is well published in scholarly journals (Journal of World Business, Employee Relations, Personnel Review etc.). His professional background is in professional services, prior to coming to the UAE, he spent 5 years in London working for global law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.

John is responsible for managing entry level training of UAE Nationals for the hotel and retail sectors, and for managing the various Emiratisation private sector research, training and consultancy projects at the Centre for Emiratisation R&D. John has a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the Australian Graduate School of Management in the University of New South Wales. He also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication, and post-graduate diplomas in Technical Education and TESOL from the University of Technology, Sydney. John was Head of the Centre for English as a Second Language at Dubai University, lecturer in business at the Higher Colleges of Technology, and lecturer in communication studies at the Sydney Institute of Technology. He also has extensive experience in service industry corporate training with Australia Post. In 1995 he received the United Arab Emirates Higher Colleges of Technology Chancellor's Award for Outstanding Achievement in Teaching.

Rachel Moosa is the Regional Director of Human Resources, Middle East and Africa Fairmont Hotels & Resorts. As the Regional Director of Human Resources for the Middle East and Africa, Rachel is responsible for the overall recruitment, development and engagement strategy for all of the operating and opening hotels within her region. The Middle East and Africa region is a diverse portfolio of locations and employment markets including Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Cairo, Makkah, Kenya and Durban in South Africa. With over eight years of experience with Fairmont Hotels & Resorts both in the Middle East and North America, Rachel has been responsible for the opening and operating human resources function for hotels such as the Fairmont Turnberry Isle Resort & Club in Florida, The Fairmont Dubai, The Fairmont Olympic in Seattle and the newly opened Fairmont Bab Al Bahr in Abu Dhabi. Rachel joined Fairmont Hotels & Resorts from the InterContinental Hotel Group where she held the role of Training Manager. Rachel has a Bachelor of Arts in International Hospitality Management from the University of Central Lancashire and a Masters of Science in Human Resource Management and Development from the University of Manchester.

Nanette Fairley began her career as an organisational change specialist with Andersen Consulting (now Accenture), working in the USA, the Asia Pacific region and Australia. She then moved into the aviation industry taking up an HR management role with the Emirates Group in Dubai. Since founding Innovative HR Solutions, Nanette has specialised in the design and implementation of assessment and development tools supporting development planning, succession planning and talent management initiatives. She is qualified with a Humanities degree in Organisational Psychology and an MBA, both from Australian universities.

H. “Amin” Carter presently serves as the Senior Retention Policy Advisor for Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Oil Operations (ADCO). He has been living in the UAE for the past four years and prior to that worked and lived in the United States. He has served as an HR management consultant as well as worked in the public and private sector. A few of his major areas of expertise are as follows: Organisational Development, Organisational Behavior, Strategic Planning, Employee and Family Value Proposition, Change and Transition Management, Cultural Diversity, Effective Interpersonal and Cross Cultural Communication, Quality Customer Service, Total Quality Management (TQM), Energy Management, Program Performance and Evaluation, Public Policy, and HR Management. He has served as an executive director of two corporations with maximum budget authority of $40 million. He holds certifications in ISO 9000 and 14001, housing management, energy management, and community action. He has earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a Master of Public Administration.

Zuhair Hameed Al-Naj is a UAE National who completed High School in Dubai, Bachelor of Business Administration in Canada and Master of Business Administration in the UK, and he brings with him many years of experience in HR, recruitment, administration and training. He began his working career in 1994 and worked in a selected few multinational organisations before joining Al Futtaim in 2004 as the Administration Manager and progressing in his career today as the Senior General Manager, Group Administration and Emiratisation of the Al Futtaim Group of Companies. Zuhair is responsible for Managing the Emiratisation team and over 400 UAE Nationals working in the various automotive, retail, insurance, electronics, real estate, services and joint venture companies. He is also responsible for the centralised group administration, government relations, commercial registration and archiving departments.

Paul Michael Gledhill after having worked in the travel industry in some of the worlds most exotic locations, returned to the UK to continue his training career and development studies. He worked for the UK Government as a business and training advisor and achieved several awards from TDLB (Training and Development lead body) and Lincoln and Durham Business Schools for Business and Training Counseling. As a professional trainer and an excellent presenter with a keen interest in emerging technologies, Paul started looking into the booming e-Learning industry. Paul is currently Director and Co-founder Partner of Xpert Learning, an e-Learning service and solutions provider based in Dubai and founded in April 2003. Xpert Learning works with leading corporate, government and educational establishments throughout the Middle East. He has implemented learning and development programmes for Fed-Ex, Siemens, ABN AMRO, Nestle, Dubai Duty Free, Emirates National Bank of Dubai Unilever GUST University, Etihad Airways, Roche, Ministry of Bahrain, Dubai Chamber of Commerce and many others to help them optimise learning efficiency through the use of innovative learning techniques and technologies. In 2010 Paul became a member of the Board of Directors for the Middle East e-Learning Association (MEEA). Paul is a provider of research centric consulting solutions that assist organisations to define, operate and optimise their strategic learning initiatives

Diaa Mohamed is a senior HR leader who is recognised regionally and internationally for his innovation and contribution to the development of the human resources field in developing countries. He has lived and worked in Egypt, KSA, USA, UK, and the UAE. Diaa’s last job was Vice President of HR for British Petroleum (BP) in the Middle East, North Africa & South Asia. He has also served as HR Director for Motorola in the Middle East & Africa. Diaa was selected to receive the HR Leadership Award by the Asia Pacific HRM Congress in Feb 2007 and Global HR Award by Rapport Bangladesh Limited in July 2008. He also sits on the advisory panel of the American University of Beirut (AUB)’s Middle East HR Forum, and the advisory committee of “Building Strategic Human Talent Taskforce” – International Gas Union (IGU). Diaa has spoken in many HR and business conferences in the Middle East, Asia & Europe. He has conducted various case studies in Strategic HR, Balanced Scorecard, Management of Intangible Assets, Compensation, HR Measurement, Training and Development, Performance Management, Ethics and Code of Conduct. Diaa holds a degree in Systems and Industrial Engineering, and has attended enormous executive education programmes from Cornell University, Michigan State University, London Business School, Cranfield School of Management, Thunderbird School of Global Management and Motorola University.

Ahmad Ali-Zia earned his Bachelors Degree in Electrical Engineering from NED University of Engineering & Technology in Karachi. His career started in Supply Chain working as a Project Manager in P&G, and was later promoted to Unit Manager. After a 4 year stint in P&G, he worked with various multinational companies like 3M - as Head of Manufacturing & Supply Chain, Artal - as Head of Manufacturing and Parke-Davis (now Pzifer) as QA & GMP Compliance Manager. Ahmad joined Unilever Pakistan in 2000 in the Supply Chain department as TPM & Engineering Manager at the HPC Factory in Rahimyar Khan. In 2003 Ahmad moved into HR as Learning Manager & HRBP for Foods & Beverages. Prior to his move in Dubai in early 2008, he was the National Industrial Relations Manager and HRBP SC/Finance/HR/Legal/IT. Currently, he is the HR Director handling both KSA & Gulf Business Units.

Abdulrahman Al Tuwaijri is currently working as a Human Resource Development Consultant with Saudi Aramco. He was involved in various change initiatives such as Process Improvement, Balanced Scorecard, Knowledge Management, outsourcing, and the World Café design and facilitation. He is also active in various institutes in the community. He is a board director in the Arabian Society for Human Resource Management (ASHRM), Gulf Society of Organizational Learning (Gulf SoL) and Saudi Arabia Quality Council (SAQC). He is also a recognised speaker in various conferences in the Gulf Region.

Mohamed Jasem Al Neaimi is currently the Director of Tawteen of Emirates Foundation and is a human resource professional with 15 years proven ability to implement strategic human resources initiatives, help executive management assess organisational structure, develop credible guidelines and efficient processes, and implement cost saving measures and enhancements through the use of proven conceptual and analytical problem solving abilities. Mohamed has an extensive background in organisational development, strategic planning and human resources policy development, management coaching, staff recruitment and retention, staff training and development with special emphasis on empowering of UAE Nationals. He is very much a results oriented, decisive leader using experience and analytical processes for strategies and problem solving. Previously Mohamed as worked as HR & Administration Manager of Total Tractebel Emirates O&M Company (TTE O&M), Al Taweelah, Abu Dhabi ; as HR & Administration Department Head of Abu Dhabi Distribution Company (Subsidiary of ADWEA); and as Vice Chairman and Director of Civil Aviation of Ras Al Khaimah International Airport.

Nicola Ablett is an experienced HR Professional with 15 years experience in the UAE in federal and local government and the private sector at corporate levels. Nicola is a consulting Professional for both individuals and organisations, committed to making a difference whilst maintaining the highest levels of integrity and ethics. Nicola has spent 2 years as an independent HR Consultant and Certified Assessor and 1 year as a Regional Manager for a start up Recruitment Company developing a client base and marketing a personalized sourcing and placement services. Overall though, Nicola has spent 11 years in federal and local government HR functions ranging from: recruitment, training and development, Emiratisation, cultural awareness, coaching and mentoring colleagues and direct involvement in the establishment of the Health Authority examination section.

Mohammed A. Mahjoub has over 30 years in training and HRD and regionally recognised achievements in HRD and Nationalisation initiatives. Mohammed Mahjoub has gained a good reputation as a resource in these areas. Mohammed has a wide range of experiences in key management and consulting roles in oil & gas, health services and government. He spearheaded Nationalisation programmes in KSA, Abu Dhabi and assumed management roles in many organisations. Mohammed also played instrumental roles in HR organisations, having been a founding member, former board member for 5 terms, and International Conference Vice-Chairman for the Arabian Society for Human Resources Management (ASHRM) and was a member of ISPI and SHRM. He was also the founder and Editor-in Chief for the Arab World HR quarterly magazine, published in English and Arabic. .He published in the 1994 ASTD Training Book, wrote may papers and was a speaker at many conferences. In 2007 Mohammed set up Al Ryan HR & Management Consultancy in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Mohammed Mahjoub is listed in the International Who Is Who of HR professionals. He is a certified PRISM Practitioner.