Board of Advisors

Guided by industry leaders, our advisory board inspires and supports our journey towards impactful gender equity in leadership.

Princess Lolowa Nawaf Mohamed Al-Saud

Chairperson, Mawaddah Development Association, Saudi Arabia

In her current role, Princess Lolowa Nawaf Mohamed Al-Saud leads the Board of Directors at Mawaddah Development Association for Family Stability, in defining the strategy and direction. Until recently, she was also Vice President, Marketing and Strategic Partnerships, at Shamel Food, Riyadh. In her earlier roles, she’s helmed a list of distinguished profiles including being economic advisor to the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia at Washington DC, and held leadership positions with HSBC Saudi Arabia and SABB bank. Princess Lolowa is an alumni of Northeastern University and Oxford University’s Said Business School.

Rahul Sharma

Managing Director, US-India Business Council (USIBC)

With nearly four decades of experience in multiple sectors across India, Singapore, Hong Kong and the UAE, Rahul is currently managing director of US-India Business Council (USIBC). Prior to that, he was managing director, India, of APCO, and has held a variety of leadership roles across the communications, business, and policy sectors.

Rahul has also been a journalist and editor with top media organizations including Thomson Reuters, The Economic Times, and Khaleej Times, and co-edited A New Cold War: Henry Kissinger and the Rise of China. An alumnus of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy (Tufts University), he is a keen traveller and enjoys photography in his free time.

Natasha Hatherall-Shawe

Founder and CEO of TishTash Communications

Natasha is founder and CEO of TishTash, one of the GCC region’s leading communications agencies. She’s had a varied career across marketing, media and communications, spanning many sectors and including leading global agencies McCann Erickson Worldwide, Euro RSCG and Havas Global, and global corporations L’Oreal and Diageo. Born and educated in the UK, Natasha holds a PhD in psychology and marketing. She is a passionate advocate and voice for women in business and women’s health.

Wassim Karkabi

Managing Partner, Stanton Chase Middle East

Wassim Karkabi is Managing Partner at Stanton Chase Middle East and The Culture Factor MENA. He is the Founder at Fluent XP, Coaching Loft, Board Nominate and Global Board Institute. He is also Chairman at Data Slot and Spantrek. He has supported a wide range of organizations on matters of Governance, Leadership and Organizational Culture for the past 20 years in the Middle East, and has served a variety of Government Organizations, Family conglomerates and Multinational Organizations in the region.

Rawan Yaqub

Business Unit Director at Mindshare, Saudi Arabia

Born, raised and based in Saudi Arabia, and an alumni of the University of Michigan, Rawan has close to two decades of experience in multimarket integrated media. She holds multiple certifications from leading tech media companies, including Meta, Twitter, Google, LinkedIn, Snapchat, and TikTok, and was a jury member for the Effies Awards 2024. Brands she’s worked closely with include Almunajem, Blooming by Alnahdi, the Red Sea Film Festival, Misk Foundation, Red Sea Global and New Murabba. Rawan calls herself an “curious & active explorer”.

Banali Luthra Malhotra

Brand transformation leader, UAE

As the former Group CMO of RAKBANK, Banali played a pivotal role in elevating the bank’s identity over 16 years. Currently, she’s mentoring and advising start-ups, is an Advisory Board Member at Tenacious Bee Collective, and Chair CMO for the Dubai Chapter at Winmark International. Banali has been recognized as one of the Middle East’s Most Inspirational Women in Leadership for three years consecutively, and been awarded the MarTech Visionary Award for being a pioneer in marketing in the region. Her expertise lies in “crafting hyper-personalized customer experiences”.

Dr. Flevy Lasrado

Program Director – Management, Marketing and Operations, Associate Professor, School of Business, University of Wollongong in Dubai

Dr. Lasrado is a future-thinking academic with a passion for teaching, learning and research. She is a recognised industry leader, having been awarded the Higher Education Academy Fellowship (UK), the CIPD (UK), UOWD’s Teaching Excellence Award, and the vice-chancellor’s award for outstanding contribution from University of Wollongong in Australia. She was also bestowed the UAE quality professional award in 2019 by the American Society of Quality. Dr Lasrado is a professional speaker at various forums including World Quality Congress, Sustainability Forum, and Leadership Congress in the UAE.