FoodWise project presentation (Goumbook)

Tatiana Antonelli Abella is the Founder and Managing Director of Goumbook, a Social Enterprise dedicated to raising awareness among the local community on Sustainability and Green Living: launched in 2009 it was the first green information resource for the MENA region.

Goumbook is one of the oldest Social Enterprises in the UAE and today it manages different projects such as Sustainable Mena, a business directory dedicated to promoting sustainable products and services in the region; the Give a Ghaf Tree Planting Program, the only tree planting initiative of the GCC with over 95,000 seeds planted in the past 10 years, and the Drop It - Rethink Plastic campaign to help businesses and individuals stop using single use plastic.

Tatiana sits on the Engage Committee, under Dubai Chamber of Commerce·V umbrella and has been nominated Environmental Ambassador for the Middle East Youth Expo. She also acts as an advisor to events such as Art Dubai or the Emirates Literature Festival to help them be more sustainable. Since 2012 she has been proud to be a judge of the Gulf Capital SME Awards fRU Whe ¶MRVW SXVWainable BXVineVV Rf Whe YeaU·. In 2020 Tatiana also joined the Advisory Board of the Gulf Sustainability Awards.

In April 2019 Tatiana started Forward Talks, a weekly podcast highlighting leaders and professionals who, through their work, entrepreneurship and commitment promote positive impact and sustainability in the UAE and beyond.

During her 16 years in the UAE, Tatiana has garnered a strong reputation and she is actively involved in the green arena: considered one of UAE's top environmental influencers, she contributes regularly to media and at conferences in her role as a green business leader in the country

Composting workshop (ICBA) Ms. Ryma Affani is Curator at the Emirates Soil Museum. She has extensive experience working with youth and managing, developing, and implementing a variety of integrated STEM educational programs aligned with different curricula, with a focus on hands-on learning with real-world applications. She has trained and mentored several teams winning robotics competitions in Canada and the UAE. She was also previously involved in humanitarian and not-for-profit initiatives such as the Marine Turtle Preservation and Monitoring project with Qatar University; STEM camps in Sudan; and raising funds for the WWF Canada. She is a holistic educator committed to promoting academic success and perseverance while encouraging social engagement through a scientific approach and implementation of the latest learning methods. She holds a B.Sc. degree in Environmental Geography, with a specialization in the Physical Environment, from the University of Montreal in Canada. Her studies focused on the components and mechanisms governing the evolution of natural geosystems such as climate change, soil contamination, and watershed dynamics, as well as modelling and remote sensing methods. She also holds a degree in applied Arts and Sciences from the University of Montreal and a Montessori Teaching Diploma from the North American Montessori Center, Canada.

Composting workshop (ICBA)

Ahmed has been working with Emirates Nature for over 2 years as an Outreach & Membership Coordinator. He has completed his bachelor’s degree in renewable energy engineering and his master’s degree in sustainable development & Policy, he Is also a certified LEED green associate under the US green building council. In his role, Ahmed aims to influence and inspire youth to deepen their connection to nature, understand the importance of protecting our biodiversity and shape them to be future sustainability leader.” he Is also a certified LEED green associate under the US green building council.   

Ahlam Amer Almaskari holds a bachelor's degree in public health and nutrition. She is passionate about health and wellbeing.   Ahlam is the founder of healthy and vegan on Instagram. She started her vegan blog years ago to share her recipes,reviews, and lifestyle.   Her goal is to share awareness about veganism and to showcase that vegan food is delicious and nutritious at the same time.   

Lara Rudar is a multimedia artist, filmmaker and environmental advocate, studying at Jumeirah English Speaking School Dubai. In 2020, she was named one of the 20 Official UAE Ambassadors for Nature. In this role, she worked with Emirates-Nature WWF and the Environment Agency-Abu Dhabi to empower UAE youth with the experiences, knowledge, and skills to tackle environmental issues. Internationally, she has spoken on numerous panels hosted by the United Nations, CNN International and EXPO 2020 Dubai. Lara also represented Turkey at the ‘Youth4Climate: Driving Ambition’ conference in Milan to develop concrete proposals for Pre-COP26 in Milan and COP26 in Glasgow. She is currently a UN WSIS Youth Campaigner and the Education Coordinator at the Re-Earth Initiative, an international youth-led climate organization.   

Tatiana Antonelli Abella is the Founder and Managing Director of Goumbook, a Social Enterprise dedicated to raising awareness among the local community on Sustainability and Green Living: launched in 2009 it was the first green information resource for the MENA region.

Goumbook is one of the oldest Social Enterprises in the UAE and today it manages different projects such as Sustainable Mena, a business directory dedicated to promoting sustainable products and services in the region; the Give a Ghaf Tree Planting Program, the only tree planting initiative of the GCC with over 95,000 seeds planted in the past 10 years, and the Drop It - Rethink Plastic campaign to help businesses and individuals stop using single use plastic.

Tatiana sits on the Engage Committee, under Dubai Chamber of Commerce·V umbrella and has been nominated Environmental Ambassador for the Middle East Youth Expo. She also acts as an advisor to events such as Art Dubai or the Emirates Literature Festival to help them be more sustainable. Since 2012 she has been proud to be a judge of the Gulf Capital SME Awards fRU Whe ¶MRVW SXVWainable BXVineVV Rf Whe YeaU·. In 2020 Tatiana also joined the Advisory Board of the Gulf Sustainability Awards.

In April 2019 Tatiana started Forward Talks, a weekly podcast highlighting leaders and professionals who, through their work, entrepreneurship and commitment promote positive impact and sustainability in the UAE and beyond.

During her 16 years in the UAE, Tatiana has garnered a strong reputation and she is actively involved in the green arena: considered one of UAE's top environmental influencers, she contributes regularly to media and at conferences in her role as a green business leader in the country

With a background in Sustainable Development Cooperation (M.A.), Carolin has worked in the grassroots NGO-sector in Egypt on various projects ranging from economic development and community empowerment to health and social inclusion prior to coming to the UAE. Carolin’s goal is to make a difference for the community. For her that means working on key issues, with an emphasis on social and environmental projects that can foster new ideas, establish cross-sectoral partnerships, and achieve tangible results that serve the public interest. Looking for a meaningful and impactful assignment, she joined Goumbook in 2020, sharing the enterprise’s approach that driven by the power of knowledge we can raise awareness, invigorate civic life and ultimately help solve today’s most challenging problems.

Samantha moved to the UAE in 1993 and has seen first hand the incredible transformation of the city she calls home, Dubai. Samantha’s experience stems in the corporate world where she held regional and strategic positions across different industries. Her previous experience is varied from Advertising & Communication, Business Strategy, E-commerce, Automotive, FMCG, Food Retail to name a few. She recently headed a global initiative tasked to develop, support and implement startup innovation solution to tackle the UN SDGs and global pressing social and environmental issues, in conjunction with the various United Nations entities. Samantha holds a Bachelor in Business Administration from the American University of Beirut, a Masters in Marketing & Sales from ESADE & Bocconi Universities along with Sustainability Leadership Management certification from Cambridge University and Leading Sustainable Corporations from Oxford University’s Saïd Business School program.

Ewa is an experienced project manager and an expert in regional development. Her portfolio includes a number of successful projects implemented and supervised by her as a governmental officer and as an NGO member. Among them are multi-annual international programmes and projects. She worked with Polish, Swiss and Norwegian governments and developed sustainable development projects tackling problems in various areas like civil society, health, environment, business. As a supporter of grass root movement aimed at ethical consumption and fair trade she founded an NGO that carried out awareness campaigns addressed to consumers and businesses. Prior to coming to Dubai, Ewa lived in Vienna where she cooperated with an international NGO supporting clean energy solutions in low- and middle-income countries based on private and public partnerships together with civic sectors.

Tatiana Antonelli Abella is the Founder and Managing Director of Goumbook, a Social Enterprise dedicated to raising awareness among the local community on Sustainability and Green Living: launched in 2009 it was the first green information resource for the MENA region.

Goumbook is one of the oldest Social Enterprises in the UAE and today it manages different projects such as Sustainable Mena, a business directory dedicated to promoting sustainable products and services in the region; the Give a Ghaf Tree Planting Program, the only tree planting initiative of the GCC with over 95,000 seeds planted in the past 10 years, and the Drop It - Rethink Plastic campaign to help businesses and individuals stop using single use plastic.

Tatiana sits on the Engage Committee, under Dubai Chamber of Commerce·V umbrella and has been nominated Environmental Ambassador for the Middle East Youth Expo. She also acts as an advisor to events such as Art Dubai or the Emirates Literature Festival to help them be more sustainable. Since 2012 she has been proud to be a judge of the Gulf Capital SME Awards fRU Whe ¶MRVW SXVWainable BXVineVV Rf Whe YeaU·. In 2020 Tatiana also joined the Advisory Board of the Gulf Sustainability Awards.

In April 2019 Tatiana started Forward Talks, a weekly podcast highlighting leaders and professionals who, through their work, entrepreneurship and commitment promote positive impact and sustainability in the UAE and beyond.

During her 16 years in the UAE, Tatiana has garnered a strong reputation and she is actively involved in the green arena: considered one of UAE's top environmental influencers, she contributes regularly to media and at conferences in her role as a green business leader in the country

More plant-based please

More plant-based please

FoodTech as an asset class

Johnny El Hachem is the CEO of Edmond De Rothschild Private Equity SA. He joined the EDR Group in 2002 and worked closely with all the departments of the firm, initiating numerous financial transactions, including the launch of funds, and originating transactions on the capital markets. He initiated and structured a range of Private Equity funds, including:

• Ginkgo – soil remediation real estate vehicle, where he is a board member of Ginkgo Investment Advisor
• Moringa – Agroforestry investment vehicle, where he is a board member of it’s investment committee, Johnny serves as a board member of Moringa General Partner and Moringa investment advisor
• Amethis, where he serves as a member of the Investment committee and as a board member in all Amethis related entities Trajan Capital, Pearl Infrastructure and other Private Equity and Real Assets investment funds and franchises where he serves as GP Board Member and Investment Committee member

Johnny studied Financial Engineering at ESSEC Business School (Paris), Banking and Finance and Political Science at the Lebanese American University of Beirut. He is also a visiting Professor at the Business Management University of Geneva. Johnny is fluent in French, English and Arabic.

Erich has 18 years of experience as a Partner with Nestlé’s strategic venture fund manager. Formerly, Erich was an executive at Nestlé, the World Economic Forum, and the German Finance Ministry. Erich holds a B.A. in business, economics, and law from HSG University of St Gallen, Switzerland, a tri-lingual MBA of EAP-ESCP (Paris-Oxford-Berlin), and an L.LM. in financial law from Geneva University, Switzerland.

Food Tech Entrepreneur specialised in creating & building leading, technology driven, consumer brands & establishing new categories.

Following a degree in Food Industry Management from UC Davis Mike participated in the creation of the fresh pasta category in San Francisco and later was among the founding team of Nespresso as the 1st Nespresso CMO and head of B2B being instrumental in the journey from startup to +100$ Million (Nespresso today is a +5$ Billion business. Following the Nespresso experience Mike was the co founder of Eden Springs Europe and as CEO built a business of +200$M, participated actively in the European Bottled Water Association which he presided, and later brought Danone as a JV partner to Eden Springs.

Mike's main focus today is on impacting positively the planet with better, more responsible water hydration with www.bewtr.com. BE WTR innovates in upgrading tap water with patented technologies that positively impact taste, user experience and striving to make better, more abundant hydration.

Additionally Mike’s holding company is leading another technology company,  AudioVitality, www.audiovitality.com as it stands to transform our well being and allow the maximisation of our potential through non invasive, low vibration technology. 

Workshop welcome and scene setting and leaders’ introductions Vanessa Adams, Vice President Strategic Partnerships at AGRA (Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa), and Chief of Party of the Partnership for Inclusive Agricultural Innovation in Africa (PIATA) is a proven leader with strong private sector, investment facilitation and project management experience.
Vanessa Adams has over 25 years of professional experience, including with Fortune 500 companies in the US. She has 18 years’ experience working in 28 African countries with governments, businesses and farmer cooperatives to increase productivity, meet buyer specifications, access finance, and compete in international markets. She partners with governments, donors and businesses to develop and implement strategies which increase productivity and international trade, expand investments, improve business environments, access financial services as well as reduce constraints to economic growth.

Previously, Vanessa led $70+ million USD projects with multi-cultural teams, facilitated over $300 million in exports from Africa, and catalyzed over $70 million in investments as well as over $140 million in credit. She contributed to the foundation of three pan-African NGOs including the African Cashew Alliance, Borderless Alliance, and Global Shea Alliance, as well as initiating the Women in Agribusiness Leadership Network in Ethiopia.
She is fluent in English, French and speaks conversational German and Bambara. Vanessa holds an executive MBA from INSEAD.

Workshop welcome and scene setting and leaders’ introductions

Workshop welcome and scene setting and leaders’ introductions

Reconvening and sharing outcomes from the breakout groups Vanessa Adams, Vice President Strategic Partnerships at AGRA (Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa), and Chief of Party of the Partnership for Inclusive Agricultural Innovation in Africa (PIATA) is a proven leader with strong private sector, investment facilitation and project management experience.
Vanessa Adams has over 25 years of professional experience, including with Fortune 500 companies in the US. She has 18 years’ experience working in 28 African countries with governments, businesses and farmer cooperatives to increase productivity, meet buyer specifications, access finance, and compete in international markets. She partners with governments, donors and businesses to develop and implement strategies which increase productivity and international trade, expand investments, improve business environments, access financial services as well as reduce constraints to economic growth.

Previously, Vanessa led $70+ million USD projects with multi-cultural teams, facilitated over $300 million in exports from Africa, and catalyzed over $70 million in investments as well as over $140 million in credit. She contributed to the foundation of three pan-African NGOs including the African Cashew Alliance, Borderless Alliance, and Global Shea Alliance, as well as initiating the Women in Agribusiness Leadership Network in Ethiopia.
She is fluent in English, French and speaks conversational German and Bambara. Vanessa holds an executive MBA from INSEAD.

How to achieve a successful integrated technology concept for indoor & vertical farms

How to achieve a successful integrated technology concept for indoor & vertical farms

How to achieve a successful integrated technology concept for indoor & vertical farms

Featuring global next-gen solutions & winners from the TFF MENA Challenge

Featuring global next-gen solutions & winners from the TFF MENA Challenge Henry Gordon-Smith is a sustainability strategist focused on urban agriculture, water issues, and emerging technologies. Henry earned his BA in Political Science from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, coursework in Food Security and Urban Agriculture from Ryerson University in Toronto, and an MSc in Sustainability Management from Columbia University. In 2014, Henry responded to a global need for technology-agnostic guidance on urban agriculture by launching the advisory firm Agritecture Consulting which has now consulted on over 150 urban agriculture projects in over 35 countries.  

NFTs and DAOs to Decentralise Change

NFTs and DAOs to Decentralise Change

How GenZs will fix our climate

How GenZs will fix our climate

How GenZs will fix our climate

How GenZs will fix our climate

Eric Parkin is the Digital Leader at Cargill; where him and his team are focused on developing new technology solutions to help build a smarter, safer, and more sustainable food system.  Eric has had 15+ years in helping bring new technology across all parts of the world.  He has spent time based in Europe and North America, leading teams that have helped drive change in the industry.