Asma Lateef is Policy and Advocacy Lead for the SDG2 Advocacy Hub, an initiative to coordinate action to end hunger and malnutrition and achieve Sustainable Development Goal 2. She has extensive experience in policy advocacy and coalition building. She most recently served as director of Bread for the World Institute, where she oversaw the Institute’s policy analysis, education and advocacy on issues related to US and global hunger, food security, nutrition, and poverty. She was previously interim executive director of the Alliance to End Hunger, director of policy and programs at Citizens for Global Solutions, senior international analyst in the Government Relations Department at Bread for the World and a consultant at UNCTAD and the ILO.

Asma recently served on the Executive Committee of the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement representing the SUN Civil Society Network. She co-chairs the US Sustainable Development Solutions' Zero Hunger Pathways Project. She also co-founded and until recently co-chaired the US-based International Financial Institutions Working Group.

Asma holds a master’s degree in economics from the University of Maryland, a post-graduate diploma in economics from the London School of Economics, and a bachelor’s degree in geography from McGill University.

jose@e-motionfoods.com

Katrin Harvey is the Chief Operating Officer at the Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens. She has over a decade’s experience in sustainability, climate change, clean energy, and organizational management. Having lead business development, strategic growth and communications at an international non-profit organisation for clean energy access, she combines her academic backgrounds in language studies and international development to enhance the impact of SDG-related projects, programmes and organisations.

Katrin has managed projects in Africa and Asia in partnership with UN agencies, the EU, and development agencies, where she put her focus on capacity building, market development and public-private dialogue, sustainability in agri-food value chains and in managing international knowledge exchange amongst experts in energy efficiency, energy regulation and international law.

Greg is a founding partner of SOMA MATER; the region’s only food and agricultural sustainability focused consultancy. Greg has dedicated his career to developing policy and strategy at the intersection of the public and private sectors. In his current role, Greg has provided strategic support to horticulture, livestock and aquaculture producers in the GCC along with trade policy support for trade offices of major food export nations.

Greg was a Coordinating Editor of Countering Maritime Piracy: Continued Efforts for Regional Capacity Building published by the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2013 and presented a white paper to the UN CGPCS (Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia) on on-shore solutions for a more secure maritime environment in the Red Sea.

Delivering projects in coordination with the UN, DP World, the UAE Ministry of Defense, MoCCaE, and Dubai Government, Greg has over a decade of experience and is committed to long-term sustainable growth in the region.

Greg holds a Masters in Middle Eastern Studies from King’s College London and speaks English, French, Arabic and Armenian.

Sara Jackson, a dual national of the UK and South Africa, has worked in various roles for Nestlé SA for 3 decades, 2 of which were based in the GCC. Her experience includes senior business and executive leadership roles in regions across Africa, Middle East and Asia. During this time, she was instrumental in leading and supporting greenfield projects including establishing manufacturing facilities in new markets, business restructuring, new market entries and the integration of a major acquisition.

On leaving the corporate world in 2019, Sara established her own consultancy, Green Ethics FZ LLC, and is now managing the CIRCLE Coalition, a public private partnership, focused on developing a closed loop economic model for recycling post-consumer packaging waste. The CIRCLE Coalition, under the sponsorship of the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, comprises multinational and regional brand owners including Unilever, Nestlé, Pepsico, Coca-Cola Company, Procter & Gamble, and the Agthia Group as well as the Gulf Bottled Water Association. The petrochemical and packaging industry is represented by Dow, BASF, Borouge and Tetra Pak, the Gulf Petrochemical and Chemical Association as well as the hospitality and retail sector represented by Majid Al Futtaim and Emirates Fast Foods.

Participating NGO’s include Emirates Nature – WWF. The work of the CIRCLE Coalition includes initiatives to support the development of the Circular Economy in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.

Sara is a qualified ORSC practitioner and has completed the Certificate Courses in Circular Economy from the Technical University of Delft and the University of Cambridge Judge Business School. Sara has since been appointed to the Policy Committee of the Circular Economy Council in the UAE.

My name is Mohamed Aissaoui. I'm the CEO & Founder of My Farm. The 5th generations of farmer of my family, with an educational background in the engineering sector,

I founded My Farm using the low-Tech and the new-Tech to optimize

organic food production safely. My work is to create a circular systems witch is a

key to reach the food security goals we have in the UAE.

My Farm gives time to grow the plants, fruits and the vegetables in a forest soil without disturbing the ecosystem, quality is one of the priorities.

For that, we did a selection of heirloom seeds (more than a thousand now) growing in the desert with less energy. More than 100 varieties are almost adapted to this climat naturally and we are always trying to push the limits of those seeds.

On one side of the farm we do have grass growing organically for our goats, we feed them everyday with fresh and healthy food, they produce waste, the waste is going back to the compost area. After 6- 7 months that compost is going back to feed the land, the land will feed the plants, the plants feed the animals and feed us!

Using a big amount of compost to start life in that desert soil, the soil once it’s alive is going to keep water exactly where we need it, around the root system.

We do have to study the forest to understand what the plants need. They grow there without us!

Efficiency is the key, we have to continue to study and learn from our ecosystem.

That ecosystem is feeding us, we do have only to understand how it’s working, protect and feed it as well. That’s what we try to establish at MyFarm, we feed the ecosystem and that one is feeding us with the best quality in the middle of the desert in Dubai.

I strongly believe that if my work is a success here in one of the most difficult places for agriculture, it will be easy to grow everywhere around the world.

Mohamed
Aissaoui
Aissaoui
CEO and Founder
MyFarm Dubai

Sheikh Dr. Majid Sultan Al Qassimi qualified as a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine at Saint Istvan University in Budapest, Hungary. He started his work as a veterinarian in the zoo and conservation field and moved into an administration role in 2013 as a Director to oversee the Terrestrial Biodiversity and conservation activities at the Environment Agency of Abu Dhabi. From 2015 to 2021 he was the Chief Veterinary Officer of the UAE and Advisor to 2 Minister regarding all things Food and Agriculture, at the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, UAE.

His work as a policy maker brought him to the center of Food Security, Sustainability and Biodiversity for the UAE and the Arab world, looking to create clear direction for the UAE and the Middle East on how technology, sustainable agriculture and traditional practices can create a food production revolution in the region. After Developing the Food Diversification strategy for the UAE with the Food and Agriculture Organization, Sh. Dr. Majid has the ability to see both a holistic "all of country" approach to Food Security, as well as dive down into specific technical subjects to navigate challenges and opportunities. He sits on multiple boards of Accreditation Authorities, UAE Food Safety Committee, and on multiple other Food, Animal and Agriculture Boards.

He is a founding partner at SOMA MATER where he continues to develop Food Security and Sustainability strategies and solutions for private sector and governments.

He has a keen interest in engaging the youth to further career choices in STEM subjects, and as one of the first veterinarians from his country, he plays a vital role in supporting veterinary education and awareness, through public speaking, advising the university curriculum.

Jacek’s wide knowledge, passion, and vision, combined with his many years of experience, has helped number of companies across Middle East, Africa, Europe, and Asia to build sustainable business models behind the innovations and entrepreneurship.

Over the last 4 years Jacek received 12 Innovation awards in Middle East and Europe including awards for “The Most Innovative Plant Based products” at Gulf Food and “The most innovative UAE Consumer Goods Company”.

Recently Jacek served as CEO of Healthy Farm Consumer Innovation and started developing Plant Based Protein Meat Alternative products since 2015 being passionate about sustainability, healthy diets, food security, positive impact on climate and dedicated to transform the current Food Systems.

He continues his mission as CEO and Chief Purpose Officer of Future Food, the first in UAE Plant Based Meat alternatives proteins food-tech start-up which he is setting up at the moment in UAE.

He runs a blog on Linkedin under Meatless Sundays to promote growth of plant-based industry and consumers flexitarianism https://www.linkedin.com/company/meatless- sundays/?viewAsMember=true

On thought leadership, Jacek is an author of number of articles supporting plant-based industry

development and consumers’ shift to more sustainable diets.

Jacek is an alumnus of the Harvard Business School (Post Graduate Executive GMP program) and the University of Montreal, where he earned his Executive MBA program. He holds a MA in Economics from the Warsaw School of Economics and a MA in Political Science from Warsaw University.

Active member of www.YPO.org Dubai Chapter, where he served as Member of the Board.

Served on number of other Boards, passionate about Impact Investments and Social Entrepreneurship as he runs Plewa Family Foundation in Africa devoted to education enabling Farmers to finance education of their children.

Jennifer Croes is a Conservation Scientist and Associate Director at Emirates Nature–WWF. She has successfully transitioned and reinvented herself to blend her extensive business strategy and management skills with conservation science and has recently turned her talents to being on-camera, producing and presenting wildlife and eco-tourism documentaries, to raise awareness and make conservation relevant in everyone’s lives.

A nomad, adventurer, and animal crusader, she took a leap of faith in 2005 to follow her passion for conservation and had an epiphany working in the Amazon Basin in Bolivia, rehabilitating wildlife rescued from the illegal wildlife trade and pet markets. She is particularly interested in looking at the link between human behaviour and our relationship to nature. She has a Master of Science, (MSc) in Conservation Science from Imperial College, London and a double degree, Bachelor of Arts and Commerce. Her conservation portfolio is extensive including, Project manager at an Orangutan rehabilitation center in Borneo, leading the largest citizen- consultation process for the United Nations COP 15 to combat Climate change, Earth Hour 2010 National Manager, Biodiversity conservation consultant at WWF-Australia, working on various species’ rehabilitation and preservation projects and campaigns.

Relocating to the United Arab Emirates in 2018 to work at Emirates Nature-WWF, she developed and implemented the innovative Conservation Education and Leadership programme, ‘Connect with Nature’, in collaboration with the Environment Agency, Abu Dhabi (EAD), to inspire and motivate youth to be part of the solution for long term, sustainable change.

In 2021, with a sudden diagnosis of breast cancer, she was instrumental in creating an awareness and support group to support other women and has been vocal in bringing attention to this disease and speaks of the role Nature and Food plays in recovery and living well. Leveraging of her own experience and journey, resulted in creating and leading a new campaign, Food for Life, highlighting the need to transition to healthy diets from sustainable food systems, focusing on personal health and planetary wellbeing. In collaboration with the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment (MoCCAE), Ministry of Health & Prevention, (MoHAP), and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the aim is to create mass mobilization and support the UAE’s vision towards building a healthy society and sustainable ecosystems towards a green (and blue) recovery, in a post Covid-19 world.

Jennifer has extensive media and public speaking experience and is invited to speak at numerous global events and science conferences on various conservation topics and make conservation science fun and engaging and has presented and spoken at TEDx events. In 2017, she was the first female granted access in Indonesia, to accompany and set up an Anti-poaching patrol team in Sumatra, Indonesia. In addition to conservation consulting, she runs her own media production company, producing documentaries and videos on conservation storytelling and engagement.

She has lived, studied, and worked in several countries in Europe and Southeast Asia, Africa, South America, China, and New Zealand and has travelled the globe extensively. She is now based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates and hopes to inspire all to be part of the solution for a sustainable tomorrow.

Tarek Alkhoury has over 11 years of experience in the fields of environment, urban planning and resource efficiency, 7 years of them have been in the UN System. In 2014, he joined UN-Habitat Headquarters in Nairobi to support Francophone African countries and Arab States in policies and programmes on housing and slum upgrading. Later on, he was appointed as a Regional Programme Officer for Arab States within the Land and Global Land Tool Network Unit (GLTN). Before joining UN-Habitat, he worked for 4 years as an architect and programme manager providing advisory services on integrating green and resource efficiency practices into the project design phase in Middle East. In addition, Mr. Alkhoury has done several short assignments in France related to Project and Programme Management and Green Cities.

 His multi-dimensional experience in environment, urban planning, land and sustainable development allowed him to gain solid knowledge on the interrelated relationships between resource flows, infrastructure, socio-economic factors and ecological outcomes. He is currently the Regional Coordinator for Resource Efficiency and Sustainable Consumption and Production with UNEP West Asia Office, his main role is leading the development and implementation of UNEP Resource Efficiency Sub-programme in the region based on needs of countries and the region and within the scope of UNEP Resource Efficiency strategy and programme of work.

Tarek is an Architect graduated from Damascus University - Faculty of Architecture. He holds a Master of Environment, Urban and Regional Planning from Reims University and a Specialized Master in Project and Program Management from SKEMA Business School in France. He is fluent in Arabic, French and English