Advisory board

 Position: Principal of the law firm El-Shawarby, Attorneys-at-Law

Biography:
Loay El-Shawarby is a distinguished Egyptian attorney and founder of  Contrato, Egypt's first legaltech company offering interactive contract templates for individuals and businesses. Contrato provides customizable, easy-to-use contract templates, which are tailored to specific legal needs and ensure compliance with mandatory laws. Users can add special clauses, and if needed, seek legal consultations from qualified lawyers via the platform. Contrato aims to make contracting more accessible and affordable, with services priced transparently. 

The company offers over 40 contract templates, with plans to expand to 250 templates by the end of 2022, covering a broad range of legal needs, including real estate, employment, and family property agreements. Loay El-Shawarby also practices law through his firm, El-Shawarby, Attorneys at Law, specializing in corporate law, international business, and technology. He is actively involved in the startup ecosystem as an angel investor and co-founder of angel investment networks like Cairo Angels and Mediterranean Angels. El-Shawarby holds degrees in political science, Islamic jurisprudence, law, and a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from Georgetown University.

 Position: Co-Founder at Bluworks.io

Biography:
Nour Ahmedein is the Regional Business Development Manager for Uber across the MENA region. Being Uber Egypt’s first employee 4+ years ago, he helped scale the business rapidly and solve some of its toughest challenges to date. He is now in charge of leading large-scale commercial deals across the region. From building and managing a marketing team to striking a sponsorship deal with Mohamed Salah, Nour is a passionate entrepreneur with a strong track record in scaling businesses and challenging the status quo. The passionate entrepreneur has a strong track record in rapidly scaling and developing SMEs (businesses) both vertically and horizontally. Nour graduated from the University of San Francisco with a bachelor's in Business and International Studies and was a Division 1 collegiate athlete. With a strong affinity for innovation, traveling, sports, and adrenaline-packed activities, Nour likes to constantly push the envelope and is always in search of the next disruptive idea.

Position: Professor of Practice, Public Policy and Administration Department and Dean of the School of Global Affairs and Public Policy

Biography:
Noha El-Mikawy has a bachelor's degree in political science from The American University in Cairo (AUC). She holds a master's degree in comparative politics and international relations and a PhD in comparative politics from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). El-Mikawy is returning to AUC following a 30-year professional career that combines academic service, publication, policy advising, and knowledge production, as well as strategic and management experience in a leading US funding agency. El-Mikawy is coming to AUC following 10 years as the regional director of the Ford Foundation for the Middle East and North Africa. Her tenure at Ford helped create university partnerships between the region and North and Central America, the UK, India, and South Africa, as well as helped provide institutional support to various universities and think tanks in the Arab region, including AUB, AUC, Cairo University, and the Arab Council for Social Sciences. She previously worked with UNDP's Bureau of Development Policy and Regional Bureau of Arab States as the regional policy advisor, providing technical advice on governance programs of UNDP offices across the Arab region. In addition to being a policy practitioner, El-Mikawy's academic background includes research development and management at the Center for Development Research at the University of Bonn, Germany, as well as teaching at UCLA, AUC, the Free University of Berlin, and the University of Erlangen. She has published two books on Egypt with AUC press and several articles and book chapters on governance and institutional reform in Egypt and the Arab region, including with Oxford and Cambridge University Press. 

Position:  Corporate sustainability expert. 

Biography:

 Bob is a leading expert on quantifying the business value of sustainability strategies. He has given over 1,500 presentations, has authored six books, and has published two white papers. He provides extensive free, open-source resources for sustainability champions.

He serves on the Future-Fit Foundation board, the Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Council (SPLC) board, and the B Corp Standards Advisory Council. He was one of the first five inductees into the International Society of Sustainability Professionals (ISSP) Hall of Fame in 2011, has received two Clean50 awards, and earned 11 “Best of the World” awards as a Certified B Corp. He is an ISSP Sustainability Excellence Professional, a Future-Fit Certified Professional and Accredited Partner, and received a PhD in sustainability from the University of Toronto.

Position: Associate Professor, Abdul Latif Jameel Endowed Chair of Entrepreneurship and Founding Director, AUC Venture Lab

Biography:
Ayman Ismail is the Abdul Latif Jameel Endowed Chair of Entrepreneurship and Associate Professor at The American University in Cairo (AUC) School of Business. He is also the founding director of the AUC Venture Lab, recognized as a high-impact university business incubator in Africa and MENA by UBI Global. His research focuses on entrepreneurship and venture capital in emerging markets, economic development in the Middle East, industrial strategy, innovation and technology policy, and the political economy of development. Ismail leads the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) study on Egypt, the largest global study of entrepreneurship. He has designed various entrepreneurship education programs in the region and introduced the first Arabic MOOC on entrepreneurship. He is active in executive education and has received AUC's Excellence in Teaching Award (2015) and Excellence in Service Award (2013). Ismail holds a PhD in international economic development from MIT, an MBA, and a bachelor's degree in engineering from AUC, and a master's degree in city planning and GIS from MIT. He has broad experience in entrepreneurship, economic development, business strategy, and technology. He co-founded Enovio Consulting and worked with McKinsey & Company. He has advised senior management in Fortune 100 companies, startups, government agencies, and non-profits. In 2012, Ismail was selected as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. He co-founded Nahdet El-Mahrousa, mentoring high-impact entrepreneurs in Egypt. He is also an angel investor and board member of startups in mobile payments, logistics, biotechnology, and digital advertising. 

Position: Architect at CDD - Center of Design + Development

Biography:

Experienced Director with a demonstrated history of working in Architecture, Urban planning and Design. Skilled professional in Concept Development, Feasibility Analysis, and Construction + Contract Management.