Laszlo Svinger

Vice President & Managing Director Middle East & Africa

---

3M

On June 1st, 2021, Laszlo Svinger was appointed Vice President & Managing Director Middle East and Africa [MEA] to continue strengthening 3M’s footprint both regionally and globally. His career at 3M was preceded by 11 successful years in the Oil and Gas Industry at ExxonMobil and ENI (Agip). Joining 3M Hungary in 2008, Laszlo Svinger began his career as a Business Development Manager in Safety, Security and Protection Systems [SSPS], now known as the Industrial Business. In 2010, Laszlo was appointed to the position of Country Business Leader, Healthcare Business Group [HCBG] for 3M Hungary. Under his stewardship the group thrived, and in 2012 he was moved to 3M Russia, where he led healthcare successfully for four years. In 2016, Laszlo was promoted and relocated to the Middle East in his capacity as Area Business Director HCBG, working across all countries in Central and East Europe and Middle East Africa [CEEMEA]. After a successful spell in this area role, Laszlo took the helm of the MEA region as Regional Business Group Director of the HCBG from 2019. At the beginning of 2021, he also became the Area Division Director of the Food Safety Division of Europe Middle East and Africa [EMEA]. Laszlo holds a Middlesex University MBA and degree in Economy from the University of Pecs in Hungary. Prior, the academically trained economist graduated in Engineering from the University of Advanced Technologies, in Gyor, Hungary. The regional Vice President and Managing Director MEA is trilingual in Hungarian, English and Russian.

Gitanjali Rao

American Inventor, Author, Scientist and Engineer

---

Gitanjali Rao was recognized as America's Top Young Scientist and received an EPA Presidential award for inventing her device "Tethys"—an early lead detection tool. Gitanjali is also the inventor of “Epione”—a device for early diagnosis of prescription opioid addiction using genetic engineering, and "Kindly"—an anti-cyberbullying service using AI and Natural Language processing. She is currently conducting research on early detection of pathogens at the Broad Institute of MIT/Harvard. She was honored as Forbes “30 Under 30 in Science” in 2019 and TIME’s “Top Young Innovator” and "TIME Kid of the Year" for her innovations and STEM workshops she conducts globally, which has inspired over 70,000 students across six continents and 45 countries. In her sessions, she shares her own process of innovation that can be used by students all over the world. She often presents in global and corporate forums on innovation and the importance of STEM. Gitanjali is the author of the book "Young Innovator's Guide to STEM", available in 5 languages, which guides students, educators, or teachers with a prescribed 5 step innovation process. She was honored as one of America's Top Youth Volunteers by Prudential in 2021 and was appointed as a UNICEF Youth Advocate for using science for solving social problems such as cyber-bullying and developing solutions for environmental protection. She received a grant as a National Geographic young Explorer to expand her workshops and self-sustain them beyond her. With the grant she helped expand a maker-space in the Kakuma Refugee Camp, Kenya while mentoring them for innovation challenges.

Gayle Schueller

Senior Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer

---

3M

Dr. Gayle Schueller is 3M’s Senior Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer. Gayle started in 3M’s corporate laboratory as a product development engineer and has over 29 years of technical and business leadership experience. Her career spans a broad range of businesses from electronics to healthcare to consumer industries. She has led technical and business teams from around the world including Europe, Asia, Latin America and North America. Gayle’s previous assignments include Vice President of New Platforms for Growth and Commercialization, Directora General for 3M Mexico, Vice President for Global Sustainability, and Vice President of Research & Development and Design for 3M’s Consumer and Office Business. She is passionate about making a positive impact in the world through science and technology.

Xavier Anglada

Managing Director

---

Accenture Middle East

Xavier brings 25+ years of combined management consulting and operational experience in the energy, fintech, high-tech, media and telecommunications industries in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. He has led large teams of professionals and effectively steered P&L both from start-ups and multinational corporations.Extensive experience as an advisor to top executives of leading public and private organizations across multiple domains including: innovation, digital transformation, corporate and commercial strategy, business and operational turnaround, consumer analytics and organizational development.  Prior to joining Accenture, Xavier was the CEO of International Operations in Cash Credit, an innovative FinTech player in the lending space, leading the company expansion from Eastern Europe to the Middle East, Far East and Africa. Before, he was a Partner and Group COO of Delta Partners Group, and had senior roles in Diamond Cluster (today Oliver Wyman), Ono and Hewlett-Packard. At Accenture, as a Global Energy Account Lead, Xavier is part of the Global Leadership Council and runs the Innovation Network in the Middle East. In the past, he led the services of Strategy & Consulting across all industries and the build-up of Accenture Digital practice in the Middle East, rolling out signature programs combining the creation, development and running of experiences (i.e. such as Expo 2020 Dubai. Xavier has featured as a keynote speaker in leading conferences on the topics of Energy Transition, Future Workforce, Digital Transformation, Blockchain, Innovation and Insurtech in multiple countries. He holds an MBA from ESADE in Barcelona and MSc in Electrical Engineering and BSc in Telecommunications from La Salle Engineering in Barcelona. Xavier has lived in 4 continents and led assignments in over 30 countries.

Ibrahim Al-Zubi

Chief Sustainability Officer

---

Majid Al Futtaim Holding

As Chief Sustainability Officer at Majid Al Futtaim, Ibrahim oversees the group-wide Sustainability strategy of the company and is in charge of raising Majid Al Futtaim’s Sustainability Profile in the Middle East and globally. One of Ibrahim’s top priorities is to develop and drive ‘Net positive’ sustainability strategy across the company’s different business units. Selected as one of the Top 100 Thought Leaders in Europe and the Middle East by Center for Sustainability and Excellence in the US, he has taken sustainability to another level in the Middle East and internationally through awareness campaigns for environmental issues, climate change and education programmes, as well as private sector engagement. Author of How to ‘Net’ Positive, Ibrahim outlines how Majid Al Futtaim embarked on its Net Positive journey and also provides a conceptual and practical blueprint to help companies start their Net Positive journey. Ibrahim is the West Asia Coordinator of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) UNESCO Youth Xchange Project. Responsibilities: Ibrahim brings expertise to several government and international bodies, including the United Nations, the World Economic Forum and the UAE government. He is the Vice Chair of the UN Global Compact UAE network and the UAE Council of Climate Change and Environment launched by HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum. He is a member of World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Future Council on Net-Zero Transition and UAE’s Circular Economy Council. He is a member of the Private Sector Advisory Council for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and is the chairperson of the Global Council for SDG 13. In addition, he is a Senior Associate at University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership and a Fellow at the UKbased Posterity Institute. He also served as the Senior Advisor –Sustainability for the Dubai Land Department, Government of Dubai. Board Positions: Ibrahim is currently the Chairman of the Corporate Advisory Board of the World Green Building Council (WorldGBC), a Board member of the Emirates Green Building Council, and UAE private sector representative in the Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction – a COP21 initiative.

Dr. Turki Baroud

Founding Chairman of Materials and Engineering Department

---

King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals

Dr. Turki Baroud is the founding chairman of the Materials Science and Engineering department at KFUPM, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. Dr. Baroud also is a champion for several companies at KFUPM, where he is responsible to unify engagement and forge a sustainable and more meaningful relationship between KFUPM and companies such as SABIC, DOW, BASF, and Sadara. Dr. Baroud obtained his undergraduate degree (2010) and his M.Sc. (2012) in Mechanical engineering from KFUPM. Dr. Baroud received his Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from Cornell University in 2018 under the supervision of Prof. Emmanuel Giannelis, vice president for research and Innovation at Cornell University. His research focus is on pushing the boundaries of science and technology with newly designed materials for clean water and sustainability. A special focus on developing porous functionalized membranes for desalination and water treatment (i.e. membrane distillation, capacitive deionization), and non-precious electrocatalysts for renewable energy and CO2 conversion. Dr. Baroud's work has been published in top-tier journals such as the Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS), Desalination, Carbon, Journal of Power Sources, and ACS Sustainable Chemistry & engineering. In less than 3 years after finishing his Ph.D., Dr. Baroud served as PI/Co-PI on a number of industrial research grants with a total amount of around $1 million and his group shared around $600K.

Moderator

Ramia Farrage

Senior Presenter / Producer

---

Forbes Middle East

Ramia is a Senior Producer and Presenter at Forbes Middle East, as well as a Moderator with a long history of hosting a variety of public and private sector events. At Forbes, Ramia hosts the Daily Brief, an online twice daily show focusing on breaking business news. She also conducts interviews with international business and world leaders. From its launch in 2007 until 2021, Ramia led the Emirates News broadcast on Dubai One TV as the Presenter and News Bulletin Editor. Previous to her role at Emirates News, from 2002 to 2007, Ramia presented and produced the program Business Arabia, which aired internationally on CNBC. Ramia has interviewed several world leaders including General Pervez Musharraf, President of Pakistan, Mohammed Khatami, President of Iran, Gerhard Schroeder, Chancellor of Germany and Jimmy Carter, US President. She is a moderator at major events including the World Government Summit in Dubai, the Middle East Investment Forum, and the Forbes 30/50 Summit, to name a few. Ramia holds a MA in Global Diplomacy-International Relations from the University of London, SOAS, as well as a BA in Communications from the University of Winnipeg and an associate degree in Journalism from Red River College.