In her role as a Director with CBRE’s Consulting team in the region, Gabriella has a wealth of experience providing real estate development advice to Government entities, developers and investors across the Middle East. As part of her responsibilities, she leads a wide range of consulting and advisory assignments, from single-use developments to large-scale master plans.
She has executed numerous high-profile and complex assignments in various geographies, including the UAE, KSA, Oman, Egypt and Sub-Saharan Africa. She has advised on a range of developments including master planned communities; mixed-use towers; as well as residential, retail and hospitality projects. In the UAE specifically, she has worked closely with government entities and major developers in determining project feasibilities and defining wider development strategies.

Gabriella holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Southern California (USC) and an MBA from ESSEC Business School in France.

Vladimir is an Architect with 20 years’ international experience in design practicing and design management roles gained on a diverse range of projects in all phases.

He is currently leading front-end design at AECOM Middle East as an Associate Director of Architecture. Formerly, as a Head of Architecture at Meraas Vladimir designed concepts and managed design delivery from conception to completion on some of the most prestigious large-scale developments in Dubai. Before moving to Middle-East in 2014, Vladimir spent more than five years in Foster+Partners London office where he was responsible for the design of numerous international projects and competitions. Prior to this he received several design awards for his independent projects. In 2006 Vladimir was a co-author of “Project Belgrade Transition:ism”, a masterplan vison presented at 10th Venice Biennale of Architecture.

His progression throughout the career in various roles has greatly influenced his holistic approach to design. Vladimir’s strengths in front-end design stages, combined with his construction and development management knowledge allows him to deliver design excellence tailored to the particular client, location, brief and budget requirements.

An architect with an MBA from London Business School & Columbia University in New York. From working on the world’s tallest tower to winning a 512 million dollar bid from Mubadala, Abdoullah has consistently focused on delivering great results.

Abdoullah is a thought leader, regular key speaker and panellist including Index (2016, 2017, 2018 & 2019), Big5 2018 & 2019, Interior design and development forum (2016 & 2017), London Business School consulting club forum.
He has also published an article in the Fit Out Magazine – October 2016 Issue. and been featured in Construction Week Magazine, Corporate Interior Design Magazine, Middle East Architects Magazine, Design ME, Construction Business News ME and The Leader Magazine by CoreNet Global.

Throughout these years he has been instrumental in developing some of the world’s most challenging projects such as Nakheel Harbor and Tower (the world’s tallest designed tower), the multi award winning building Ferrari World, The Adelaide City Central Tower (the first five star rated building in Australia), The Index Building in Association with Norman Foster and the St. Regis Hotel.

Dr. Rusty Brainard joined The Red Sea Development Company (TRSDC) as Chief Environment Officer in July 2019 and is responsible for ensuring the environmental sustainability of all aspects of the Red Sea Project (https://www.theredsea.sa/en), including the ambitious vision to increase environmental conservation value by 30% across the Special Economic Zone.

Prior to joining TRSDC, Dr. Brainard spent more than 38 years as a commissioned officer and then supervisory oceanographer with the U.S. National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), including 18 years serving as founding Chief of the Coral Reef Ecosystem Division in Hawaii, where he led an interdisciplinary team of ~65 marine ecologists and oceanographers in conducting integrated habitat mapping, coral reef ecosystem assessment and long-term monitoring, applied research and modeling to inform sustainable management and conservation of coral reef ecosystems across the Pacific Islands.

Internationally, Dr. Brainard has served as: NOAA’s technical lead for the 6-country Coral Triangle Initiative and 8-country Bay of Bengal Large Marine Ecosystem Project; co-principal investigator for the International Census of Marine Life; and as Steering Committee member for the U.N. Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission’s (IOC) efforts to establish an ocean acidification observing network in the Western Pacific.

Dr. Brainard holds a BSc in Marine Science from Texas A&M University, a MS and PhD in oceanography and physical oceanography, respectively, from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School. He has co-authored 133 scientific papers and reports on various aspects of marine biology and oceanography.

Australian-born Nathan has more than 20 years’ experience working in the construction industry in Australia, Europe and for the past 12 years in the Middle East.

Following a more practical path to start his career Nathan is dual traded completing electrical & instrumentation apprenticeships with BHP Australia before moving into Building Services Engineering in the UK. In 2007 Nathan relocated to the UAE with international consulting firm Scott Wilson (now AECOM) to build a regional MEP team. He successfully carried out the role as Head of MEP until 2012 when the opportunity arose to join Godwin Austen Johnson where he made Partner as Commercial & Operations Director. In 2019 Nathan joined the multi award winning international engineering firm NV5 as Executive Director with a goal of developing their footprint across the EMEA region.

He has been involved with projects across nearly all sectors including Education, Hospitality, Retail, Residential, Commercial, Healthcare and large-scale Mixed Use and Transportation projects. Across all of these has been a focus on sustainability that includes award winning design (Sustainable Project of the Year 2016 MEP Awards) and latterly an interest in the application of ESCO models for post operation improvements of existing stock.

“Under his current title of Technical Manager, Majd leads the Technical Programs and team of Emirates Green Building Council. The Council’s technical programs include Green Key, Net Zero Centre of Excellence Benchmarking program, Hospitality Program and the Energy Efficiency Program. Majd’s main role is to create new programs and manage existing ones as a means to drive the Council’s mission of promoting sustainability of the built environment in the UAE.

His achievements at EmiratesGBC include : Leading the first three research studies of their kind in the region regarding the energy efficiency of existing buildings and zero energy buildings; Establishing the first industry benchmarks for energy and water performance of hotels, schools and malls; Offering the first definition for Nearly Zero Energy Buildings in the MENA which has proven to be a stepping stone to drive policy towards de-carbonization in the Country.

Majd also takes a lead role in advocacy where he has participated as a speaker in more than 20 events in the UAE and region. He has developed local and international partnerships with various stakeholders including government, NGOs, developers and industry players. Majd sits on the official committee for the development of the UAE’s green building regulation.

Prior to working with EmiratesGBC, Majd managed the National CDM Project for Solar Energy in Lebanon, a complex and multi-stakeholder project registered under UNFCCC.

Majd holds a master’s degree in Renewable Energy and a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering. He also holds a CEM, LEED AP(O&M) and TRUE Advisor credentials.”

Joe Tabet, Founder and Managing Director of JT+Partners, is an exceptional multi-award-winning architect with +20years extensive experience in worldwide architecture, construction industry, master-planning/urban design. He possesses a strong business mind, focusing on seeking right professional/commercial opportunities with determination to succeed through commitment, hard-work, self-development.

Since establishing JT+Partners in 2015, with offices in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Beirut, Joe continuously demonstrates excellent records of initiating/leading business growth strategies, utilising lessons learned, knowledge gained from previous leadership, business experiences/achievements, ensuring JT+Partners maintains its recognition as world-renown consultant, delivering iconic, environmental/socially sustainable projects in global destinations, from Morocco to Seychelles, Lebanon, India, Sri Lanka, Angola, Cameroon, Zanzibar, Egypt, Portugal, Montenegro, North/East/Central Africa, KSA, UAE, spanning residential, hospitality, commercial, mixed-use, masterplan developments.

Ranked amongst the most powerful architects/influencers in the Region, Joe was awarded Executive of the Year2018 by ME Consultant Award, Principal of the Year2017 by ME Architect Awards. JT+Partners was chosen Workplace of the Year2018 by ME Consultant Award, Best Architectural Design Consultancy ME2018 by UAE Business Awards. His projects received awards/recognitions from Cityscape, MEA, Arabian Property, UAE Business Awards.

Outside of the practice, he actively participates in panel discussions, attends international industry-related exhibits, gives interviews with industry magazines to share his knowledge, experiences, viewpoints.

An inspiration to designers/architects in the Region, Joe has proven how an architect wearing different hats, from creative designer, to business/marketing/staff management strategist, sustainability advocate, CSR supporter, visionary business leader, multi-award-winner, can handle business differently, achieve success and contribute positively to the growing development of the Region.

Prabhu Ramachandran is the founder and CEO of Facilio Inc. Facilio is a unified facilities optimization platform that uses IoT and AI to help CREs drive operational and sustainability efficiency across portfolio. Prabhu’s career spans over 18 years of product, business, and customer experience focused on enterprise-scale software for IoT-based connected services, sustainable building solutions, and telecom network management.

Prior to becoming an entrepreneur, he was the Director of WebNMS, the IoT division of Zoho Corporation. At Zoho, he was responsible for and directly oversaw strategy, innovation, product, marketing and revenue operations of end-to-end telecom and IoT building solutions that a number of enterprises rely on for connected services to this day.

Prabhu is an advisor and technical committee member at Net Zero Buildings of Indian Green Building Council and is known for helping, educating, and speaking at various events on improving operations and sustainable practices in real-estate. A pioneer in the field of SaaS and IoT, he strongly believes that technology can be leveraged to drive environmentally responsible facilities that create a positive impact in the world.

Born and raised in the UAE. My formal education is in Architecture and worked in the UAE hence. I started out as a Jr. Architect with Atkins, moved to RMJM, both multi-disciplinary design practices. Among interesting projects such as JBR, Hyatt Regency, American School, Deerfields Mall among some, my most favourite project as an Architect is the ADNEC Tower (furthest leaning man made tower, Guinness Book 2010) where I was involved from Concept design to site support. Pursued a Masters in Construction Project Management and hence began to seek roles that required the knowledge of an Architect combined with management skills required for project delivery. My jobs were mostly at Consultancies like Confluence, WSP and with Clients like Al Ghurair, MAF, Brio Hotels on a variety of projects ranging from hospitality, residential, retail fit-out, infrastructure works including landmark ones like as Al Ghurair Mall Expansion,  Ain Dubai Bluewaters, Bulgari Hotel & Development, Seventh Heaven & Ashjar in Al Barari etc. During these years I spent most of my time on construction sites as part of the project management team. After over 18 years of construction experience, I set up APMP Project Delivery, a company focused on delivery of projects. I am currently working on Hotel Indigo, managing interior design and execution works due for completion by the end of the year.

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Ahmed is a qualified Civil Engineer with over 19 years of a robust background and diverse multidisciplinary experience in a variety of roles in Program and Project Management.

Ahmed is a Member of the Construction Management Association of America (CMAA), Associate Member of the Charter Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb), Registered Engineer in Abu Dhabi Municipality and Member of the Egyptian Engineers Syndicate.

Ahmed has gathered a solid diverse experience base through working within some of the most reputable organizations, including Main Contracting, Program/Project Management in iconic multibillion-dollar sector experience in Luxury Commercial, Mixed-Use, Residential, Five Star Hospitality and Destination Retail as summarized below:

Hill International, Inc.
Masdar Institute Neighborhood Project
ADNOC Headquarters

Arabian Construction Company (ACC)
Capital Plaza development

Al Meraikhi General Contracting (AMGC)
Twin Residnetial Towers
New Administration Building of TAKREER

Hyundai Engineering and Construction (HDEC)
Four Seasons Hotel at Nile Plaza

Ahmed has accomplished successfully many achievements through his career. Selected achievements are listed below:

• Achieved successfully timely completion of several sophisticated projects.
• Achieved remarkable savings to various clients.
• Delivered high end hospitality and headquarters projects to the client satisfaction.
• A proven track of history in accomplishing outstanding HSE records.
• Attained fast-track promotion through a series of increasingly responsible positions.

A Main Board Director of Cost Consultancy firm Omnium International, Kieran has over 20 years’ experience of working in the construction industry in the UK and UAE. Throughout his career Kieran has worked on high profile projects including the Downtown Dubai Infrastructure, the Dubai Creek Harbour Masterplan, the UAE Pavilion at Expo 2020 and a number of high-rise projects within Downtown Dubai including Boulevard Central towers, Boulevard Heights and Burj Vista.

Kieran joined Omnium in 2007 and is currently leading Omnium’s teams on numerous high-end Hospitality projects including the VIDA and ROVE Hotel developments.

Jason is a UK trained Project Quantity Surveyor with extensive experience in the Cost Management of large complex developments in the UK, UAE and Oman. Developments including high rise residential and hospitality projects, retail developments and also specialized construction projects such as London Gatwick Airport, UK and Salah International Airport, Oman.

Having obtained a Law Degree and a MSc in Quantity Surveying,  Jason  has also gained a wealth of experience throughout all aspects of the construction industry from Contract Administration through all stages of a Project’s lifecycle.

Working with Cost Consultancy firm Omnium International since 2014, Jason has led Omnium’s services on an array of Hospitality and Retail developments in Dubai including the VIDA Hotel Emirates Hills, the Springs Souk and the Dubai Mall Boulevard Expansion and Dubai Mall Fashion Avenue Expansion projects.

Chris Skipper has a strong background in private equity, and is also experienced in acting on a broad range of cross-border mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, concessions, and corporate structuring, across a variety of sectors in both developed and emerging markets. His emerging markets knowledge and experience is invaluable in negotiating, drafting and successfully navigating the complexities of multi-jurisdictional transactions. Within the hospitality sector Chris has advised on various hotel developments, sales, acquisitions and related transactions (with operators including Kerzner, Kempinski, Marriott, Mandarin Oriental, Accor and Radisson).

Chris is a partner of Winston & Strawn LLP, based in the firm’s Dubai office.

Phillipa leads the Energy and Sustainable Development Division for AESG, a multi-disciplinary specialist consultancy firm headquartered in Dubai and London. Phillipa works on both Energy and Sustainability projects, with responsibilities including project management as well as technical consultancy services, in addition to the management of the division. Some of the most rewarding projects Phillipa has been involved in include technical support during the development and implementation of Dubai’s Demand Side Management programs, as well as certification of many prominent green buildings in the region, including the UAE Pavilion at Dubai EXPO 2020. Through her extensive experience, Phillipa has gained a broad and thorough understanding of the sustainability sector both locally and internationally, and hopes to continue to apply her knowledge to further the global Sustainable Development Goals.

Dana has over 8 years of experience in real estate research and advisory across the MENA region, having delivered a number of industry specific and economy wide publications, in addition to detailed market intelligence in support of key client engagements. She offers expert opinion and quality advice on real estate market conditions, analyzing the key trends shaping the industry, and forming a professional and unbiased view on future trends and market directions.

With over 20 years of experience in Masterplanning and Architecture, Prabhanjan brings in the critical skills for planning and delivering large scale and complex projects. His experience ranges from Masterplanning of Cities and Town centers to establishing Urban Design Guidelines for Integrated Developments , design of Technology parks and Mixed Used Developments across Middle East and Asia. As the Director at RSP Dubai, Prabhanjan has lead and managed a diverse team of Architects, Planners and Engineers through all stages of design and execution. Many of these projects have won international acclaim through numerous awards.

Some key projects which he has recently worked on include the 4.2 billion dirham Deira Mall, 2 billion dirham Nakheel Mall and Tower project on the Palm Jumeirah and 750 Million Dirham headquarters for Al Rajhi Bank in Riyadh

His role includes managing project delivery teams by liaising with clients and their representatives and coordinating with the design team in integrating various disciplines.

As Vice President Development for Middle East, Eurasia & Africa at Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Panos Loupasis is responsible for leading the company’s growth strategy and execution in the region.

Since joining the company in 2011 as Senior Director of Development for Middle East & Africa, his remit has further expanded to steer Wyndham Hotels & Resorts’ growth strategy in the Middle East, Eurasia & Africa region.

Prior to joining Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, he has held various development and asset management positions, including roles at the Rezidor Hotel Group and AccorHotels. He was also instrumental in the introduction of the Holiday Inn Express brand in the GCC. Panos has over 20 years of experience in the hospitality industry, also including operational roles in properties in Europe, the Americas and the Middle East.

Panos is a native Greek and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from the Aristotelian University in Greece and an MBA in International Hospitality Management from IMHI, a program established by Cornell University in the US. He is based in Wyndham Hotels & Resorts’ Dubai office.

Warren is a seasoned Property and Retail director with over 20 years’ experience in the industry the last 10 of which have been working in the UAE. With a very strong background in Retail Leasing and General management, Warren has successfully managed a diverse range of projects including some complex and high profile developments. Most recently he has spent the last 3 years heading up the DIFC mixed use development in Dubai focusing on all the various retail components. Warren has joined Paragon Malls as the General Manager effective 7th January 2019.

Ali is Director of Strategic Investments at Select Group, a multi-disciplinary real estate development and investment company headquartered out of Dubai that has delivered over 7,000 homes (BUA of 13.5 million ft²) at a GDV in excess of AED 11.5 billion since inception in 2002.

His focus is to identify opportunities that, when viewed in light of the core competencies and execution capabilities of the team, allow the Group to obtain superior risk-adjusted returns.

Through this approach, the Group has deployed substantial proprietary capital via on and off market transactions in the UK, Germany, and the UAE into strategies ranging from forward purchases and forward funding to ground-up development and complex multi-stage joint ventures across the residential, commercial and hospitality sectors.

He has been actively involved in the UAE real estate market since 2006, having been a key team member in the development and delivery of 6,000 homes across Dubai and Abu Dhabi, from Al Reef, the first leasehold development to be handed over to expatriate purchasers in Abu Dhabi, to The Residences at Marina Gate, a luxury high-rise mixed-use development comprising both waterfront retail and residential as well as branded residential and hospitality, managed by the Jumeirah Group.