Alfanar's Board of Trustees

Lubna S. Olayan (Board Chair) is the Chief Executive Officer of the Olayan Financing Company (OFC). Lubna has been the President of the Suliman S. Olayan Foundation since 1990 and is also a non executive director of the Board of WPP and a board member of Saudi Hollandi Bank. She is a member of the International Business Council of the World Economic Forum and on the International Advisory Board of the Council on Foreign Relations. Olayan is also on the Board of Directors of INSEAD, a member of the Board of Trustees of Cornell University and on the Advisory Board of Effat College, a private and non-profit girls’ college in Saudi Arabia. She has been a member of the World Links Advisory Council in the Arab Region, a World Bank educational initiative, and serves on the Board of Trustees of the “Arab Thought Foundation.” In June 2005, she was elected to the Board of the Down’s Syndrome Charitable Association.

Julia Middleton is the Founder and Chief Executive of Common Purpose, a leadership development organisation that gives leaders the inspiration, the knowledge and the connections they need to produce real change. She is a passionate campaigner for more diverse leaders who are active in civil society. Common Purpose now operates across the UK and worldwide in France, Germany, Ghana, Hungary, India, Ireland, South Africa, Sweden, the Netherlands and Turkey. Middleton has founded, or helped in the founding of: Demos (an independent think tank), Impetus Trust (developing venture philanthropy in the UK), The Media Standards Trust (fostering high standards in the news media), The Good Governance Network (supporting those involved in governance. She is also on the Advisory Group of the Oxford Business School. In 2007, her book, Beyond Authority: Leadership in a Changing World, was published by Palgrave Macmillan.

Laila Iskandar is a community development consultant and trainer who has extensive experience in working at the grass roots and at the policy level. Iskandar has worked with government agencies, the private sector and NGO’s. Educated at Cairo University, U.C.Berkeley, California, and Teachers' College, Columbia University, her 25 years’ experience is reflected in her research work, conference contributions and publications. She is an international speaker and consultant to international development agencies and has served as a jury to UNESCO’s International Literacy Prize. She received the Goldman Environmental Prize for Africa in 1994. She is managing Director of CID Consulting, which was awarded the Schwab Social Entrepreneurship Prize at the World Economic Forum for the Arab Region in May 2006.

Cynthia Oakes worked at Salomon Brothers, Morgan Guaranty Ltd, and Morgan Stanley.  She is the widow of Tarek Ben Halim.

Hakeem Belo-Osagie is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Emerging Markets Telecommunications Services Ltd (‘EMTS’). He is also Chairman of the Nigerian National Committee of the United World Colleges and serves on the Board of Timbuktu Media, which publishes Next, a Nigerian daily newspaper and is the. For over three decades, ‘Keem has been a key player in the Nigerian economy through his participation in several businesses in the private sector, particularly in the energy, finance and telecommunications sectors. ‘Keem is the founder and former Chairman of First Securities Discount House, Nigeria’s leading money markets and treasury bill trading financial services firm. Prior to his moving into the financial sector ‘Keem had worked in various capacities in the oil sector setting up CTIC, a leading energy consulting firm. ‘Keem holds an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School, a law degree from Cambridge University and an M.A. in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from Oxford University. ‘Keem is a member of the Nigerian Bar Association. 

Nadia Plumbly was educated at AUC and subsequently taught Arabic there. Her book, Nine Short Stories, based on her Master’s thesis was published in 1988 by the General Egyptian Book Organization. Flights of Fantasy, a collection of Arabic short stories published in 1985, includes some of her literary translations. After her marriage to a British diplomat, she lived in Saudi Arabia and the US for extended periods. She worked in areas reflecting her interest in education, conservation, and the arts, including King Saud University in Riyadh and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Following her husband’s appointments as British ambassador in Riyadh and then in Cairo, she used her unique position in both capitals to promote understanding between the UK and the Arab world, and to support the voluntary sector. Lady Plumbly is Patron of the Levantine Foundation and chair of the Wissa Wassef Trust.