Ahmed El-Ashmawi
Ahmed El-Ashmawi is a specialist in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and employability, having worked for many years with several organisations in the region such as the British Council, European Union, World Bank, ILO, GIZ, Sanabel -the Microfinance Network of Arab Countries, and the European Training Foundation. He became Symposium Programme Director in December 2014. He has recently managed two TVET reform projects funded by the EU in Libya and Egypt. He also had a leading role in introducing the concept of sector-specific skills councils in Egypt to engage employers in the reform of TVET. He helped to establish and manage the European Management Centre (EMC) between 1996 and 2002. He is a founding board member of the Egyptian Management Consultants Association (MCA) and the Egyptian TVET Quality and Advisory Network (ETQAN). He is an Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) in the UK and former member of the Education Core Committee of the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt. In 2012 he was a member of the high-level committee established by the Egyptian Minister of Manpower and Migration to provide advice in restructuring the Supreme Council for Human Resource Development. He has a Masters’ degree in Human Resources Management from Westminster University in the UK, and a BA in Economics from the American University in Cairo.
Aline Kiwan
Aline Kiwan is the Regional Marketing and Communications Manager for the British Council in the Middle East and North Africa. Prior to joining the British Council, she worked for Red Bull in Marketing and Sales all over the Levant. Aline has more than six years of experience in working on marketing and communications for large programmes in different business areas: Arts, covering various genres in the MENA and the UK; Education, including technical and vocational education and higher education; Society and Governance, various programmes in the creative and knowledge economy sector, women empowerment issues, Syrian crisis response, skills for employment, EU funded projects with the British Council and various partners.
Aline holds a BS in Information Technology and an MBA in Business Management from the Open University. In addition she received a nomination for the MEPRA Awards 2013, Best Use of Media Relations - Consumer or Trade, for leading on the communications for the Going Global 2013 conference that was held in the UAE.
Dalia Adel
Dalia Adel has started her career as a teacher of the English language and worked at private schools in Egypt as well as state schools in the Gulf. Dalia then shifted towards teaching adults and into the management of English language training departments at private institutes. Dalia joined the British Council in 2004 as a multimedia producer supporting content creation and learning through websites. She then moved to the management of education projects. She has worked closely with the Ministry of Education in Egypt as well as with ministries of education in the region on various education projects looking at improving the quality of teaching and learning of English in the region. In her current role, Dalia manages self-access learning to English language development resources in the region.
Eric Lawrie
Eric Lawrie is the British Council’s Symposium Director. He has had a long career in the British Council. His first posting was as an English teacher in Sanaa, Yemen in the 1980’s but has since then worked in South and Central America, Africa, Asia and is now back in the Middle East. He is based in Dubai and currently leads on the British Council’s English programmes in the Maghreb, Levant and Gulf. The British Council has worldwide recognition for its research, work with policymakers for English, as well as its programmes aimed at developing the learning and teaching of English in the public sector. The role that English plays in giving the youth of today access to employability is a growing area of important discussion as countries look to address the issues. A key area of development which the British Council is taking forward is the use of online technology to make English learning and teacher training available on a significant scale.
Magda H. Zaki
Magda H. Zaki is Director of the Department of Education and Scientific Research for the League of Arab States. She has been involved in the planning and design of the Symposium since 2013. She is a graduate of the American University in Cairo where she majored in Political Science. During her years of college, she had the chance to participate in an exchange programme in Grand Rapids State College, Michigan, USA, as well as to travel intensively for courses in China (1978) and the US (1980). Between 1980 and 1990, she joined her family's business working with different international co-operations such as Rockwell Int. (USA) and Mitsubishi (Japan). Around 1993, she made a career change and joined the League of Arab States. In 1993 she joined the Arab Fund for Development and Cooperation in Africa and remained there for 12 years. During this period she received her M.A with honors from AUC. Her thesis topic was “National Identity in Central Asia in the Post-Soviet Era… the case of Uzbekistan” which was partly written while visiting the countries of Central Asia in the late 90's.
In 2005 she joined the Department of the Americas, where she was promoted as head of the division of North America focusing and researching US-Arab relations during the Bush administration. In 2008 she became Director of the Department of the Dialogue among Civilizations until 2013, when she became Director of the Department of Education and Scientific Research shifting her focus from political to social affairs.
Noha Sobhy Aiad
Noha Sobhy Aiad is a graduate of the Faculty of Economics and Political Science in Cairo University and she is presently enrolled in the Euro-Med MA program at the same University. She joined the League of Arab States in 2008 where she was appointed in the Department of Education and Scientific Research with the responsibility to handle International Cooperation files. Noha is one of the Symposium Facilitators and has been involved in the planning of the event for many months,
Paul Maloney
Paul Maloney is Senior Communications Manager for the British Council in the Middle East & North Africa region. Prior to joining the British Council, he was a director at a leading communications agency in Abu Dhabi, UAE, where he worked with a number of major international organisations such as the Emirates Red Crescent and Mubadala. From 2007-2010, he worked as Campaign Manager for Nick Clegg MP, UK Deputy Prime Minister, overseeing policy announcements, press and stakeholders relations, with the role culminating in leading the General Election tour for the British Liberal Democratic Party.
Philip Powell-Davies
Philip Powell-Davies is an educationist and social development specialist with a background in international education policy and planning, governance and capacity building, particularly in the public sector. Philip was the Cairo Symposium Programme Director from late 2013 until December 2014 responsible for designing and coordinating all aspects of the event. He remains an associate advisor to the Symposium. He holds a PhD in international aid policy as well as Masters’ degrees in applied linguistics, social development management and education. He has research interests in language policy, teacher development, national development strategies, and the socio-economics of education and development. He has served as a country director of international organisations in Africa, Asia and Europe, as well as holding senior advisory positions with national governments in the Middle East and South Asia. He is a research fellow at the University of Bristol and is senior external assessor for the University of Cambridge. He has edited several collections of papers on education and has authored a number of books. He currently works as a consultant with UN agencies and multilateral organisations in South Asia, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East, advising on education sector policy and planning and capacity development strategies.
Randah Ramadan
Randah Ramadan, Owner & Director of Cairo Seminars and Conferences (CSC), is the Symposium Event Planner responsible for all the logistical arrangements. After obtaining a Bachelor's degree in Management Sciences, Ms. Ramadan began her working career at the Binational Fulbright Commission in 1992. She was promoted from Assistant Programme Officer, to Programme Officer and then to Senior Programme Officer all within a span of 13 months. After obtaining the experience and qualifications needed, Ms. Ramadan established her own events management company, (Cairo Seminars and Conferences) in 1998. Over the past 16 years CSC has provided events management support services to a multitude of national and international organisations.