Board of Directors

Nedal Ismail

Chair of the Board & Treasurer

Nedal Ismail is Professor and Program Coordinator of the Bachelor of Commerce programs in Supply Chain Management and Management Studies at the Faculty of Business at the Humber Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning in Toronto. Previously, Nedal serves as the Political and Commercial Officer for Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. He is a recipient of the [Canadian] Minister of Foreign Affairs’ Merit Award for exceptional and distinguished contribution to the effectiveness and efficiency of the public service of Canada.

Dalal Al-Waheidi

Vice-Chair of the Board

Dalal Al-Waheidi is an executive leader with a passion for growth, driving results, and social impact. She has over 20 years of strong track record of performance in entrepreneurial and high-paced organizations. She is highly focused on adhering to strategic paths, organizational missions and philosophies while positively impacting bottom-line and daily performance.

In her past role as the Executive Director of WE Charity, Dalal Al-Waheidi was integral in shaping the success of the WE movement into an international charity and educational partner. She joined the organization in 2002 and has held various senior leadership roles that focused on making transformative outcomes at local and international levels, including the International Program Director, Chief Operations Director and Executive Director of WE Day.

Passionate about women’s and children’s rights, Dalal has studied, travelled and volunteered throughout South America, Europe, the Middle East and North America. She earned a full scholarship to attend the world-renowned Red Cross Nordic United World College in Norway, the only global educational NGO that brings students together from worldwide. She has also spent time in Ecuador working with indigenous street children.

In 2014, Dalal was selected as one of RBC’s Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Award winners for her passion and desire to make the world a better place, especially for the lives of youth around the world. As a war-affected Palestinian youth born and raised in Kuwait during the Gulf War, Dalal has been a firsthand witness to the terrible impact of conflict on children. These early experiences gave her a unique understanding of the real costs of the political and cultural divide, allowing her to place hope firmly in the value of cooperative peacebuilding. The Women’s Executive Network has recognized Dalal’s exemplary leadership at WE with Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women Award in the “Future Leaders” category and by her former alma mater, Trent University, with the Distinguished Alumni Award for demonstrating extraordinary leadership early in her career.

Now, she is providing purpose-driven business consulting services to support founders, CEOs, senior management, startups, and government entities to transform for success. Her services focus on strategically growing the business, rethinking the operations modelling, deploying efficient and effective execution, and architecting excellent customer experiences.

Youssef Youssef

Secretary of The Board

Dr. Youssef A. Youssef is an accomplished professional with expertise in governance, leadership, business and management models for both for-profit and non-profit sectors. He has co-founded and advised several organizations on governance matters and helped them implement effective frameworks that align with their strategic objectives. Dr. Youssef has also demonstrated strong leadership skills throughout his career, having served in various leadership roles in different organizations. He has led diverse teams and implemented innovative organizational growth and success strategies in Canada, South America and the Middle East.

Bessma Momani

Director

Dr. Bessma Momani is Full Professor in the Department of Political Science and Assistant Vice-President, Research and International in the Office of Research at the University of Waterloo. She is a senior fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation and non-resident fellow at the Arab Gulf States’ Institute in Washington, DC, and a Fulbright Scholar. She was interim Assistant Vice-President, International at the University of Waterloo, a 2015 fellow of the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation and also previously served as a non-resident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and at the Stimson Center in Washington, DC, and was a visiting scholar at Georgetown University’s Mortara Center. She has worked as a consultant to the International Monetary Fund, both in the communications office and the Independent Evaluation Office.

Bessma currently sits on the board of the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation, is consulting Global Affairs Canada on international assistance policy, and serves as an adviser to the National Security Transparency Advisory Group at Public Safety Canada. Bessma has authored, co-authored and co-edited more than ten books and authored more than 80 peer-reviewed academic articles or book chapters that examine international organizations, international political economy, gender and diversity, political economy of the Middle East and geopolitics of the Middle East. Bessma has written editorials in The Globe and Mail, The New York Times, Time, Newsweek, the Economist, the National Post and the Toronto Star. She is also a regular media contributor, having done thousands of live broadcast interviews, with CNN, CBC News, CTV, Al Jazeera, CGTN, TRT World and BNN Bloomberg.