Executive Board The 2008-2009 Executive Board was elected in March 2008 and will serve through May 2010. Members of the Executive Board are as follows:   Sameh El-Saharty (President) is a Medical Doctor and obtained his Master's Degree from Harvard School of Public Health in 1991. He is currently working as Senior Health Policy Specialist in the Middle East and North Africa Region at the World Bank in Washington, DC. Before joining the World Bank, he held several positions with international donors, academic institutions, and consulting firms.   Shahm Al-Wir (Director of Development) is currently a Vice President at Foursan Group, a leading Middle Eastern private equity fund based in Amman, Jordan. Prior to joining Foursan, Shahm spent 6 years at Debevoise & Plimpton in New York focusing on US and Middle Eastern mergers and acquisitions and capital markets transactional and advisory work. Shahm received a Juris Doctorate in law from the University of Virginia School of Law in 2001 and an A.B. in Government from Harvard College in 1998.   Rania Succar (Treasurer) just received her MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government as well as an MBA from the Harvard Business School. She graduated from Harvard College in 2001 with a BA in economics. This fall, Rania will begin working with McKinsey & Company.   Majid Jafar (Director of Membership) grew up in the UAE and has both Iraqi and Palestinian heritage as well. He graduated from Harvard Business School in 2004, and has been living back in the UAE since graduation, though his work takes him all across the region regularly, and his group has offices in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iraq and Iran.   May Al-Dabbagh (Director, Middle East Region) is currently a research fellow and a faculty advisor for the women and leadership program at the Dubai School of Government and a research fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at KSG. She received her doctorate from Oxford University (2004) and BA from Harvard College in Psychology (1999).   Rami Sarafa (Co-Director of Harvard Relationship) graduated from Harvard College in June 2007 and is now currently working with EFG-Hermes in Dubai.   Deena Shakir (Co-Director of Harvard Relationship) will be graduating from Harvard College in June 2008. At Harvard, she has worked closely with the Society of Arab Students, Dubai Initiative, and Harvard Center for Middle Eastern Studies. This fall, she will pursue her graduate study at Georgetown's Center for Contemporary Arab Studies.   Amer Lahham (Member at Large) joined HBS after a 6 year career in Silicon Valley where he volunteered on various boards and organizations, including the board of the California Alumni Association, which caters to about 20,000 alums. He moved to Dubai after graduation to join management consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton as an Associate; specializing in media and telecommunications.   Emad Rajaie (Director of US Conference) is currently completing his MPA from Harvard Kennedy School. He is a Fulbright scholar and his prior experience includes working for the management consulting firm Booz & Company and PricewaterhouseCoopers.     Ex Officio Member:   Ashraf Hegazy (Chairman, HAAA Scholarship Fund Committee) is the founder and president of Hegazy Consulting, a full-service business and technology consulting firm. He graduated from Harvard College in 1996 with a BA in Psychology, and is a candidate for a Mid-Career MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School in 2009.