Board of Directors

Muna Sukthian enjoys a diverse career that has spanned roles in private, public, and non-profit organizations. She is inspired by working with and leading teams to combine excellence and creativity that allow for a positive impact on business and the public good.

She is the Board Chair of Microfund for Women, Jordan’s largest not-for-profit microfinance institution. In addition to leading the organization to reach 800 employees that serve 150,000 clients out of 63 branches across the country, Muna has contributed to financial inclusion on an international level as co-chair of Women’s World Banking (New York) and board member of the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (Washington DC).

With enthusiasm for supporting organizations that give opportunities to youth and women, Muna serves on the boards of the Crown Prince Foundation, Al Hussein Technical University, Queen Rania Award for Excellence in Education, Abdul Hameed Shoman Foundation, and Taawon in Palestine.
Muna also served as chief of staff of Queen Rania Al Abdullah, as a council member of the Greater Amman Municipality, and most recently as a member of the Royal Committee to Modernize the Political System.

Muna started her career in management consulting in the US and worked in generic pharmaceuticals. As a director of GMS Holdings and an investment committee member, she plays an active role in her family’s business.
Muna holds a degree in biochemistry from Harvard University and an MBA from INSEAD in France. Together with her husband, she is a proud parent of their three sons.

Iciar has 20 years’ experience in strategy and general management. Iciar was previously Head of Strategy at Bupa UK, where she contributed to the turnaround of a portfolio encompassing the largest insurance company, Cromwell Hospital, clinics, and care homes. Prior to that, Iciar helped NHS hospitals and private equity investment firms grow and improve performance as a management consultant.

Iciar started her career at McKinsey & Co. (7 years). She has entrepreneurial experience as part of the founding team of FX-broker Ebury Partners, one of the top 100 fastest growing Fintech companies in Europe, and launched two successful corporate ventures as Head of Strategy at the Carbon Trust.

Iciar holds a BA (Hons) in Business Management from Universidad Pontificia de Comillas, Madrid, and an MBA from Columbia University, NY.

Ghiath Munir Sukhtian is a leading entrepreneur who has built several regional and international businesses over the past 50 years in different fields, such as pharmaceuticals, agriculture, telecommunications and contracting, and he is an active in philanthropist in Jordan and Palestine.

Ms. Reem Abu Hassan is a Jordanian attorney focusing on public policy, legislation and human rights.  Ms. Abu Hassan was the Minister of Social Development in Jordan from March 2013 until May 2016. The Mandate of the Ministry of Social Development (MoSD) includes social protection for vulnerable groups, poverty reduction, and regulating and empowering Civil Society.  The main beneficiaries of the services and programs of MoSD are the poor, disabled persons, the unemployed, the elderly, and victims of domestic violence, orphans and children of broken families, children in need of protection and juvenile offenders.  Before this ministerial post, Ms. Abu Hassan was the Secretary General of the National Council for Family Affairs (NCFA), a national body tasked with establishing policies to promote and support the family unit and to protect its members as well as advocating for early childhood development in Jordan.

A passionate advocate for the empowerment of women and the protection of children, she is currently the Honorary President of the Society for Protecting Family Violence Victims, a civil society organization working with juvenile girls in conflict with the law, and girls in need of protection as well as victims of domestic violence.

In 2006-2008, and as an advisor to the Minister of Justice, Ms. Abu Hassan established the Family Affairs and Human Rights Directorate at the Ministry of Justice.

A firm believer in proactive participation in public affairs, Ms. Abu Hassan served in the Jordan First Reform Initiative (2002), was a member of the Legislation and Justice subcommittee of the Jordanian National Agenda (2005), which aimed at devising Jordan’s reform strategy for the next 10 years.  She also participated in Jordan Together Reform Forum. (2006)

Ms. Abu Hassan is a founding and current member of the Jordan Chapter of the International Women’s Forum, and served as the President of IWF/Jordan for the period from 2006-2008.  IWF/Jordan is a non-governmental organization concerned with networking among women leaders and training young women leaders.  She was the chair of IWF Amman Cornerstone Conference May 2007. She sat on the board of the International Leadership Foundation (LF), the educational arm of the (IWF) after serving in the past as the Secretary of LF Board and the President of the Foundation.  Ms. Abu Hassan was instrumental in establishing the IWF chapters in Morocco, Turkey, Egypt and Lebanon.

She is currently the Executive Director of Association of Queen Rania AlAbdullah Award for Excellence in Education, Jordan.

The Association was launched by His Majesty King Abdullah II in 2005, and today it is one of eight Royal initiatives of Her Majesty Queen Rania. The Association has the vision for an educational environment that fosters excellence, creativity and knowledge creation and mission to honor and motivate distinguished educators and disseminate a culture of excellence. She joined the Association as its first Director with complete responsibility to lead and manage all aspects of it.

Previously, Ms. Touqan worked as Business Development & Risk Manager in Jordan Training Technology Group - Rubicon, Jordan. Where she was involved in developing the e-curricula projects for the Jordanian Ministry of Education and started a huge animation projects with world leading animation houses such as Pixar.

She was also Partner in Charge for BDO Al-Jawad Management Consultants, Jordan and served as a Project Manager in the SME Component of JUSBP, Jordan US Business Partnership.

Ms. Touqan holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Business Administration from Bath University UK &Virginia University US and MBA from Lancaster University, UK.

Fida holds a BA in Media from the Lebanese American University in Beirut in 2004 and a degree in Executive Business Leadership from Harvard University in 2014.

She received the EY Emerging Entrepreneur Award in 2013 and is a member of Goldman Sachs 10,000 Leader Women 2015.

Al-Taher founded the Zaitouneh Company, and Atabaqi Company, which is considered the largest digital cooking platform in the Arab world.

She is also the founder of Women in Business Arabia, which has about 40,000 Arab women, and a board member of a number of private sector companies and foundations, serving in many women empowerment and entrepreneurship promotion initiatives and foundations.

Al-Taher was chosen as Jordan’s ambassador for Women Entrepreneurship International Day in 2013 and for 3 consecutive years.

She currently works as a consultant with few startups and is trying to expand Women in Business Arabia, and is exploring future project opportunities.

Nedjma Koval-Saifi, Ph.D. ABD is a development specialist and founder of Integrated International, a leading learning-specialized firm serving the MENA region. With a passion for seeking innovative solutions that can leapfrog development, Nedjma actively supports the development of the evidence base for technology-based solutions, custom-tailored to local populations and contexts, to advance new ways to tackle educational and labor market challenges in the MENA region.

Nedjma has designed and assessed a host of innovative projects with organizations including Global Grand Challenges, USAID, DFID, UN, British Council, and has published and presented ground-breaking research at the Gates Foundation Grand Challenges Annual Conference 2017, UNESCO Mobile Learning Week 2018, Conference for International Education Society in 2019, and Scaling Community of Practice Annual Meeting 2019.

She is a Board Member at the Abdel Hamid Shoman Foundation, where she is committed to AHSF’s social innovation agenda.

She is also a Board Member at Mostaqbal Engineering, the Royal Marine Conservation Society, and Board Member at the Microfund for Women 2002-2008; and 2020 – present. She holds a Ph.D. (ABD) and MALD in Development Economics from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, and a B.A. in Economics from George Washington University, and graduated from the Sidwell Friends School in Washington DC. She is the very proud mother of twin boys: Kiyan and Teymour, and wife of Sharif Saifi.

Iyad is an experienced commercial lawyer with expertise in providing advice related to project finance and PPPs.

He studied law in the USA and started his career in a New York City law firm. After returning to Jordan in 2002, Iyad worked as an attorney at a leading law firm in Amman for about 6.5 years. Thereafter, Iyad joined Eversheds Sutherland as a partner and remained there until the end of 2020.  During his tenure at the law firms, Iyad was heavily involved as local legal counsel in several PPP transactions and privatization deals by representing the various parties involved, including the government and the investor.

Nisreen co-founded Maluki in 2021. Maluki helps Arabic-speaking individuals (with a focus on Women and Youth) build a conscious, purposeful, and satisfactory relationship with their money through raising money awareness and shattering limiting money beliefs, building financial literacy, and applying financial knowledge through digital content and tools, as well as helping individuals access and utilize and get access to financial products and services through their money journey.

Nisreen is a former Finance, Strategy, and Operations Partner at 17 Ventures Management, where she managed the financial due diligence function and the Impact Management and Measurement (IMM) strategy for the SEAF Jordan Growth & Impact Fund.

Previously, Nisreen was an Assurance Services Director, having worked at two Big Four public accounting firms for over 15 years, with transactional, due diligence, and auditing experience in the United States and the MENA region. During her time in public accounting, Nisreen oversaw numerous complex financial statement audits and the delivery of accounting advisory services for a diverse client base across many sectors, including assisting investors and entrepreneurs in restructure and business acquisition transactions. Her clients included not-for-profit organizations, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), start-ups, venture capital investors, and multinationals, which allowed Nisreen to gain experience across the spectrum of the business landscape and civil society in North America and the MENA region.

Nisreen has an undergraduate degree in Applied Biology from the Jordan University for Science and Technology; she undertook further education in business and accounting at Central Washington University’s Seattle campus and is a licensed CPA in Washington State.

Nisreen is passionate about undertaking pro-bono auditing and accounting consultations for charitable organizations and individuals and is a tireless advocate for socially and environmentally conscious enterprises, currently serving as an advisory member of the Jordan Social Entrepreneurship Policy Development National Committee.

Ramzi AbdelJaber brings 28 years of global financial services experience with extensive expertise in alternative asset management and a particular focus on the GCC.

Ramzi is currently a Senior Advisor with Boston Consulting Group (BCG) working mainly with the Principal Investors and Private Equity (PIPE) practice. He is also an Investment Committee member (NED) of the Investment and Development Office IDO (Ras Al Khaimah’s investment arm).

Ramzi serves as an Independent Director on the board of the Housing Bank for Trade and Finance (HBTF) in Jordan, where he chairs HBTF’s Risk Management Committee and has chaired HBTF’s Compliance Committee in the past. He is also a member of the Audit Committee and the IT Governance Committee.

Ramzi is the Vice Chair of the Regional Board of Directors of INJAZ Al Arab, one of the largest NGOs in the Arab world and one of the 100 largest NGOs worldwide. He is also a former board member of INJAZ Bahrain.

Ramzi’s 19-year tenure at Investcorp Holdings, a global alternative asset manager with $50 billion of assets under management, saw him serve in various senior executive roles including most recently as Senior Managing Director and Global Chief Administrative Officer. Other roles in the firm included CEO and Chairman of Investcorp Investments LLC, Global Head of Business Development, and Chief of Staff for Placement and Relationship Management. Ramzi as a member of the firm’s Investment Council and Operating Committee. He also chaired the firm’s Human Resources Council, Internal Audit Council, and Technology Advisory Council.

While at Investcorp, Ramzi served on a large number of investment committees related to corporate M&A activities. He also provided leadership for a number of integration and transition initiatives related to corporate acquisitions (e.g., Investcorp’s acquisition of 3i’s $12 billion AUM debt management business, Investcorp’s acquisition of the private equity and real estate investment management businesses of IDFC Alternatives in India, the creation of a $6 billion AUM 50:50 JV with Tages Group through merging Investcorp’s Absolute Return Investments business with Tages Capital LLP, etc.). As Global CAO, he provided oversight for Corporate Development, HR, Executive Compensation, Technology, Corporate General Services, and Internal Audit.

Ramzi has worked as a consultant with McKinsey & Co.’s Silicon Valley Office in Palo Alto, CA. He has also worked with Accenture (Andersen Consulting) in the Middle East.

Ramzi holds an MBA from the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He also holds a B.Sc. in Computer Information Systems (with Honors and Highest Distinction) from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University, Bloomington.

Ramzi is an overseas member of the UK Institute of Directors and an Honorary Fellow of the GCC Board Directors Institute (GCC BDI). He has served as a member of the Board of Governors’ Strategy, Audit, and Risk Committee of the GCC BDI. The GCC BDI is a not-for-profit organization originally founded by Saudi Aramco, SABIC, Investcorp, EmiratesNBD, Allen & Overy, Heidrick & Struggles, McKinsey & Co., and PWC.