What is the impact of tolerance and inclusivity on business and how can businesses strive to be guided by these values in today's world? Tolerance & Inclusivity Business Forum brings together industry leaders, diversity and inclusion experts and visionary thinkers to explore the true value of tolerance and inclusivity.

Recognising the Value of Inclusion

Tolerance and Inclusivity

Exploring the true value of inclusion to our economies.

With our planet today home to 7.8 billion people, we put the spotlight on co-existence, understanding different faiths, creating inclusive dialogue, and so much more. During this Theme Week, Expo will provide a platform for diverse voices from all corners of the world to reimagine how spaces, environments and storytelling can become more inclusive by focusing on multiculturalism and peaceful co-existence.

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How can we foster a greater common understanding to enable more tolerant and inclusive societies?

Tolerance & Inclusivity Week

Effenus Henderson is President and CEO of HenderWorks, Inc. and Co-Founder of Institute for Sustainable Diversity and Inclusion. He is an internationally recognized diversity thought leader. He has addressed members of the General Assembly of the United Nations on intercultural and interreligious diversity. He is a member of the United States Technical Committee 260 (human resource standards) for the International Organization for Standardization and convener for the development of recently published global diversity and inclusion standards (ISO 30415).  His background includes development of diversity and inclusion change agendas, formation and oversight of employee resource groups, executive coaching, and facilitating skill building workshops and speaking engagements in over 18 foreign countries.  


Effenus Henderson

Hakim brings a deep understanding of financial, political and social issues to Brunswick. He was previously a partner at Roland Berger, where he was responsible for public sector-focused work and the firm’s business in Africa. Prior to this, he spent five years in the Emerging Markets team at Rothschild & Cie where he advised on several high-profile deals in the telecommunications, financial services and pharmaceuticals sectors. Hakim spent time working in French government as an advisor to Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin and later as an advisor to Finance Minister Thierry Breton. Since 2016, he has been Managing Director of Volentia, a strategic consulting and investment company he founded. A Senior Fellow at the Montaigne Institute, Hakim is a respected voice on inclusion and diversity related matters. 

Hakim El Karoui

Margaret Johnston-Clarke is a French American Yale graduate with more than 28 years of work experience in Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Corporate Social Responsibility, Philanthropy, Branding and Communications. She has spent more than half of her career at L’Oréal in key positions including Deputy General Manager of the L’Oréal Corporate Foundation, Head of Brand Communications at Lancôme and Garnier. She spent five years at LVMH as Head of Image and Integrated Communications for the Moët & Chandon House, and over six years at the non-profit Fondation Agir Contre l’Exclusion (FACE) where she ran several educational programs in inner cities. Since May 2017, Ms. Johnston-Clarke is Global Chief Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer for the L’Oréal Goupe. 

Margaret Johnston-Clarke

Francesca Gori is the Regional Director of Legal Services at Accenture for Geographic Compliance and Corporate Legal. She leads a team of approximately 40 in-house talented lawyers across Middle East, Africa and ASIA PACIFIC, and is also the General counsel for Accenture in Middle East. She gained extensive experience in major international law firms providing support to multinational companies. Francesca has been part of several global project implementation initiatives, as well as the set-up of new operations and legal entities across the various regions. She is an active and recognized member of Accenture’s “Accent on Woman” organization and she is the Managing Director sponsor for women in Accenture legal team, which helps grow the next generation of female leaders at Accenture. 

Managing Director, Accenture Legal Services, Middle East, Africa and ASIA PACIFIC (AAPAC)


Francesca Gori

Dr. Fincher moved from Dallas, Texas to the UAE to join Kanad Hospital as an Ophthalmologist in 2009. In 2017, he took on the additional role of Director of Community Services and now has the privilege to serve as CEO of Kanad Hospital. Trained at the University of Arkansas, College of Engineering, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Baylor University Medical Center. Dr. Fincher has been practicing comprehensive ophthalmology since 2006 and is certified as a Diplomat of the American Board of Ophthalmology. He has collaborated on numerous research endeavors and has been published in The American Journal of Ophthalmology, Archives of Otolaryngology, and The American Journal of Surgery, among others. 

Timothy Fincher

Bernadine is the Head of Talent Development at the Department of Education and Knowledge with over 20 years of global experience in the full spectrum of talent management including leadership development. As a member of the Future Talent Council's Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Think Tank, Bernadine continues to contribute to the global discussion on organizational culture and belonging. Bernadine serves as a Mentor and Coach for a number of senior executives. Her primary focus has been on empowering UAE National Women and increasing their leadership brand through the power of story telling. 

Head Of Talent Development, Department of Education and Knowledge, Abu Dhabi


Bernadine Karunaratn

Ali Zubairy works with the Ministry of Tolerance & Coexistence in developing and delivering specialized trainings on principles and values of Tolerance, which has engaged over 1200 people all across the UAE’s public and private sector. He currently liaises with hospitals for the first Tolerance in Healthcare program to facilitate them in achieving Tolerance Certification through strategic policy implementations. Subsequent to this he was Director of Programs at Charter for Compassion where he worked on projects promoting compassion in healthcare, academic and business sectors while also consulting, launching and managing several women empowerment projects through the creation of socio economic platforms. 

Ali Zubairy

Michael Muñoz is Google’s Global Marketing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Lead. Michael is responsible for leading the efforts to build a more representative and inclusive team, whose work represents its users. He is tasked with developing and executing the DEI plan in service of accelerating progress on workforce representation and driving racial & social equity for the organization, including driving execution of Marketing’s DEI Commitments and Operational Plans. In his role, Michael advises senior leaders to build capability and shared accountability for DEI efforts and outcomes; partnering cross-functionally, leveraging trend data and solutions to advance DEI efforts, objectives and support the work of Google’s Marketing org. Michael currently serves on the Board of Adcolor. 

Michael Munoz

Reggie is the Founder and CEO of Performance Paradigm, an executive education, human capital consultancy. He spends time at the intersection of racial justice, law enforcement, and NGOs. His experience runs through experiential learning, equity, inclusion, diversity, high performing teams, executive coaching, and leadership effectiveness. He facilitates experiences and dialogues focused on how we can be better humans and collectively improve the human condition starting with the people we are most proximate to everyday and the systems those humans create. Prior to founding Performance Paradigm, Reggie was a Managing Director at PwC, working both internally and with clients in the creation of leadership capacity to build diverse teams, inclusive cultures, and equitable systems. 

Reggie Butler

Medea Nocentini is Chief Operating Officer at Global Ventures. She is also Co-Founder of Companies Creating Change (C3), a UAE-based organization fostering social enterprise in the MENAT region. 
Medea previously served as Chief Strategy Officer at the AW Rostamani Group, where she was leading AWR Group’s strategy and planning, investment and corporate venture capital activities, market intelligence, risk management, performance management, and corporate marketing. Prior to joining the AW Rostamani Group, Medea was Senior Vice President, Strategy and Corporate Development at OSN, the leading Pay TV platform in the MENA region, where she was responsible for corporate development and strategy planning, as well as market and consumer intelligence. 



Chief Operating Officer, Global Ventures


Medea Nocentini

Nina Alag Suri is the Founder and CEO of X0PA AI , she comes from an Engineering background with a Degree in Electronics and Telecommunication and has been an entrepreneur for over 25 years and is on to her 2nd startup. Nina had originally founded an executive search and HR consulting company, Nastrac Group, back in 1997 which she successfully ran for 20 years across 5 continents. It was through this venture that she realized the biases and subjectivity of traditional hiring processes and thus decided to pivot to an AI and ML based platform with X0PA AI in 2017, with the aim to make hiring objective and equitable. 

Nina Alag Suri

Atassi became CEO of Smart Infrastructure for Siemens in the Middle East in April, after working for more than two decades for the company in the United States. Atassi served previously as Global Head of Siemens’ Life Science business, where he expanded the business by more than 65 percent. Based in the UAE, he focuses now on creating the building blocks of smart cities that can improve our lives and protect our planet. His team draws on Siemens’ strengths in electrification, automation and digitalization to help customers make more efficient and sustainable use of energy while also enhancing the comfort, safety and security of people who live and work in cities. Atassi and his team played an integral role in Siemens’ partnership with Expo 2020 Dubai to co-create a blueprint for future smart cities. 

CEO, Siemens Smart Infrastructure, Middle East; CEO, Siemens, Oman


Franco Atassi 

Apoorv has established and drives the Accessibility & Inclusion track at The Ola Mobility Institute. OMI is a policy research think tank operating at the intersection of mobility, innovation and public good. 
Apoorv champions the rights of Persons with Disability and is working towards making the urban mobility ecosystem Universally Accessible. Before OMI, Apoorv was a part of Ola’s Product team and strove to make Ola’s customer app accessible. In addition, Apoorv collaborated with the Human Resource teams to pioneered inclusive hiring in Ola and its group companies. Apoorv is a member of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry’s Task Force on Diversity and Inclusion working to make corporate India more aware, sensitive and committed towards inclusive business practices. 

Head, Accessibility & Inclusion, Ola Mobility Institute

Apoorv Kulkarni

Mailin Aasmäe is an art historian by education, but at one point decided to pursue her great passion – communication. She has been helping Estonia tell its stories now for more than 15 years, most recently as a spokesperson for former president Kersti Kaljulaid. As a proud e-Estonian and passionate digital governance advocate, Mailin believes that governments must learn to provide public services as efficiently as Amazon sells books: no physical presence, no cost of application and no opening hours.


Marketing & Communications Director, Estonia  


Mailin Aasmae

Esther Ndichu is the Vice President of International Community Relations and The UPS Foundation based in Washington, DC. In addition to managing the international community relations activities, Esther has oversight for the Equity & Economic Empowerment portfolio. For the last three years, Esther has been the Managing Director for UPS in Southern and Eastern Africa. As the first black female to run a UPS operation in Africa, she reengineered the operation and had the most diverse business planning team in the operation’s history. Her leadership and efforts in the last few years have since resulted in excellent results in South Africa this year.  An advocate for diversity, Esther also improved the UPS South Africa’s Black Empowerment rating, to allow UPS to compete for business opportunities. 

Vice President, International Community Relations and The UPS Foundation


Esther Ndichu

Dr. Nairouz Bader is the CEO of Envision Partnership, the first executive search in the MENA region to be set and lead by an Arab female and the only Arab female that have been on the global board of AESC. Dr. Nairouz Bader serves her clients in the recruiting of Board of Directors, Chairmen, Chief Executive Officers, Division and Subsidiary Presidents and Vice Presidents. This broad base of commercial and business experience has covered markets in North America, Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. She is also the only expert in the MENA region certified by the Switzerland Global Enterprise as an Official Expert on International Human Resources, a founding member of Rotary International.

CEO and Founder, Envision Executive Consultancy


Nairouz Bader

H.E Franz-Michael Skjold Mellbin is a Danish professional Foreign Service officer with extensive knowledge and experience. From 2013 to 2017 he was the European Union Special Representative (EUSR) for Afghanistan and Pakistan. In 2016 he facilitated the first significant Afghan peace accord in over 20 years with the Hezb-e-Islami group. In 2009 Franz-Michael Skjold Mellbin received Japan's Cool Biz award for his efforts to promote energy savings. Franz-Michael Skjold Mellbin has received the highest civilian orders of Japan, Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun 1st class, and Afghanistan, Ghazi Wazir Mohammad Akbar Khan Medal, for his exceptional efforts in those two countries. 

Ambassador of Denmark to the UAE, Qatar and the International Renewable Energy Agency


H.E Franz-Michael Skjold Mellbin

Aparna Mittal is a leading Equality, Diversity & Inclusion   Advisor, and corporate lawyer with over 17 years of experience. She is the Founder of Samāna Centre for Gender, Policy and Law, India’s leading consultancy, focused on equality and inclusion for all segments of diversity. She brings a unique perspective of multi themed advisory work spanning across impact investing and ESG; entrepreneurship development; financial empowerment; workplace diversity, equity and inclusion; gender equality and social inclusion (GESI) in projects and policy; gender mainstreaming in philanthropy & CSR; and anti discrimination and anti harassment frameworks. 

Founder, Samāna Centre for Gender, Policy and Law


Aparna Mittal

Patricia Langan is a strategic and creative leader who has built and led diverse cross-border teams to support prosperity, rights and voice for women, minorities and young people worldwide. She’s raised over $20M over 20 years to improve market access, business growth, capacity, livelihoods and access to digital solutions for more than 200,000 rural and urban women and youth entrepreneurs and employees in Africa, Middle East, Europe and more. Ms. Langan works for WEConnect International, a global non-profit that drives money to women business owners, helping them gain market access to supply chains. It registers, certifies, and educates women’s business enterprises that are at least 51% owned, managed, and controlled by women, and then connects them with 145 member buyers from every business sector. 


Regional Director for Africa & the Middle East, WEConnect International


Patricia Langan

Dale Stephens is the Kaitohu Rangapū Māori, Director Māori Partnership at New Zealand Trade and Enterprise where he works closely with Māori businesses, government agencies and community groups across the motu to advance Māori internationally. After a career in the police (to the rank of Inspector) Dale worked in the corporate sector in HR and investment. He has consulted to a range of government agencies including MFAT, Te Puni Kōkiri, MPI and Fisheries. He has held three private sector CEO positions both in New Zealand and in Asia Pacific and has also held a number of directorships in TE AO Māori and in private business. 

Kaitohu Rangapū Māori, Director Māori Partnership 


Dale Aotea Stephens 

His Excellency Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan is the Minister of Tolerance, which was announced in October 2017. His Excellency joined the Federal Government in 1992. He held several positions in the Federal Government including the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, the Minister of Education and the Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development. In addition to his ministerial duties, His Excellency had previously served in many positions in national universities. H.E. was the Chancellor of the United Arab Emirates University since 1983 to 2013, the Chancellor of the Higher Colleges of Technology from 1988 to 2013 and the President of Zayed University from 1998 to 2013. 

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Member of the Cabinet and the Minister of Tolerance

His Excellency Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan

Tolerance & Inclusivity Business Forum

World Expos have long been inflection points for global progress and innovation where governments and citizens have united to form enduring partnerships and generate opportunities in business. We have built an exciting offering through which entities such as governments, the private sector and others can harness the power of global trade and exchange to shape a better world. 

The Thrive Together Track of Expo 2020 Dubai’s Programme for People and Planet features a tapestry of event series and experiences that focus on building a resilient global economy, one that enables strong economic growth and partnerships. 

Enabling Economic Growth and Partnerships

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Thrive Together 

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Knowledge drives our global community to innovate for a better future, be it advances in medicine, sustainability, technology and more. Our planet’s rich diversity brings forward the importance of creating, storing and transferring knowledge which spans across geographies, cultures and generations. 
During this Theme Week, Expo will present and celebrate the knowledge, culture and heritage of all our participating nations, bringing them together under the UAE’s Golden Jubilee theme of Human Solidarity. Topics of discussion will include intangible and tangible heritage, creative industries, and knowledge economies, among other things. 


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How do we harness and challenge our knowledge today to prepare for the future?

Skills Development and Vocational Training

Informal and Traditional Knowledge Systems

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Dubai Cares Image Gallery

Dubai values education as the key to helping its youngest citizens take charge of the future. Expo 2020’s host city extends that mission across the globe with Dubai Cares, a dynamic philanthropic organisation that helps children in developing countries access quality learning opportunities. At the Dubai Cares Pavilion, learn about the transformative power of education and the unique challenges facing future generations through a series of playful, immersive activities designed to engage the whole family. Sit in a futuristic learning pod, take photos in a comics-inspired exhibit and find out how you can help grow the Dubai Cares movement.

Dubai Cares

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Dubai Cares Pavilion

Knowledge & Learning Week

Water fuels our sustenance but also moves money, goods and people around the world, provides a valuable source of renewable energy, and enables the world’s food to grow. This week will help us understand how to preserve and sustainably manage this precious finite resource for infinite uses. The programme will highlight the true value of water, as well as progress and best practice in ensuring clean and adequate water for people, industry and the planet.

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 How will we protect our most precious resource today, for tomorrow?

Tolerance & Inclusivity Business Forum

Recognising the Value of Inclusion

Speaker of the day

Speaker

Effenus Henderson

Speaker

Hakim El Karoui

Speaker

Margaret Johnston-Clarke

Speaker

Francesca Gori

Speaker

Timothy Fincher

Speaker

Bernadine Karunaratn

Speaker

Effenus Henderson

Speaker

Hakim El Karoui

Speaker

Margaret Johnston-Clarke

Speaker

Francesca Gori

Tolerance & Inclusivity Week.

This event is part of the
Thrive Together .

Recognising the Value of Inclusion

Speaker of the day

Tolerance & Inclusivity Week.

This event is part of theThrive Together .

This event is part of the
Thrive Together .