Omar Tom, commonly known as OT, is an entrepreneur, strategic planner, educator, and public speaker. He is the co-founder and managing partner of Dukkan Media, a firm that helps businesses understand the people of the Middle East. OT has developed award-winning and impactful work for brands such as Nike, Dubai Sports Council, Google, YouTube, McDonald’s, Red Bull, Converse, and Arabian Radio Network, to name a few. In September 2021, he was awarded the Voice of Africa Cultural Innovation Excellence Award. He currently guest lectures at the American University in Dubai on strategic planning and opportunities in new media.

Damian Radcliffe is the Carolyn S. Chambers professor of journalism, a professor of practice, an affiliate faculty member at the department for Middle East and North Africa Studies and the Agora Journalism Center, and a research associate of the Center for Science Communication Research at the University of Oregon. An experienced digital analyst, consultant, journalist, and researcher, he has worked in editorial, research, policy, and teaching positions for the past two and a half decades in the UK, Middle East, and the US.

Mariella’s experience is wide: she has written, researched, edited and produced content that covers everything from fashion to feminism, travel to tech, and women to weed. Having worked in the fashion space for over ten years, she now focuses her energy on positive change, whether consulting and strategising for her femtech-inclined clients or reporting on women’s health. She has been published in the likes of Bustle, DAZED MEDIA, The Spaces, and Grazia Middle East, while also creating content for Appear Here, On, MATCHES, and Ounass. You can also find culture/consumer insight articles with her byline on LS:N Global, Canvas8 and BEAUTYMATTER —for the US, UK, and Middle Eastern markets.