Alia is the Artstic Director and CEO of Shubbak. She is a cultural strategist, artist and facilitator working at the intersection of art and social and environmental justice. Her practice uses the arts to interrogate the fundamental causes of inequality and explore alternative modes of understanding the world and being in it, foregrounding dignity for all beings and Earth, our only home. She has worked with national and international organisations as an artist and storyteller to create critical encounters in education and the arts towards collective liberation, from local corner shops to world-renowned museums. Alia is a Chevening Scholar, a Clore Fellow and Associate, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. Prior to joining Shubbak, she was Director of the global citizenship education organisation Global Learning London.

Ahmed Dafalla is a Sudanese cultural entrepreneur, social innovator, and founder of Contraband Art Collective—a social enterprise that harnesses creativity, technology, and advocacy to empower communities affected by conflict and economic hardship.  With a background in health economics and social policy, Ahmed brings a multidisciplinary approach to civic engagement and grassroots development.  Under his leadership, Contraband has launched initiatives like "Sudan Speaks", "Art for Peace", and "Artists Against Corruption," blending art with activism to amplify marginalised voices and promote peacebuilding. Ahmed’s work reflects a deep commitment to social justice, cultural preservation, and innovative solutions for systemic change.

Ahmed El Attar, an Egyptian independent theater director, playwright, and cultural manager, founded and manages key independent cultural institutions in Egypt. He established Studio Emad Eddin, Cairo’s oldest rehearsal and training spaces, D-CAF, Egypt’s largest annual international contemporary arts festival, Maktabi, Cairo’s exclusive shared office spaces for the creative sector, and the Arab Arts Focus, a leading producer and distributor of Arab contemporary performing artists. His Temple Independent Theater Company has globally showcased his plays, performing in some of the most prestigious theaters and festivals in over two dozen countries. El Attar continues to make significant contributions to theater, earning him the title of "Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters" from the French Ministry of Culture in 2018. As an ISPA (International Society for the performing Arts) board member and Highlight Arts in Scotland, his impact extends globally.

Aya Nabulsi is an accomplished theater producer and cultural programmer with extensive experience in the arts and culture industry across the Middle East and North Africa. Currently serving as Theater Producer and Programmer at Ithra in Saudi Arabia, Aya brings innovative programming and strategic vision to one of the region's leading cultural institutions. Aya's career spans diverse roles, including Executive Director at Al Balad Theater in Amman, Senior Arts Manager at Seenaryo, and cultural programming consultant for prominent organizations such as Jack Morton and Tajalla for Arts & Culture. With freelance experience in festival management and a focus on audience engagement, Aya has cultivated a deep understanding of creative processes and cultural programming.

Aymen Gharbi is an architect, curator, and cultural producer based in the Medina of Tunis. Since 2016, his curatorial practice has focused on fostering dialogue between contemporary art and cultural heritage. With a background in architecture and heritage research, he has directed light and media art projects in Tunisia, Jordan, and Mali. His teaching and research emphasize multilingual approaches, aiming to develop a Tunisian vocabulary for mediating contemporary art in the local dialect. Committed to supporting emerging practices, he has accompanied Tunisian and Arab artists over the past decade, with a focus on context-responsive creation and local art ecologies.

Cindy is an organisational specialist with over 15 years of experience in arts, culture, and international collaboration. She is the co-founder of خميرة | Khamira Culture, a regional cultural enterprise advancing cultural access through leadership, networking, strategy, and institutional support. Cindy led the North Africa Cultural Program at AFAC for four years and previously headed the arts program at the British Council in Lebanon. Her work centres on community led and care-based leadership, equity, and evidence-driven approaches, with strong networks across the SWANA region. She is a 2024/25 Clore Fellow and holds a Master of Arts from Lund University.

Delphine Leccas is an art manager and curator with 15 years of experience in the Middle East. As co-founder of the non-profit organization AIN, she has curated, organised and presented numerous film programs and multidisciplinary events focused on contemporary art, with a particular emphasis on artists from the Arab world, especially Syria. She was the artistic director of the International Festival of Arab Cinema in Marseille and, more recently, served as project officer for the European Creative Hubs Network. Delphine Leccas has also worked as a producer for prestigious international art events, including Meeting Points (organized by YATF), Home Works (organized by Ashkal Alwan), and documenta 14.

Dima returned to Shubbak after being the Executive Director of Candoco Dance Company. She is a practitioner in the Healing Justice London practitioners network. She is also the Co-Chair of Refugee Week. Dima holds a PhD in Analytical Science from King’s College London. She used to be a project manager and a researcher at the UK National Measurement Laboratory for ten years. She is the co-founder and co-director of Zamakan CIC, the umbrella of SACF, London’s Syrian Arts & Culture Festival and former directors and co-founder of Qisetna: Talking Syria. Dima wears several hats, among them a storyteller, a politicised-somatics practitioner In training and a new writer.

Frederike Berje has been working as Head of Arts for the MENA region at the Goethe-Institut in Cairo since May 2022. She studied geography and management of cultural and non-profit organisations in Mainz, Bonn, and Paris. After studying Arabic for one year in Jordan, she wrote her master’s thesis on the Syrian cultural scene in the diaspora. Frederike Berje joined the Goethe-Institut in 2017, first working in Lebanon before moving to the Strategy Department in Munich in 2020. 

Hazem Header is an Egyptian contemporary dancer and choreographer. Hazem decided to focus on contemporary dance in 2009 after earning a BA in physical education, studying personal training, biomechanics, kinesiology, and having worked as a personal trainer and volleyball coach. Hazem studied the governmental centre "Cairo Contemporary Dance Centre (CCDC)" at the Cairo Opera House. Hazem started his own dance company, "NÜT Dance Company-NDC" in 2013, which is a Cairo-based and legally recognised entity that produces dance performances and cultural events.

He launched the "Breaking Walls Festival" in 2017, which was the first international festival for site-specific performances in Cairo and established the "Breaking Walls Dance Film Festival" in 2021 as Egypt's and the region's first dance film festival. He was also chosen in 2021 to be a member of the IETM Global Connectors. In 2024, he was elected to the IETM Advisory Committee for a three-year term.

Marc Mouarkech is a cultural consultant and creative practitioner based in Beirut. He is currently the Head of Arts for Lebanon and Syria at the British Council, where he leads key initiatives that intersect art, social transformation, and regional collaboration. At the heart of his work is IN BETWEEN, a dynamic platform rethinking festival-making in the Arab region. Marc also initiated and led programmes like CATAPULT and ARTIVATOR, which support emerging artists and foster innovation in the creative industries. Previously, he served as co-director of the Arab Image Foundation, where he worked to activate one of the largest photographic archives in the region. Before that, he was director of Galerie Tanit in Beirut, shaping an international programme of contemporary art.

Marina Barham is renowned for her extensive experience in producing theater performances, international tours, and building the capacity of young artists and technicians in Palestine through artistic residencies for international ad local artists. She is well known for her capacity to train in cultural management and to establish and produce three theater festivals. Marina Barham is cofounder, General Director of Al-Harah Theater, President of the Palestinian Performing Arts Network from 2019-2021. A Board Member of IETM in 2023. Deputy Chairperson of the Palestinian Performing Arts Network from April 2025. An active cultural operator in Palestine, the Middle East and in Europe since 1998. A Fellow of ISPA & Salzburg Global Seminar.

A young cultural enthusiast, Maurine Kouba is the Executive Director of Yabous Cultural Centre, one of the leading Cultural Centres in Jerusalem, Palestine and has been leading the organization since 2023. Maurine Kouba is Master’s graduate in Business Communication from the University of Siena in Italy and a holder of Bachelor's Degree in Finance, Banking and Business from Birzeit University. She has many years of experience in the women’s and youth based projects both during her professional career and part of her personal initiatives and interest. Among her work at Yabous Cultural Centre and leading its artistic program that vary from artistic festivals, exhibitions to other cultural events, Maurine is the Jerusalem Festival Manager in its most recent Edition “Jerusalem Festival 2023 - Rise up Jerusalem” that highlights the important of the various forms of freedoms especially the freedom of expression and movement.

Maya Zbib is a theatre director, performer, writer, trainer and co-founder and co- artistic director of Beirut’s Zoukak Theatre (2006) and Sidewalks Festival (2013). She’s been commissioned to create work for various international festivals, universities and venues. She teaches regularly at universities and in non-academic contexts, in Lebanon and abroad; with a focus on devising, physical theatre and writing. Zbib is a Chevening/KRSF Alumna (2007), Cultural Leadership International Alumna (2010), fellow of ISPA (2010), was selected as protégée of Peter Sellars within the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative (2011), represented the Arab Region as World Theatre Day message Author at UNESCO, was honored within Cairo's 27th International Festival for Experimental Theatre (2020). As 2-time finalist of Gilder/Coigney International Theatre Award, she received Special Recognition in October 2023.

Mustafa is a cultural strategist and partnerships specialist with over a decade of experience across arts and culture, higher education and international development. He co-founded خميرة | Cultural enterprise, a startup that supports artists, institutions, and funders through programme design, policy research, and strategic advisory, centring culture as a transformative force. His practice weaves together cross-regional collaboration, cultural resilience, and local knowledge systems. Mustafa held leadership roles at UCL, UAL, the British Council, and the EU Delegation in Cairo. He holds an MA in Arts Administration & Cultural Policy from Goldsmiths and currently works at the intersection of cultural infrastructure, knowledge equity, strategic design.

Naoures Rouissi is a Tunisian cultural manager, film programmer, curator, and specialist in cultural and creative industries. She is also a trainer and a doctoral researcher at University of Hildesheim in Germany. Rouissi holds two master's degrees: one in Cultural Policy and Cultural Management from Hassan II University in Morocco, and another in World Heritage and Cultural Projects for Development from University of Torino and Politecnico Di Torino in Italy. She has played a significant role in organizing and programming film festivals both in Tunisia and internationally. Since 2015, she has served as Head of Film and Programming Department at Carthage Film Festival and Manarat Film Festival, including the 2024 edition of Carthage Film Festival. She is currently the Programming Director at Arab Film Festival Zurich and was the first to manage the Children's Film Competition at Alexandria Mediterranean Film Festival in 2024. Rouissi works as a Cultural Consultant for Cinema Association and Saudi Film Festival in Saudi Arabia.

Noor Abu Ghazaleh is a cultural and artistic practitioner who has collaborated with many cultural and artistic initiatives and institutions in Amman. With a background in financial management and human resources, Noor focuses on cultivating and channeling human potential within the cultural and artistic fields. Since 2018, she has worked with various creative spaces, most notably MMAG Foundation for Arts and Culture and The Studio 8 Company for Performing Arts Education. Noor has also participated in a number of events that have significantly contributed to revitalizing the cultural and artistic scene in the Arab region.

Rosa Pérez joined the British Council as Arts Manager in the Occupied Palestinian Territories in September 2019 where she has been based since, working also regionally, with the UK and Europe. Prior to that Rosa was Events Coordinator at the London School of Economics Middle East Centre from April 2018. She worked for over three years as Communications and Events Officer at The Arab British Centre. She was previously Membership and Information Officer at the Council for Arab British Understanding (CAABU). Rosa believes in the transformative power of arts and creativity to build more open, engaged, and inclusive societies.

Thobile Maphanga is a South African dance practitioner, writer/scholar and creative collaborator passionate about her continent and finding more holistic solutions to resolving issues of well-being and full living through the arts. She enjoys working across multiple sectors as she believes solutions can be sourced from varied understandings of the world and how people see and experience it. Her current re-occurring work endeavours are as Project Manager, Assistant Curator and Editorial Steering Committee member for JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience, a 26-year-old international contemporary dance festival with an online colloquium.

Zaina Zaarour is a curator and researcher interested in the politics of gender and collaboration in curatorial practices. She co-curated Made Present: Biographies of Artworks Defying the Ongoing Nakba (Alserkal Arts Foundation, Dubai, 2024). She has also been part of multiple curatorial teams for exhibitions, including When Solidarity Is Not a Metaphor (Venice, 2024), On This Land (Dubai, 2023) and Divinations: The Art of Remembering the Future (Ramallah, 2021). Zaarour is also a researcher in the project Mapping the Production of Knowledge on Women and Gender in the Arab Region. Currently, Zaarour is a curator and Senior Programmes Manager at Alserkal Avenue, Dubai, where she curates year-round programming, including Quoz Arts Fest and Alserkal Art Weeks. 

Zeina Bali is the Managing Director of Masahat for Arab Culture in Exile. Established in Oslo in 2015, Masahat is a non-profit organisation dedicated to showcasing underrepresented artistic voices and cultural expressions from the Arab world and its diaspora through its year-round cultural programming and its flagship project, the annual Masahat Festival for Arab Arts and Culture, held during the third week of September in Oslo.

Zunayed Solaiman is the Festivals Manager at Alserkal Avenue, where he oversees the strategic development of Quoz Arts Fest and What The Food. With a focus on creating spaces that bring the culturally curious together, his role spans programme curation, audience building, and shaping the overall festival experience. Before joining Alserkal, he worked as a project manager on various cultural and music-related events that were deeply embedded in the independent creative scene. He is also the founder of a homegrown UAE-based label, KitchenSync Records, and performs actively as a DJ.

Zvonimir Dobrović is a curator and cultural manager with many years of experience. He is the founder of the Domino association and the artistic director of Queer Zagreb and the Perforation festival, as well as many other artistic and activist projects and initiatives. Dobrović edits a number of editions and texts and regularly participates in numerous international seminars and conferences, as a guest lecturer on cultural management and curation at various faculties and within the framework of numerous educational programs in Croatia and abroad. He is one of the co-founders of the Fund for Others, which encourages personal and corporate philanthropy aimed at culture and activism.