Board

Jim Abdo is the president, CEO, and founder of Abdo Development LLC, a District of Columbia development and construction company. He has been named CEO of the year by SmartCEO Magazine, named a Washingtonian of the Year by Washingtonian Magazine, honored by Partners for Livable Communities, selected as the regional winner of the Ernst and Young’s “Entrepreneur of the Year” award, and most recently was recognized for his leadership in DC economic development with the DCBIA Building Industry Achievement Award.

Rebecca Abou-Chedid is a partner in law at Norton Rose Fulbright in Washington DC. She previously served as a law clerk at the U.S. Department of Justice and director of outreach for the Middle East Task Force at the New America Foundation. She also serves on the board of directors at SEED for Change and co-chairs the board of directors at Just Vision.

Jihan Andoni is the CEO of Zeva Incorporated, a digital security company serving federal governments and corporations all around the world. Previously, she has worked for the Center for Responsive Politics and the Children’s Defense Fund in her career spanning multiple sectors and issues. She is also the co-founder of The Andoni Young Arab Science and Technology Award, a board member for the National Arab American Women’s Association, and a member of the International Women’s Forum.

Nader Barakat is a hardware engineering consultant and co-founder of Xirgo Technologies. He is a Palestinian-American born and raised in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territory of the West Bank, where he still has many family members. Nader holds an MS degree in Wireless Communication. He is also a board member of Palestine Foundation, a non-profit organization that aims to support sustainable projects in education, health, habitat, and the arts in Palestine.

As Anera President and CEO, Sean leads a staff of 150 in Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan and Washington, DC, delivering humanitarian and development assistance to refugees and vulnerable communities in the Middle East. Before joining Anera, Sean worked in several international development and policy roles in Washington, DC, Europe and the Middle East, including Creative Associates International, the United States Agency for International Development, the Club of Madrid, the US Congress, the UN’s World Food Programme and the National Democratic Institute.

Mourad Elayen is an accomplished business and finance professional. He is the founder & CEO of MB Management, owner of 10 franchises, and former director of hedge fund investments at New York Life. He earned his MBA from Fairleigh Dickinson University and worked in finance for nearly a decade before founding MB Management. Elayen was born and raised in the United States, but has family in East Jerusalem Silwan and has always had a heart for Palestine.

Tarek Ghandour (retired) International Business Development in fields of process water treatment, potable water treatment , desalination, sewage and industrial wastewater treatment. He holds a BSc in civil (environmental) engineering and an MBA in finance and marketing from Syracuse University. He is committed to enhancing the needs for water recycling and more efficient use of water and wastewater globally He was a member of the International Desalination Association and served on the advisory council for the International Water Conference.

Jean Glock is the owner and president of JNG Worldwide. She holds an MS from Georgetown University in foreign affairs and foreign service, and has led a career devoted to Middle East travel and tourism at Smithsonian Journeys, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Qatar Foundation International, and Signature Travel Network. In addition to her membership on Anera’s board, she is a member on the board of the Petra National Trust and Travel Elevates Foundation.

A past Anera board chair and interim president, Skip Gnehm is Professor Emeritus of Gulf and Arabian Peninsula Affairs and Director of the Middle East Policy Forum in the Elliott School of International Affairs at The George Washington University. He has served as the U.S. ambassador to Jordan, Australia and Kuwait. Since joining the U.S. Department of State in 1969, he has led an illustrious career, serving as Director General of the Foreign Service and Deputy Permanent Representative of the U.S. to the United Nations, among other roles.

John Gurley is a practicing legal professional with over 25 years of experience. He is a partner at Arent Fox, LLP and an adjunct professor at the Georgetown University International Trade Law Center. Gurley earned both his BA and JD from the University of Kansas and is a member of the District of Columbia Bar, US Court of International Trade, and US Court of Appeals Federal Circuit Court.

Elias Habayeb is the Chief Financial Officer at Corebridge Financial. His professional background includes roles as Deputy Chief Financial Officer at AIG,
Partner at Deloitte & Touche Capital Markets Group.

Matt Haddad is a senior associate general counsel at Anthem, Inc. He earned both his BA and JD from the University of Richmond and is a member of the Virginia State Bar. In addition to his seat on Anera’s board of directors, he is a steering committee member of Richmonders for Peace in Israel-Palestine.

Alison Hills has been in the energy sector for almost 20 years and is currently focused on energy transition policies and issues. She was previously a Vice President with TotalEnergies and prior to that held senior positions at Chevron and ExxonMobil. She received her BA from Columbia College, Columbia University and her MA from Johns Hopkins University SAIS. Alison was a Fulbright scholar in Damascus. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and currently serves on the International Advisory Committee of the National Council for US-Arab Relations.

Piney Kesting is a writer and editor who specializes in Middle Eastern cultures. She is the owner of Piney Kesting Writing and Consulting, a former consultant and in-house writer for AllWorld Network, and a frequent contributor to Aramco World magazine. Previously, she has been a managing editor for the National U.S. Arab Chamber of Commerce and Washington DC Bureau of Asharq Al Awsat and Arab News. She holds a master’s degree in Middle Eastern studies from Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies and pursued graduate studies in philosophy at the University of Munich.

Paul has extensive experience preparing and negotiating all forms of documentation related to energy and infrastructure projects, including joint development and ownership agreements, construction contracts, power purchase agreements (PPAs), credit and investment documentation, and sale and purchase agreements. In recognition of his work, Paul has been repeatedly selected for inclusion in Chambers Global, Chambers USA, The Legal 500 and IFLR1000. He also has been named a Law360 Project Finance MVP.

Samar Hussein Langhorne is a nonprofit organization management professional with experience at the United Way and United Palestinian Appeal. She received her BA from Saint Mary’s University and her MA from Bowling Green University. Besides her work for social justice, she has dedicated most of her time to promoting projects that are at the forefront of social development that ensure sustainability and independence for local communities.

Sharon Marine is Senior Vice President of Development and Chief Philanthropy Officer for Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and Medical Center. She has more than 30 years of experience in philanthropy and previously held leadership positions at Grenzebach Glier & Associates, the University of Chicago, Cornell University, the Stanford Graduate School of Business, and the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. A graduate of Brown University, she has been an active volunteer for the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education and she currently serves on the President’s Advisory Council for The College at Brown.

Nasser Mikdadi is a controller. He has previously worked at Deloitte Tax, LLP and more recently at KPMG, LLP where he specialized in tax planning and compliance services in the private equity and real estate industries. He also serves on the Curriculum Committee of the Virginia Tech ACIS Emerging Leaders Board.

Mona Naffa is the founder and director of Monaco MENA Consulting. She is a first generation Arab-American of Jordanian and Palestinian descent and now works and resides in Jordan. She received an MBA from Anglia Ruskin University and has become an authority in hospitality, business development and marketing. She is a member of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, World Tourism Network, and YWCA Jordan, and is a partner for the Harvard Student Agency.

Dr. Omar Razzaz is a Senior Fellow at Harvard University (HKS). His career spans the public and private sectors, non-governmental organizations, think tanks, international organizations, and academia. In government, he served as the 42nd Prime Minister of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan from 2018- 2020; Minister of Education (2017-2018); and Director of Jordan’s Social Security Corporation (2006- 2010). Dr. Razzaz also served as the Chairman of Jordan Ahli Bank (2014-2017); Chair of the King Abdullah Fund for Development (2012-2014); founder and Chair of the Jordan Strategy Forum (2012- 2017); and Board Member of the National Human Rights Commission (2010- 2012). Before returning to Jordan, Dr. Razzaz worked for the World Bank as Lead Specialist and Country Manager (1997-2006); and was an Assistant Professor at MIT’s International Development and Regional Planning Program (1992- 1996). He earned a Post-Doctorate at Harvard Law School (1992) a Ph.D. in urban planning with a minor in economics from Harvard University (1991); a master’s from MIT (1987); and a bachelor's in engineering from Louisiana Tech University (1985). He received several awards for research, writing, and teaching.

Kathleen Rogers is the President of EARTHDAY.ORG, which works year-round to diversity, educate, and activate the environmental community. EARTHDAY.ORG mobilizes 1 billion people in 192 countries for Earth Day each year. With over 20 years of experience as an environmental attorney and advocate, Rogers has held senior roles at the National Audubon Society, the Environmental Law Institute, and two U.S. Olympic Organizing Committees, and has worked with various UN offices. She graduated from University of California, Davis where she was editor-in-chief of the law review. She also clerked in federal court in Washington, D.C.

Victoria Sams received her PhD in comparative literature with a focus on comparative theater studies from UCLA. As an educator, she taught undergraduate literature and humanities courses at UCLA and Dickinson College for many years. She also taught English language to youth and adults. As a writer and editor, she has focused on contemporary drama, theater history, and Caribbean and Latin American literature. Publications include her book Immigration and Contemporary British Theater: Finding a Home on the Stage (2014) and the edited anthology The Random House Treasury of Favorite Poems about Cities Around the World (2004). She has worked in education programs at the National Endowment for the Humanities since 2012. Any views she expresses are her own and do not represent those of the NEH or the United States Government.

Pilar Solano is head of the Central and South Eastern Europe department, in the operations directorate of the European Investment Bank (EIB). She started her career in financial services in Barclays Bank and Deutsche Bank in London. She moved to Luxembourg and joined the EIB in 2005. Since then, she has held a number of investment roles across Europe as well as in developing markets, delivering new business and monitoring portfolios, as well as through credit risk functions. She also spent two years at the IFC in DC, with a focus on the agribusiness sector. Pilar studied in Barcelona, Spain, where she earned her BA and MBA degrees from ESADE.

Grace Tompkins is an education specialist with decades of international experience. She has employed her expertise through roles in the U.S. embassies in Barbados, Australia, Zimbabwe, and Israel before returning to DC to work for the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. She carries undergraduate and graduate degrees in anthropology and sociology from the American University in Beirut and has a passion for serving international students.

Bob Trice has led a long and successful career in business development, serving most recently as senior vice president for corporate strategy and business development at Lockheed Martin Corporation. He has authored a number of books on American foreign policy and defense industrial issues, and earned his MA and PhD in political science from the University of Wisconsin, where he currently sits on the board of directors of the Department of Political Science.

Neda is a seasoned journalist with a two-decade career at NPR, where she has covered the intersections of art, media, and culture, reflecting political and economic realities. She has served as a producer, editor, and host, earning a Gracie Award for her work. In 2012, she hosted the Emmy-winning public television series Arab American Stories, and in 2019, she was awarded a Knight-Wallace Fellowship at the University of Michigan.

Katherine Wilkens has led an incredible career in foreign relations and domestic policy. She is currently a senior advisor at the National Democratic Institute. Previously, Wilkens has served as deputy director and fellow of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Middle East Program, vice president of AMIDEAST, president of the World Affairs Council of Washington DC, and as an international affairs fellow for the Council on Foreign Relations.

Jeannie Yamine led global communications strategy and programming at the Washington DC-based World Bank Group for over 21 years. She was a member of the high-level World Bank Middle East and North Africa Region delegation to the Occupied West Bank and Gaza in 1994 to launch the first-ever Palestinian Development Needs Assessment Report. She also served as Chief of Internal Communications at the International Finance Corporation. Prior to the World Bank Group, Jeannie advised corporate and government clients on international media strategy and technology.

Dr. Omar Zalatimo is the Director of Functional Neurosurgery and Co-Director of the Comprehensive Spine Center at The Sandra and Malcolm Berman Brain & Spine Institute. He is a member of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, Congress of Neurological Surgeons, American College of Surgeons, and American Medical Association. Dr. Zalatimo earned his Doctor of Medicine, MPA, and MPH from Penn State Hershey Medical Center.

Fady Zeidan is the former General Counsel and Head, Legal and Governance at The Global Fund, Geneva, Switzerland. Prior to that, he served as Deputy General Counsel at the International Finance Corporation, World Bank Group, and as Counsel at the International Monetary Fund. He currently serves on boards and advisory committees of organizations in the US and abroad. He is a member of the Beirut Bar Association.