Our Teams

Our Team

International

Our Team

Abu Dhabi Team

Our Team

Dubaï & Sharjah Team

Our Team

Lebanon Team

Board & International Team

Our Team

Dr. Ounsi El Daif
Founder, CEO

Owner and general manager of Eedama, Ounsi is a Physicist who completed his PhD in Switzerland in the field of light-matter interaction at the EPFL-Lausanne. He then went into research and development activities on nanotechnology for solar photovoltaic (PV) energy at IMEC in Belgium.

More recently he worked on the establishment of a silicon–photovoltaics research lab for Qatar Foundation and is an active University lecturer at Paris-Sorbonne University, Abu Dhabi and the American University of Beirut in Solar Energy and Physics. He has authored and co-authored more than 30 publications in scientific peer-reviewed journals, and 10 in broad audience media; the list can be found here. He cofounded the Belgian Non-Profit L’Heliopole and has been doing broad audience communication about energy and the environment since 2009. During all his research career, he was always keen on establishing a teaching and an outreach approach to science and physics. With this in mind, he was able to develop original teaching material related to solar photovoltaic energy, from science and technology to markets and policies (as a part time lecturer at the University of Namur (Belgium) and CentraleSupelec (France) in addition to initiating and running several outreach activities in festivals, global conferences, workshops and symposiums (at AUB for instance). Since 2015, he has dedicated most of his time to the company, developing tailored training material and activities in the field of environmental policies and awareness, for schools, universities and corporates. He cofounded the Lebanese NGO Jibal in 2017, and is a member of the the Board of Lebanon Support NGO and of the Global Advisory Panel of the Science and Innovation Park of the UAE University.

Our Team

Dr Frédéric Dross
Co-Founder & Solar Consultant

Working in the private photovoltaic energy sector in California, he is the author of 5 patents and 80+ peer-reviewed publications and is a regular reviewer of specialist scientific journals and is in the program committee of 2 major international PV conferences.

He is also an occasional lecturer at University of Versailles Saint-Quentin (Paris, France), Supelec ParisTech (Paris, France) and the KUL (Leuven, Belgium) and has been invited to deliver plenary and keynote speeches at 2 of the 3 main global photovoltaics conferences. Over the past years, Dr. Frederic has been developing broad audience interventions for L’Héliopole and later Eedama that include an unexpected “dialogue with someone skeptical about solar energy” where he gives the pros and cons of solar and renewable energies! On the side, he is the extended arm to the successful founding and managing of Eedama and has assisted other companies investing in solar photovoltaic energy and acted as the certified qualifier their newly installed panels.

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Nadia Moukaddem
Advisor

Active in the field of entrepreneurship, social business and impact investing for over 7 years, she currently works at B&Y Venture Partners, a leading Venture Capital firm in Beirut where she mentors, advises and invests in start-ups based in the Middle East and the GCC region.

Prior to that, Nadia worked for an investment company supporting small businesses in Sub-Saharan Africa in their expansion and growth. Throughout the years, she has developed a strong knowledge in development, private sector financing, entrepreneurship, new technologies and innovation in emerging markets. In parallel to her job, she is an active member and counselor at the A project, an NGO advocating for gender equality and raising awareness on sexual and reproductive health in Lebanon. Nadia holds a double master’s degree from two of France's best academic institutions: Sciences Po Paris and HEC Paris. As a member of Eedama's advisory board, Nadia shares her expertise in the training sessions specifically on subjects related to technology, innovation and sustainability. She is a firm believer that the private sector has a responsibility towards solving tomorrow’s greatest challenges with regards to climate change, social justice, food security etc.

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Huda Masalmeh
UAE Manager and Sustainability Consultant

Huda is a Sustainability Consultant & the UAE Manager of Eedama. She’s an architect that holds the LEED Accredited Professional (LEED AP) credential as well as a M.Sc in Sustainable Architecture.

During her Masters, Huda studied the overlooked aspects of social sustainability within the design and buildings context & published multiple conference papers that highlight place making strategies, urban conservation and sustainable development. Huda developed a unique expertise in education for sustainable development (ESD) and in developing sustainable learning spaces. She also used her expertise to create, deliver and monitor educational workshops and field visits to more than 10,000 students in the UAE over the past 5 years.

Abu Dhabi Team

Our Team

Mohamad Juma
Sustainability Advisor

An enthusiastic Architect, born and raised in Abu Dhabi, who chose to study architecture out of passion to the environment, both the built and the natural ones. This consistent driven interest has allowed him to excel as a Business Developer with Eedama. Juma recently became a LEED Green Associate

and has also worked as a sustainability trainer delivering workshops with Eedama. He was selected as one of the Innovators to showcase his innovation at ‘INNOVATOR 2014’, he presented a project titled “NFC Technology” where he proposed the implementation of smartphone BarCode technology in our everyday life to make it easier and smarter and to reduce paper consumption. His work with Eedama also included instructing several teachers from Sharjah Children’s Centre, for which he developed new educational material about aquaponics.

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Zaina Al Hashimi
Program Development Consultant

A Chemical Engineer in background working with Eedama under a volunteer program basis whereby she consults on program development and assists in carrying out workshops. She is an IEMA associate currently undergoing her diploma in Environmental Management and holds a solid 5-year background in building project scopes and overseeing implementing.

. Joining us as an experienced environmental and sustainability advisor and a new mother, Zeina’s enthusiasm and eagerness to helping people achieve social responsibility, whether on a personal or a professional level, has added great value to the Eedama family.

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Baseema Nizar
Sustainability Instructor

An Architect specialized in Sustainable Architecture. She is a LEED Accredited Professional (LEED AP) and a Pearl Qualified professional (PQP) for Estidama.

She has worked on various architectural projects aimed towards attaining sustainability goals. Baseema holds a Master's degree in Sustainable Architecture from Abu Dhabi University. Since her early years, Baseema has demonstrated a strong penchant for arts, design & social awareness. This characteristic combined with her strong technical background has made her the professional she is today. Collaborating with Eedama since 2017, she is one our experts in implementing sustainability designs and delivering interactive workshop sessions.

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Afrah Mir
Sustainability Instructor

A dynamic and energetic person who believes that learning can be a fun process. She promotes this through her interactive personality, great communication and critical thinking skills.

Born and raised in the UAE, she is fluent in both French and English language and has recently obtained her Physics Graduate from Sorbonne University, Abu Dhabi where she also developed the peer mentor program for student affairs. She respects the UAE’s diversity in cultures and is dedicated to take part of the country’s growth in the field of sustainability. For Eedama, she is able to simplify and communicate complex concepts to a non-technical audience and delivers workshops with great ambition and enthusiasm.

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Boshra Rami
Communication Officer

Holds a Bachelor in IT from the University of Dubai. Through her genuine work and creativity, Boshra is always working to transmit and share her knowledge and skills with both the older and younger generations.

She has two a year experience in STEAM training which highlights active learning techniques under the pillars of education. She is a true believer of Corporate Social Responsibility and is passionate about helping companies and individuals make their mark and achieve a socially conscious environment through their day to day business activities.

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Ahmad Abuali
Sustainability Instructor

Ahmad is a science instructor and animator that specializes in STEAM workshops. He has delivered and created multiple workshops for eedama that fall under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG's). He is a triple E: Enthusiastic, Energetic and last but not least Environmentally conscious!

He started his journey as a STEAM instructor in the Abu Dhabi Science festival and the LEMA? Project and has 10 years of experience in his field. Ahmad loves being a STEAM instructor because as a STEAM instructor he can explain very tough science subjects with light and easy workshops that are fun and educational. Ahmad is currently studying Information Technology because he is very passionate about this field and hopes that he can use the knowledge gained from his studies will help him elevate his STEAM knowledge and skills.

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Walaa Hirzallah
Sustainability Consultant

Walaa is an environmental enthusiast who has several years of environmental NGO’s experience, in addition to years of academic research in the field of wastewater treatment.

Her passion for protecting the environment and natural resources sprouted after a visit to a refugee camp in 2005. She witnessed first-hand the distressing effects of the lack of access to basic life essentials, like clean water, a privilege that many take for granted. That experience led her to pursue her graduate studies in Environmental Engineering. Walaa strongly believes that even the slightest adjustments to our daily choices and habits can go a long way with respect to protecting our planet

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Dr. Cornelia Wottawah
Sustainability Instructor

Cornelia is a Biologist by training, obtained her PhD in Biochemistry in 2007 in Germany and worked several years in the pharmaceutical industry. Being interested in nutrition and the protection of our environment she started to pursue another career path by studying nutrition. Cornelia is using her academical knowledge and is combining it with the passion for sustainable sourced food.

Within the school her children attend, she is member of the newly formed Eco Parent Club and is eager to promote awareness for waste reduction, recycling initiatives, clean-up activities and awareness campaigns. She deeply believes in the power of children who learned about sustainability during interactive workshops and school trips as they will bring home the message of the importance to protect our earth on a daily basis by conscious actions and choices.

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Tatiana Potapkina
Sustainability Instructor

Tatiana is a dynamic person with passion in traveling, education and sustainability. She received her first degree in the field of International Relations, then she came to study to Abu Dhabi. She graduated from Masdar Institute (Khalifa University).

It was the beginning of her journey in renewable energy and sustainability. Tatiana had an internship in IRENA and she was a volunteer at Zayed Sustainability Prize. After some time working as an engineer in solar energy, Tatiana changed her career path and moved to education. Currently she is developing her career in the field of research in education. Tatiana joined Eedama as a freelancer and she believes that sustainability should be embedded in modern education.

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Mohammad Stouhi
Graphic Designer

With BA in Graphic Design, Mohammad is a highly motivated designer that has a vision in shaping a better world and reflecting his messages through graphics. Design is a way of conveying ideas and messages through shapes and lines. In a world that is being digitalized, we can spread awareness and help people through eye-catching visuals. In his opinion, an image has thousands of messages than a sentence.

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Mawada Al Ismaili
Sustainability Consultant

Mawada holds a Master degree in Architecture Engineering from Osaka University in Japan.

She is a consultant at Eedama where she provides workshops and trainings in UAE specialized in Urban planning. Her love to outdoor activities and nature led her to a sustainable lifestyle.

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Toka Ahmad
Sustainability Consultant

Toka, a recent graduate from Breda University, holds a BSc in International Built Environment with a minor in Urban Retrofitting Sprawled City.

As a LEED Green Associate Accredited professional, she has gained extensive experience in landscape designing, urban planning, and tactical urbanism. Her work as a landscape designer has mainly focused on greening schoolyards in the Netherlands. Additionally, she conducted research on the impact of schoolyard greening on school and neighborhood resilience. Toka is passionate about promoting sustainability to children, not just through classroom lessons, but also by actively engaging them in sustainability practices

Dubai & Sharjah Team

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Soumaia Amane
Content Developer

Soumaia has a materials and innovation engineering background, and is currently the business development manager of a hydroponic vertical farming solutions global company in the UAE, after having worked in Europe. Born in Morocco, a country rich in agriculture and biodiversity, she became passionate about the environment, sustainability, reducing waste, food security, and forestation of desert areas.

She's driven to spread awareness about sustainability and environmental-friendly practices and uses her expertise in hydroponics to benefit diverse audiences to responsibly grow crops and consume less water. Which is why she joined Eadama in 2019. She has been delivering workshops on environmentally-friendly practices that are easy and affordable, and is now a content developer and instructor. In 2022, she was selected by Dubai EXPO2022 food, agriculture, and livelihoods business forum to speak at the Technology for Tomorrow conference.

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Ekaterina Mukhina
Sustainability Instructor

Straight after getting a degree in Hospitality and Tourism Business from Petrozavodsk State University (Russia), she worked in sales and events and then came to handle student’s enrichment programs and school field trips for Atlantis The Palm, Dubai.

After giving birth and experiencing motherhood, she decided to be an example and inspiration to her children and create a learning environment for both of them to make the world a better place. Eedama came up as a perfect project for both her passions: Children & the environment. Ekaterina works in promoting green awareness and raising consciousness about sustainability through innovative, fair and humane sales and business development.

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Bilal Itani
Business Developer & Facilitator/Trainer

Bilal is NEBOSH certified aeronautical engineer and environmental enthusiast. Bilal Itani started his sustainability journey by joining Masdar under their Future Sustainability Leadership program (FSL). During his time in Masdar, he got the chance to develop his entrepreneurial skills and mindset. He also got the chance to be part of the youth delegate that represented the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment of the UAE in COP25 that was help in Madrid.

Winner of the Ecothon+ competition in collaboration with Masdar and the Red crescent, part of IRENA Youth Engagement Team and SDG7 constituency member. At the moment, Bilal is working as a business developer and facilitator/trainer for Eedama.

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Meenakshi Manghat
Sustainability Instructor

An individual with a fierce drive to make a difference, Meenakshi worked with various international platforms such as AIESEC, and has been running her own startup “Step Up Dubai” since 2017, recognized as a community organization, which is UAE’s first youth-led organization approved by the government that focuses on Sustainability.

She chose a path of sustainability at the age of 16 when she learned that the world resources are being used and exploited at a faster pace than can be handled. As a law graduate from Middlesex University, Dubai she strives to make the world a better place and decided to enhance her impact by collaborating actively with Eedama, where she delivers workshops and develops new content.

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Poornima Ramesh
Sustainability Instructor

Poornima is a dynamic and cheerful individual with a vision to create a positive impact and contribute towards the social and sustainable development of communities. She comes from a business background with a master's in Business Administration. She has more than a decade of experience in tutoring young change-makers to achieve their goals in entrepreneurship and innovation by guiding them in various inter-school and college competitions.

Poornima helped initiate the community service department and organized various awareness campaigns and also participated in numerous charity events in UAE. She also spearheaded various international trips to enhance global exposure and social cohesion.

Rebecca Lockwood
Sustainability Instructor

Rebecca developed an interest in the environment and sustainability at an early age, after a degree in Environmental Science from Kingston University Rebecca was responsible for waste education and recycling schemes for local councils in the UK. After moving to Dubai she joined Nakheel as a Project Environmental Officer, Rebecca participated in ‘Clean up UAE’ and ‘Clean up the world’ days.

Most recently Rebecca has been responsible for numerous public awareness schemes and designed the waste education program for schools aimed at children of all ages teaching environmental awareness and sustainability through presentations, activities and games. Rebecca continues driving sustainability with Eedama where she develops content and raises awareness within the next generation.

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Wadih Kanaan
Sustainability Instructor

Desert habitats captivated Wadih as a child growing up in Dubai, where he witnessed the impact of urban sprawl on natural ecosystems, and it inspired him to pursue a career in environmental planning. He obtained a bachelor’s degree in wildlife biology along with a master’s degree in sustainable development. He started his career as a field biologist in North America, and then progressed to become a consultant for coastal projects in the gulf region.

In addition to his environmental expertise, Wadih travelled extensively and worked in various industries including education, events, and tourism. His love of nature drove him to advocate for societies to adopt eco-friendly lifestyles by educating children so that they lead the positive shift in future generations. Using his extensive experience across various functions and industries, he now mentors start-ups and SMEs focused on sustainability. He has joined Eedama's team of experts and leads workshops related to social and climate justice, and impact entrepreneurship.

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Christina
Sustainability Instructor

Christina is a photojournalist with extensive experience as reporter, editor and photographer for various newspapers, magazines and other outlets. She is also the author of four published children’s and one photojournalistic book and used to run a small publishing company in Dubai. While living in Goa, India, she began teaching kids yoga and nature workshops as a way of contributing to the reduction of pollution and environmental degradation there. She took her first permaculture course in 2018 and was immediately hooked as she felt its principles fit in perfectly with what she had been teaching in her kids yoga and nature sessions.

Christina is a 500-hr+ certified yoga teacher and completed her permaculture design certificate (PDC) in 2020 with Permaculture Education in the US as well as the Permaculture Educators Course with Morag Gamble at the Permaculture Education Institute in Australia in 2022. She also completed the Green Educators course with the Green School Bali in 2022 and is currently completing a diploma in equine facilitated learning with a focus on partnering with horses in nature education. Christina teaches gardening, nature education and permaculture at the Arbor School as well as various other venues in Dubai and beyond. She is excited to be part of the eedama team which allows her to teach and learn with a group of likeminded people.

Lebanon Team

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Corinne Jabbour

Corinne Jabbour majored in Biology in 2004. Her work experience has been mostly in the fields of training and teaching, in both Lebanon and Qatar.

She participated in Ocean for Life 2013, an ocean science and cultural exchange program in the United States, with NOAA of the US government accompanying Middle Eastern and American students on an Environmental field study. She then decided to dedicate her time to reinforcing the bond between human beings and their environment, and collaborates therefore on a regular basis with Jibal and Eedama, on both children’s and adults’ innovative content development, as well as delivering sessions.

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Elie Kareh
Project Manager & Sustainability Consultant

Elie has a Masters in civil and environmental engineering from the American University of Beirut focused on sustainable construction methods using rammed earth.

He is enthusiastic and outgoing, participating in sports of all kinds from swimming and scuba diving to skiing and rock climbing. Has been a volunteer in the Lebanese Red Cross Baabda Station as an EMT from 2014. After the Beirut port blast of August 4 2020, Elie worked intensely on the reconstruction effort of the city for a whole year as a field engineer with the International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) fixing houses and small businesses. Driven by a strong sense of duty towards society and the environment, he currently works on managing various land design projects for Eedama and provides professional engineering support when needed.

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Bouchra Frangieh
Project Coordinator & Sustainability Instructor

Bouchra majored in English Literature and minored in Arabic Literature. She is currently pursuing her graduate studies at the American University of Beirut, while working, simultaneously, on her piano diploma.

Bouchra has always been fascinated with how education can change the world. She believes that with a good educational approach a better future can be secured. She has joined Eedama in search of achieving this goal.

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Rita Antoun
Sustainability Consultant

Rita Antoun was raised in a family that practices farming and agriculture. She practiced for over ten years, she also has a passion for electronics and technology. She has a Bachelor's degree in Business from USF. She is currently mastering in Management Information Systems in LIU.

She is conscious about the importance of preserving our shared environment and has therefore started working with Eedama on the Halioun permaculture project.

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Ziad Daher
Lawyer

Ziad is a Corporate Lawyer, graduated from both Université La Sagesse and the Lebanese University in 2000. Ziad also holds a Master’s degree in Business Management from Université Lyon 3, Lyon, France.

He started his law career after that. After having worked for the reputable law firm Chammas and Chammas, he founded and headed ‘Ziad Daher Law Office’ since more than 10 years and he is lawyer at the court in Lebanon as well. He has been working with all types of private organizations: NGOs, local businesses, and large corporations, specializing in both business setups and contractual issues. Ziad is the lawyer of Eedama in Lebanon and of its two sister organizations: Jibal (NGO based in Beirut) and Alternative Tour Beirut (an SME based in Beirut). He is on a mission to make entrepreneurship accessible to all.

Support & Operations Team

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Abhilash Kakkat

Abhilash is a qualified chartered accountant and a part of Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) Board. He has worked with a lot of foreign companies specifically in the GCC market offering financial advisory, tax compliance, feasibility studies on new investments, budgeting, forecasting and day to day bookkeeping.

He has been with eedama since June 2020 helping the board members with effective solutions in quality control, managing their finances efficiently and last but not the least ensuring their operations are on paper as per Financial Standards. In a nutshell, a one stop shop for Eedama for all their financial matters.

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Jad Awada
Financial Officer

Jad, born and raised in Lebanon, completed his BS in economics with distinction in 2016. He later worked as an external financial auditor at Deloitte & Touche for 3 years, where he was exposed to many different industries and work environments.

In 2020, following the Beirut Blast, he decided to start a new journey, rooted in self-actualization and community. He joined Blue Ocean Creations, a multi-disciplinary company of responsible tourism experts, and Jibal, an NGO working towards environmental and social justice, sister organisation of Eedama in Lebanon. Jad considers sustainability as a more holistic approach to the human experience. He is mostly interested in its reflections on the economy, human behavior and business development, which is why he decided to join Eedama. Jad is also a very passionate drummer and cook!