The Global Institute for Disease Elimination (GLIDE) is the result of a long-standing partnership between His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, dating back to their pledge to fight diseases and put an end to polio in 2011. The concept for an Abu Dhabi-based global health institute to develop policies to combat infectious diseases materialised in 2017, with an announcement by His Highness at the Reaching the Last Mile Forum. Two years later, during the Reaching the Last Mile Forum in November 2019, GLIDE was formally launched.
Operating as a think-and-do tank, GLIDE works to elevate awareness of and accelerate progress towards, the elimination of preventable infectious diseases, notably malaria, polio, lymphatic filariasis, and onchocerciasis.
GLIDE’s mission is to advance global thinking and accelerate progress towards disease elimination. We do this by building on country ownership and local solutions, working in partnership with key stakeholders, and engaging catalytically to drive sustainable results to help achieve health for all.
Simon Bland has over 40 years of international development experience straddling marine and natural resource management, development economics, and global health. He joined GLIDE in 2019 after six years as the Director of the UNAIDS New York Office. He began his career as a volunteer with the Voluntary Services Overseas (VSO) in Papua New Guinea and then joined the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development, working in Africa, South and Southeast Asia, and led country programs in Russia, Ukraine, Kenya, and Somalia before covering health and humanitarian institutions in Geneva. He was chair of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria from 2011-2013, sat on the Boards of GAVI, UNITAID, UNAIDS, RBM, GHC and Malaria No More (UK), and was a member of the Forum on Public Private Partnerships within the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine in Washington DC. In 2013, Simon was awarded a CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honors list for service to Global Health.
Dr Farida Al Hosani played a pivotal role in establishing the Abu Dhabi Public Health Center in 2019, overseeing the development and implementation of strategic plans, and served as Executive Director for Infectious Diseases. Her leadership spans critical areas such as communicable disease preparedness, environmental health, safety, and vector control.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Farida served as the Official Spokesperson for the UAE Health Sector, providing critical updates and leading public health and vaccination initiatives. Her contributions were instrumental in the UAE’s globally recognized pandemic response.
In 2022, she became the first Emirati woman to join the WHO’s Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Framework Advisory Group, where she currently serves as Chair, advising the WHO Director-General on global strategies for pandemic preparedness and response.
As a passionate advocate for innovation, research, and artificial intelligence in public health, Dr. Farida continues to contribute to infectious disease research and academic publications. She holds a Ph.D. and a master’s degree from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, USA, and a master’s degree in Security and Strategic Studies from the UAE National Defense College.
As GLIDE’s Head of Finance, Zahi is responsible for managing the institute’s business finance including treasury and funds management, financial planning and business performance, and financial governance and reporting.
With over than 10 years of extensive finance, accounting, and audit experience, Zahi has a proven track record in directing a range of strategic and operational finance management tasks, including strategic business planning, corporate mergers and acquisitions, establishing financial strategies, cash flow management, financial modeling, and capital expenditure management.
Zahi’s experience varies in multiple industries including Energy, Telecommunications, Insurance, Financial Institutions, Manufacturing, Retail, and Not for Profit Organizations.
Prior to joining GLIDE, Zahi worked with KPMG as an Audit Senior Supervisor. Past roles also include working with Jordan Commercial Bank as a Financial Reporting Analyst.
Zahi holds a Bachelor of Arts in Accounting from the University of Jordan, and the Diploma in International Financial Reporting. Zahi is a Certified Public Accountant “CPA” in the state of New Hampshire, USA.
Hajer is a communication and media professional with over three years of experience, Hajer has worked in GLIDE to design and implement communication strategies that interest, engage, and inspire audiences about global health issues, showcase the institute’s efforts, and support its vision to eliminate diseases.
Hajer’s expertise lies in creating compelling content that resonates with diverse audiences across social media platforms. She has a talent for crafting messages that are not only informative but also emotionally engaging, making complex health issues accessible and relatable to the general public. She is always seeking new ways to improve her craft and stay up-to-date on the latest trends and technologies in the industry, ensuring that her work remains impactful and relevant.
Hajer holds a bachelor’s degree in communication and media sciences specializing in tourism and culture from Zayed University.
Mohamed is an international relations professional with expertise in building cross-cultural relationships. He has over 10 years of experience in strategic partnerships, program management, and diplomacy. Throughout his career, he has developed and managed international initiatives and programs with a diverse range of organizations, including diplomatic missions, governments, United Nations Agencies, and Non-profit organizations.
Previously, Mohamed held the position of Senior Programs Officer and served as Climate Education Lead at Dubai Cares, overseeing 14 programs aimed at enhancing youth skills and early childhood development in Africa, South and South East Asia, and South America. His work also emphasized the vital role of education in addressing climate change challenges. Prior to this, he served as the Bilateral Affairs and Partnerships Coordinator at the UAE Mission to the United Nations in New York, where he facilitated international cooperation and implemented joint programs with UN member states and entities. Mohamed has also gained valuable experience through roles at the Office of the Permanent Observer for the League of Arab States to the United Nations, internship at the United Nations Department of Political Affairs, and with Coca-Cola’s New York Market Unit Office.
Mohamed holds a Master of Science from Brooklyn College, City University of New York, and a Bachelor of Business from Victoria University in Melbourne, Australia.
Elisabeth is Head of Human Resources at GLIDE and began her career as a Registered Nurse in the UK, which she continued after moving to Abu Dhabi in 1997. In addition to her career as a Registered Nurse, Elisabeth has extensive experience in human resources. In 2000, she became the General Manager of the American Veterinary Clinic, where she remained for eight years before moving to Mubadala, where she was part of the commissioning team for Capital Health Screening Center. She then moved to Healthpoint Hospital, where she assisted with the commissioning and running of the HR department. In 2015, she moved to Dubai to take on a new role as the HR Director for Valiant Clinic, owned by Meraas Holding. She also oversaw the rehiring of 92% of the staff, from physicians, to nurses, allied health and administrative staff, after Belhoul Healthcare took over Valiant Clinic. Following this experience, she moved to Anglo Arabian Healthcare as Group Head, where she oversaw and centralized HR for 23 different clinics and pharmacies and one hospital in Dubai and the Northern Emirates. Prior to joining GLIDE, she worked with Magenta Investments LLC, owned by Mawarid, where she was tasked with the recruitment and onboarding of over 600 people, including nurses and administrative staff, in order to supply the MOH with staff for their vaccination and PCR centers. Elisabeth holds an MBA in Employee Relations.
She is continuing her journey with GLIDE in a completely new field from her previous experiences, and is looking forward to developing her knowledge about Public Health.
Ruba Bisharat has worked internationally in the education sector for over seventeen years providing high quality management and administrative services to a range of educational and business organizations. This has included extensive experience with tasks that include project scheduling and review, liaison and correspondence with stakeholders to ensure their needs are fully met, and the preparation and quality assuring of reports and presentations.
Ruba graduated from Yarmouk University in Jordan with a Bachelor of Arts in Modern Languages. During her college years, she also obtained a scholarship to study at the University of Lyon in France.
Lara is a global development professional who blends a background in management, with international law and policy. Before coming to GLIDE, Lara received a Masters degree in Environmental Law and Sustainable Development from SOAS University London and has worked for prestigious agencies in Paris including I4CE – Institute for Climate Economics and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) where she gained a wealth of experience working on innovative solutions and approaches to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. With her previous focus on climate policy and sustainable partnerships toward the achievement of Agenda 2030, she’s pivotal in GLIDE’s development of multi-faceted collaborations that aim to deliver comprehensive solutions to disease elimination. Lara’s role also extends to fostering impactful outcomes through managing the performance of GLIDE’s portfolio of work to ensure they deliver on the organization’s strategic goals and mission.
Dr. Aïssatou Diawara is a public health specialist with a keen interest in operational research for the control and elimination of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). She holds a Ph.D. in parasitology from McGill University and a Master of Public Health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. With over 10 years of experience in NTDs and malaria research in developing countries, including Haiti and Burkina Faso, she gained extensive knowledge in research implementation, conducting epidemiological studies, and capacity building.
Aïssatou’s previous experiences also include working as a consultant in the team of Special Programme on Tropical Diseases Research (TDR) of the World Health Organization (WHO). Prior to joining GLIDE, Aïssatou was a researcher at New York University Abu Dhabi working on malaria.
Johny Eapen holds a degree in science from MG University (India, Kerala) and a Diploma in Travel & Tourism (Montreal, Canada). He has 17 years of experience as a travel consultant, and has provided personalized travel planning for individuals, families & groups. He is always passionate to assist in making things easier for employees, as per the mission and vision of the organization.
Ngozi Erondu PhD MPH brings her nearly 15 years of experience and leadership in global public health experience to GLIDE.
Ngozi has spent her career researching and supporting global health governance and health systems strengthening in more than 40 countries, primarily in the sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East and North Africa regions. Through her work at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law she has conducted operational research and contributed to policy advocacy for malaria and HIV disease programmes. Ngozi also brings her experience working with US Centres for Disease Control, the UK Health Security Agency, and the World Health Organisation.
Dr Erondu is a senior scholar and co-chair for an upcoming Lancet Commission exploring the health impacts of discrimination in global public health with the O’Neill Institute and is a Fellow with several policy and governance entities including Chatham House, John Hopkins University, and the Aspen Institute New Voices Fellowship. Ngozi is also the Health Security co-editor for the PLOS Global Health academic journal.
Priya Kanayson is a public health policy and advocacy specialist with extensive experience in global health and development. She has a track record of cultivating relationships with high-level partners and building consensus among diverse stakeholders for effective advocacy and policy outcomes in cross-cultural settings. Previously, she was the Policy & Advocacy Manager for the NCD Alliance, where she led advocacy on the integration of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) with HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health (RMNCAH), universal health coverage (UHC), and financing for health. In addition to leading policy, advocacy and communications at GLIDE, she is a founding member of the Women in Global Health UAE Chapter.
Priya holds a Master of Public Health with the distinction of Delta Omega from New York University and a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of California, San Diego.
Khadija Swaleh is the Junior Event Coordinator at GLIDE. She is an experienced project coordinator and administrative expert who has organized various prominent events and managed intricate projects across the different industries she has worked in. She has a B.S. in Business Administration with a marketing concentration.
Ms Swaleh has demonstrated skills in developing and implementing strategic plans, policies, and procedures. In her previous work as the main liaison for the Security Professionals Association she provided leadership in administrative operations and led cross-functional teams. She is also adept at Customer Relationship Management and Marketing Management and has strong skills in vendor sourcing, team coordination, and event planning. Currently, Khadija plays a pivotal role in the coordination and successful implementation of GLIDE’s events and projects, which requires her to coordinate project leads and teams for seamless event execution.
Diana is a global health expert with extensive experience in leading, designing and implementing operational research projects, public health programs and Field Epidemiology Training Programs (FETPs) in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region as well as the South-East Asia region and Africa.
Prior to joining GLIDE, Diana worked with Global Health Development/Eastern Mediterranean Public Health Network (GHD/EMPHNET), where she led projects implemented throughout the MENA and South-East Asia Regions. Her expertise also extends to training and capacity building. Diana has extensive experience in pandemic preparedness and response and training rapid response teams in the MENA region. During her time at EMPHNET, Diana also worked on projects to support polio eradication efforts in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Additionally, Diana also worked as a researcher at the University of Western Australia (UWA), where she obtained her MPH, and developed profound insights into the global health and infectious disease landscape in the Western Pacific Region.
Motivated by her ongoing commitment to improve global public health standards, Diana is keenly focused on advancing the knowledge and strategies required for the elimination and eradication of Neglected Tropical Disease (NTDs), malaria, polio and other infectious diseases.
Chief Executive Officer, GLIDE
Deputy Chief Executive Officer
Head of Finance
Communications Officer
External Relations Manager
Head of Human Resources
Head of Administration
Head of Programs, Partnerships & Performance
Technical Specialist
Administrative Assistant
Technical Director
Director, Advocacy and Communications
Junior Event Coordinator
Technical Adviser
Professor Sir Richard Feachem is Director of the Global Health Group at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) Institute for Global Health Sciences and Professor of Global Health at both UCSF and the University of California, Berkeley. He is also a Visiting Professor at London University and an Honorary Professor at the University of Queensland.
From 2002 to 2007, Sir Richard served as founding Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and Under Secretary General of the United Nations. From 1995 until 1999, Dr. Feachem was Director for Health, Nutrition and Population at the World Bank. Previously (1989-1995), he was Dean of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
Professor Feachem served as Chairman of the Foundation Council of the Global Forum for Health Research; Treasurer of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative; Council Member of Voluntary Service Overseas; and on numerous other boards and committees. Professor Feachem serves as Chair of the Lancet Commission on Malaria Eradication. He has also served on the Commission on Macroeconomics and Health, the Commission on HIV and Governance in Africa, the Commission on Investing in Health, and numerous other boards and committees. He has published extensively on epidemiology, public health and health policy.
Professor Feachem holds a Doctor of Science in Medicine from the University of London, and a PhD in Environmental Health from the University of New South Wales. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Engineering by the University of Birmingham and an Honorary Doctorate in Medicine by the University of Queensland. He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, an Honorary Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health of the Royal College of Physicians and of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, and a member of the US National Academy of Medicine. Among other honors, Sir Richard was awarded the Sir Frank Whittle Medal by the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Richard T. Hewitt Award by the Royal Society of Medicine. Sir Richard was knighted by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in 2007.
Nassar Al Mubarak serves as CEO of Reaching the Last Mile, a portfolio of global health programs funded by the philanthropy of the UAE President, His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. He leads Reaching the Last Mile (RLM) in service of its mission – to reduce the burden of preventable diseases affecting the world’s poorest and most vulnerable communities.
Nassar has built and overseen the development of RLM’s strategy and program portfolio, managing its relationships with governments, philanthropies, and civil society. During his tenure, he oversaw the launch of the Reaching the Last Mile Fund, a now US$500m multidonor platform seeking to eliminate two neglected tropical diseases – river blindness and lymphatic filariasis – from Africa and Yemen, in addition to multiyear investments in polio and malaria eradication.
In 2019, Nassar was part of the effort to convene donors at the Reaching the Last Mile Forum in Abu Dhabi, culminating in US$2.6bn in commitments towards the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. In 2023, he managed the delivery of a landmark pledging moment at COP28 that secured more than US$777m towards global efforts to combat neglected tropical diseases.
Nassar also serves as part of the leadership team within the Office of Development Affairs, Abu Dhabi, which manages a global portfolio of philanthropic and development initiatives on behalf of UAE leadership in support of high-impact and inclusive development solutions.
Nassar is a board member for the Global Institute for Disease Elimination (GLIDE) and the RBM Partnership to End Malaria. He holds a master’s degree from Harvard and earned his bachelor’s degree in economics from Boston University.
Ellen serves as the Chief Executive Officer of the END Fund, working to see an end of the suffering caused by five neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) affecting 1.5 billion people. The END Fund actively supports NTD programs with dozens of partners in more than 25 countries, with a focus on sub-Saharan Africa.
Previously, she served as Operation Smile’s Senior Vice President for International Programs, managing programs to provide comprehensive care to children with cleft lips and cleft palates in over 60 countries in Latin America, the Middle East, Africa and Asia. She led Operation Smile’s global public policy, collaboration and advocacy efforts to promote essential surgery as an integral component of global health policy and programming. Ellen worked on “health as a bridge to peace” initiatives bringing together Israeli and Palestinian surgeons and organizing medical programs in partnership with government, civil society and guerilla groups in conflict zones in Colombia.
As Director of International Operations for International Medical Corps (IMC), Ellen focused on international disaster response and delivery of medical care in complex humanitarian emergencies in over 20 countries. At IMC, she led the organization’s response to the East Asia Tsunami in 2004 and oversaw programs in Darfur, Somalia, Iraq and Afghanistan.
Ellen holds graduate degrees in International Health from the Harvard School of Public Health, with a focus on humanitarian affairs, and in Development Studies from the London School of Economics, with a focus on non-profit management and child rights. She has completed postgraduate studies in Conflict Resolution at Universidad de Javeriana in Bogota, Colombia.
Ellen also serves on the board of the Legatum Institute, a London-based think tank that promotes policies that lift people from poverty to prosperity. She serves on the World Economic Forum’s Global Health Security Advisory Board and Uniting to Combat Neglected Tropical Diseases Stakeholders Working Group.
Dr Maha Barakat is the Director General of the Frontline Heroes Office and a Senior Advisor at Mubadala.
In addition to being a Board member of Mubadala Health, she is the Board Chair of the RBM (roll back malaria) Partnership to End Malaria, and Board member of the Global Institute for Disease Elimination (GLIDE), the Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, the Abu Dhabi Quality Conformity Council, and the Family Development Foundation.
She was previously the Director General of the Health Authority Abu Dhabi from 2013-2018. Prior to this, she co-founded the Imperial College London Diabetes Centre in Abu Dhabi, and was its Medical and Research Director. She is committed to supporting medical research, education and quality improvement in healthcare.
James Carty sets the strategic direction for the foundation’s government relations, advocacy, communications, and partnerships across the Middle East and East Asia, including relationships with major donor countries such as Japan, Korea, and the Gulf States. He joined the foundation in 2021 and is based in the London office.
In his current role, James supports several large-scale foundation-led initiatives, including the Lives and Livelihoods Fund, a US$2 billion project financing initiative based at the Islamic Development Bank; and the Global Institute for Disease Elimination, based in Abu Dhabi.
Previously, James worked extensively in the Middle East region as a consultant on policy and strategy at the executive branch level. He also worked with former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, supporting his work on government reforms and key priorities in a number of countries around the world.
James lived in Beirut, Lebanon, for 11 years, moving there after a sabbatical during which he walked 3,650 miles from London to Jerusalem for interfaith peace.
James holds a B.A. in modern history from the University of Oxford and an MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School.
Bobby Shriver, co-founder of (RED) and ONE’s predecessor organization DATA, has spent the past ten years working to help eliminate the financial and health emergencies threatening the people of Africa.
Robert Sargent Shriver III was born on April 28, 1954, in Chicago. He is the oldest child of R. Sargent Shriver, who started the Peace Corps and led President Johnson’s War on Poverty programs of the 1960s, and Eunice Kennedy Shriver, who founded the Special Olympics. After graduating cum laude from Yale College, Shriver began a career as a journalist, working for the Annapolis Evening Capitol in Maryland. From there, he followed a traditional journalist’s odyssey, from Chicago’s City News Bureau to the Chicago Daily News, and then the Los Angeles Herald Examiner. He left the newspaper business to attend Yale Law School. Upon graduation in 1981, he returned to Southern California to clerk for Judge Stephen R. Reinhardt at the Federal Court of Appeals for the Ninth Judicial Circuit.
After his clerkship, Shriver moved to New York, where, with former United States Defense Secretary Harold Brown and James D. Wolfensohn, he worked in the venture capital partnership of the Wolfensohn firm. In 1987, Shriver produced the first ever primetime program on the Special Olympics World Games, for ABC. That same year, he produced (with Jimmy and Vicki Iovine) the first of nine A Very Special Christmas records. These projects have raised more than $100 million to support Special Olympics organizations around the world. In 1999, one of the Very Special Christmas artists, Bono, asked Shriver to help him with the Jubilee 2000 campaign. The idea was to cancel the debt of the world’s poorest nations by building political support with a petition drive. In 2000, Congressman John Kasich led the floor fight to turn the $60 million allocated for African debt relief to $435 million. In 2002, President George W. Bush proposed $15 billion in the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). The debt-relief successes in Washington enabled Bono and Shriver to found DATA (Debt, AIDS, Trade, Africa) in 2002. In 2004, they formed the ONE Campaign to build grassroots support for DATA’s lobbying goals. In 2008 DATA combined with ONE. This unified team continues to build on its grass-roots movement of 2.4 million Americans calling for the U.S. and all G8 governments to help Africans fight AIDS and extreme poverty. In 2006, Bono and Shriver founded PRODUCT (RED) to fight the Africa AIDS epidemic with two other powerful forces-producers of world-class consumer goods and world-class shoppers. Each time someone buys a (PRODUCT) RED product, up to 50% of the gross profit goes to The Global Fund, which-like PEPFAR-provides AIDS medicine funding to African countries based on proven results.
In 2004 Shriver ran and was elected to the Santa Monica City Council by the highest percentage of voters in that city’s 120-year history. Re-elected in 2008 by a larger number of voters, he continues his work to reduce homelessness in the city and across Los Angeles County, with special emphasis on housing homeless veterans. He also led the campaign to clean up Santa Monica Bay.
Professor Margaret Gyapong has a disciplinary background in Medical Anthropology and Cultural Epidemiology with a PhD from the University of Basel. She is interested in research impact and has been a leader in this area bringing together the experiences of research institutions in Africa, Asia and Europe. In the last 25 years, Professor Gyapong has risen through the ranks of the research ladder to become a seasoned and internationally renowned Scientist. In 2005, she was Director of the Dodowa Health Research Centre. From humble beginnings at the Centre with few partners, Professor Gyapong attracted significant funders and grants to the institution on projects related to Health Systems, Neglected Tropical Diseases, Malaria, TB and Maternal and Child Health, Sanitation, Social Protection among others. She works at the intersection between health research and practice building research capacity at both national and international levels. Professor Gyapong leads the authorship and facilitation of workshops, task forces and demonstrates international leadership through service on several task forces, steering committees and working groups for the World Health Organization (Geneva), the Task Force for Global Health (Atlanta), the Standing Committee of the National Institute of Health (Washington DC) to mention a few. In Academia, Professor Gyapong holds professorial, adjunct professorial and senior lecturer positions at University of Health and Allied Sciences, Georgetown University, Brunel University and University of Ghana, and has supervised several masters and PhD students.
In January 2017, Professor Gyapong joined the University of Health and Allied Sciences in Ho Ghana where she is currently the Director of the Institute for Health Research and coordinates activities of the centre for health policy and implementation Research. In the same year, she was one of twelve women honoured by women in global health during the World Health Assembly to receive the first ever Heroines of Health award for her work drawing attention to the needs of women suffering from the consequences of Neglected Tropical Diseases. Professor Gyapong’s groundbreaking work in this field has driven much of our understanding of the gendered effects of NTDs, and female genital schistosomiasis. Recently, Professor Gyapong has received several noteworthy grants. She leads a Healthcare Utilisation Study to assess the rollout of the RTS,S malaria vaccine in Ghana (PATH) an IDRC grant on maternal and Adolescent health and in the final stages of EDCTP grant entitled, “The SAVING Project” to build capacity to address implementation challenges for Sustainable Access of New Vaccines in Ghana.
She is a reviewer and associate editor for a number of international journals and has 94 publications to her credit.
Simon Bland has over 40 years of international development experience straddling marine and natural resource management, development economics, and global health. He joined GLIDE in 2019 after six years as the Director of the UNAIDS New York Office. He began his career as a volunteer with the Voluntary Services Overseas (VSO) in Papua New Guinea and then joined the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development, working in Africa, South and Southeast Asia, and led country programs in Russia, Ukraine, Kenya, and Somalia before covering health and humanitarian institutions in Geneva. He was chair of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria from 2011-2013, sat on the Boards of GAVI, UNITAID, UNAIDS, RBM, GHC and Malaria No More (UK), and was a member of the Forum on Public Private Partnerships within the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine in Washington DC. In 2013, Simon was awarded a CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honors list for service to Global Health.
Waleed serves as Mubadala’s Deputy Group Chief Executive Officer and has strategic oversight of the company’s broad investment portfolio and special projects at the group level. He is also a member of the investment committee, which is mandated to develop Mubadala’s investment policies, establish investment guidelines, and review proposed projects and investments to ensure they are in line with business objectives.
Waleed is also the Chairman to Mubadala’s investment and business planning committee, which approves transactions within certain financial thresholds in addition to having the responsibility of annual and multi-year business planning. Furthermore, Waleed has oversight of the Real Estate & Infrastructure Investments and Diversified Investments platforms.
Prior to joining Mubadala, Waleed worked with the UAE Offsets Program Bureau as a Senior Project Manager. Past roles also include working with McKinsey & Company as a consultant.
Waleed holds a Master’s Degree in Public Policy from Harvard University, USA, and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Foreign Service from Georgetown University, USA.
Board Positions: Chairman of Waha Capital, Mubadala Capital, the Global Institute for Disease Elimination (GLIDE), and the US-UAE Business Council. In addition, Waleed is the first Vice Chairman of Aldar, and a member of the Board of Trustees of Cleveland Clinic in the United States. He is also a board member of First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), Hub71, Ellipses Pharma Limited, Abu Dhabi Investment Council, Investcorp, and M42.
Member, Director, Global Health at UCSF
Member, Chair of GLIDE Finance and Audit Committee CEO, Reaching the Last Mile
Member, CEO, The END Fund
Member, Chair of GLIDE Technical Advisory Committee Director General, Frontline Heroes Office and Chair, GLIDE Technical Advisory Committee
Member, Chair of GLIDE Remuneration, Compensation, Benefits and Nomination Committee Interim Deputy Director, Middle East and East Asia, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Member, Co-founder of (RED)
Member, Director of the Institute for Health Research, Ghana
Chief Executive Officer, GLIDE
Chairman, Deputy Group CEO, Mubadala
Reaching the Last Mile is a portfolio of global health programs, investments, and initiatives working towards disease elimination that is driven by the philanthropy of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE. RLM’s mission represents His Highness’s dedication to ending preventable diseases that affect the world’s most vulnerable communities, and to helping millions of children and adults live healthy, dignified lives.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) has been committed to fighting poverty, disease, and inequity around the world for over 20 years.
