These Are The 5 Mentors You Will Find At Egypt's Ahead Of The Curve's 6-Day Leadership Programme

In partnership with Oxfam Novib’s "Work in Progress," Ahead of The Curve (ATC) is preparing Leap a programme tailored for women entrepreneurs who have been in business for at least one year. Leap consists of six days of training starting on the 9^th and 11^th of October, and 8^th, 10^th, and 11^th of November, with exercises and peer-coaching activities in between, all held at Goethe Institute's Tahrir Lounge. 

Leap Programme plans to present a bouquet of highly experienced mentors, all of whom are dedicated to unleashing human potential in Egypt. The team brings together a diverse, yet complementary set of skills and expertise that includes over 25 years of experience in authentic leadership, strategic planning, results-based management, organisational development, change management, ethical business practice, effective communication, in addition to business and financial modeling. Here are the five mentors facilitating the six-day programme. 

Dina Sherif, CEO of ATC

"Egypt is currently facing a difficult economic recession," ATC's Founder and CEO Dina Sherif tells Startup Scene. "Rapid economic growth that is both sustainable and inclusive is essential for the well-being of our country. Increasing the number of women led businesses is an essential part of that growth." Sherif adds that research indicates that early stage businesses led by women not only lead to superior returns, but they also tend to be businesses that solve problems.

"Economies are stronger when women entrepreneurs not only increase in number, but when they are provided with the support required to grow and thrive. This is why the Leap Program was created." 

Leap will focus on accelerating the leadership journeys of women entrepreneurs by providing them with the tools, skills and support network required to help them not only to survive, but to thrive. This will include helping them to exercise leadership in a more effective manner by focusing on their personal leadership capabilities and blind spots. "For decades, women have become their own strongest critics," Sherif says. "Our goal is to help women face their inner critic and learn how to develop and adopt more nourishing and enabling beliefs about themselves."

Aliaa Bassiouny, Professor of Finance at AUC

Aliaa Bassiouny is an associate professor of Finance at The American University in Cairo (AUC), and is currently the department chair, teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in business finance, international finance, investment analysis, portfolio management, financial modeling and financial econometrics. Bassiouny is involved in various executive financial training programmes in financial analysis, financial projections, valuation and modeling aimed at business professionals, bankers and entrepreneurs. She is the finance trainer for the AUC V-lab and the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women program at AUC. She has been involved in a number of strategic consultancies for various entities in the fields of financial services, real estate and venture capital.

Bassiouny holds a BBA and an MBA both with a specialisation in finance from the AUC. She has an extensive research agenda on emerging markets, with her current research interests focused on the pricing dynamics of international foreign listed stocks as well as examining international portfolio management strategies of foreign investors in emerging markets using high frequency datasets.

Claudia Gross, Organizational Development Consultant

Claudia Gross is an Organisational Development Consultant, Management Trainer, Transformation Catalyst, Social Processes Facilitator, and Host. She has a vast working experience in Germany, the Maghreb, the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa. She trains and offers consultancy regarding a wide variety of topics within the areas of Organisational Design and Development, Change Management Processes, Leadership Development, Human Sources Management and development of individuals and teams. She facilitates strategic planning workshops, team building retreats and multi-stakeholder processes and events.

Lara Atallah, Certified Professional Coach

Lara Atallah is a Certified Professional Coach by the International Coach Academy, an Associate Certified Coach, and a Group Certified Coach accredited by the International Coach Federation. She also completed the "Train the Trainer" Programme in affiliation with Columbia University. Her specialisations cover the following fields: Executive, Transformational Leadership, and Life Coaching.

By obtaining her certification in Deep Coaching Intensive, Atallah is a Certified Transformational Coach. Transformational Coaching is a deep exploration of what one is longing for, and a courageous step into a new relationship with life itself through connecting with one’s inner wisdom.Transformational Leadership aims at inspiring people to achieve remarkable results, and serves to enhance the motivation, morale, and job performance of followers through a variety of mechanisms.

Specialised also in Life Coaching, Atallah provides individuals with a direct experience of the reality they have created in order to empower them to shift their current paradigm to make way for what is desired. She partners with clients to define their aspirations, connect with their passion and discover the "Self" they want to be.

Through one-on-one coaching sessions or group coaching sessions and retreats, Atallah assists individuals to reach their highest potential, extend their limits and move forward to achieve fulfillment. Atallah has experience in the corporate and business world since she has worked as a marketing brand manager for ADAMS Egypt. She is also an entrepreneur, and has managed a couple of private businesses before establishing her career in coaching.

Tarek Fahmy, Strategy Designer

A strategy designer helping corporate organisations, entrepreneurs, and startups innovate their business model and design a strategy for the future through co-creation and visualisation. More than 18 years experience in different roles in Sales, Marketing, Business Development, and Lean Six Sigma working for multinational firms like Schlumberger, Elsevier, General Electric, Honeywell and United Technologies Corporation in Middle East and Africa. Established leadership experience in building, mentoring, and managing high performance teams.

Leap promises to provide applicants with tools that will help them lead stronger and more diverse teams, while developing a deep understanding of how to manage the growth and evolution of their businesses. These mentors will also help in facilitating the ability to identify and engage critical stakeholders effectively; which will include learning how to better master group dynamics and assess both opportunities and risks.

Apply before September 22^nd.