Governance

Dr. Shamsheer is a seasoned entrepreneur and strategic investor who has taken two of the companies he founded public through highly successful offerings. With a career spanning over one-and-a-half decades, he has played a pivotal role in shaping the regional education and healthcare landscape with his companies operating across the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Dr. Shamsheer brings a wealth of experience, expertise and strategic insights, to his role as Chairman of Almasar Alshamil Education.

As Chairman of the Board of Directors, Dr. Shamsheer will lead the Board and support the management team in setting strategic priorities, overseeing corporate governance, and driving initiatives that align with Almasar Alshamil Education’s mission to provide a high-quality and comprehensive education journey to learners of all ages and needs, including those with specialized requirements.

Dr. Shamsheer is the Founder and Chairman of Burjeel Holdings PJSC, Chairman of Amanat Holdings and a Member of the Board of Directors at Response Plus Holding PJSC (RPM).

Kamal Abdullah Bahamdan is an entrepreneur and investor with a 25-year career establishing and growing businesses around the world. Simultaneous to his business career, Kamal is a competitive athlete. He is a five-time Olympic equestrian and bronze medal winner in the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Currently, Kamal is the Vice Chairman of the Bahamdan Group and Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Safanad, a New-York based, global principal-led investment house established in 2009.

Under his leadership, Safanad has executed over $10 billion in transactions and established multiple market-leading platforms. These include a fast growing K-12 education company with over 50,000 students worldwide, which was established to capture opportunities from increasing demand for high-quality private education globally, the UK’s largest care home operator, and a leading US-based datacenter operator that was built after identifying the need for co-location datacenter operators and then executing additional bolt-on acquisitions to grow the business.

Prior to Safanad, Kamal was the CEO of the Bahamdan Group, a family-owned global investment group with a 70-year history of investing in the Middle East and global markets, and previously co-founded the Washington, DC-based private equity firm BV Group.

Fadi is Managing Director of Almasar Alshamil Education and Chief Investment Officer of Amanat Holdings. Since joining Amanat in 2015 Fadi has overseen the education vertical and has been closely involved in executing the Company’s mandate through evaluating investment opportunities and leading strategic initiatives at portfolio companies. He joined Amanat from Scotiabank Global Banking & Markets in Toronto, where he served as Senior Associate in Equity Research, covering publicly listed Canadian banks and insurance companies, the largest sector on the Toronto Stock Exchange with over USD 300 bn in market cap.

In the role, Fadi was a key member of one of Canada’s top-rated research teams renowned for the publication of actionable and market-moving investment recommendations. Prior to that, Fadi held roles in Corporate Banking and Asset Management at some of Canada’s top financial institutions.

Fawaz is Acting CEO of the Event Infrastructure Fund (“EIF”) in Saudi Arabia and a special advisor to the Royal Commission for Riyadh City. At EIF, he leads the end-to-end development of the events infrastructure assets spearheaded by the fund, and his responsibilities include leading project design, delivery and procurement.

With over 15 years of experience in real-estate development, working on some of the region’s largest projects, Fawaz previously worked with leading real-estate developers in the region such as Meraas and Nakheel.

He has successfully led and delivered some of the most iconic projects in the region, such as the Coca Cola Arena, The Green Planet at City Walk, Laguna Waterpark at LaMer, The Outlet Village at Dubai Parks and Resorts, Jumeirah Park Residential community and Azure Residences at The Palm Jumeirah.

Muhannad is a highly experienced Senior Executive and the Chief Strategy Officer at the giga project “Qiddiya”. He has significant strategic and operational experience gained over a multi-year career working with major public and private sector organizations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Prior to Qiddiya, Muhannad occupied crucial roles in Tadawul’s Corporate Planning and PMO division, SAGIA, and CEDA.

He has extensive experience of engaging with strategic partners, government departments and C-Suite stakeholders to formulate strategy and drive the implementation of strategic initiatives designed to transform the performance of large organizations and deliver tangible and measurable outcomes.

Dhafer Al Ahbabi is an accomplished executive, investor, and entrepreneur with over two decades of experience in managing investments, capitalizing on his sharp business acumen, technical expertise, interpersonal skills, and strategic mindset, among other attributes. He was instrumental in penetrating new markets and achieving unprecedented growth for the companies he founded and managed.

Dhafer Al Ahbabi is currently the Chairman of Al Ramz Corporation PJSC. His previous appointments have been in the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority as a Board Member at First Gulf Bank, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, Invest Bank, Al Wathba Insurance, Aabar Investments, and Abu Dhabi University Holding Group.

Dr. Ali has a proven track record spanning over two decades in both education and business. He has founded, launched, and managed several thriving business ventures in diverse sectors such as IT, education, tourism, and real estate. Moreover, Dr. Ali has been actively engaged in high-level government tourism and development strategies, MICE, and education management.

Currently, he holds several significant positions, including Chairman and Founder of Abu Dhabi University, Chairman and CEO of NEMA Education, Chairman of Cambridge Medical and Rehabilitation Center, Managing Director of Bin Harmal Group, and Chairman of Liwa Education and Magna Investments. Furthermore, he serves on the boards of various listed companies, including Chairman of Watania International Holding.

Dr. Ali is also the First Vice Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and a member of the Economic Cooperation Committee for Government and Private Sectors in Abu Dhabi.

Abdulwahab is a Managing Director and the Founder at Embassy Capital, while also holding the role of Partner at Decker & Halabi Limited.

He also holds the role of Vice Chairman of Union Properties, Director at Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank and SNB Capital Private Real Estate Fund.

Previously, Abdulwahab held senior roles at Meraas, Dubai Holding and was a partner at KPMG.

John is the CEO of Amanat Holdings and has over 20 years of experience in finance, strategy, and investment roles across a variety of industries including real estate, media, entertainment, hospitality, education and healthcare.

Prior to joining Amanat, John served as the Chief Financial and Strategy Officer (CF&SO) of Qiddiya, Saudi Arabia’s capital for entertainment, sports and the arts. Before that, he was the (CF&SO) at DXB Entertainments from 2017 to 2020 and the CFO of Rotana Media Group from 2011 to 2017.

Earlier in his career, John worked across various investment, strategy and finance roles for News Corporation, based in London and covering Europe and Asia. He is a qualified chartered accountant having worked for Deloitte UK.