Matthew Spivack is Frontier Strategy Group's head of research for the Middle East and North Africa. Prior to Frontier Strategy Group, Matthew worked for the National Democratic Institute on programs involving local government officials and journalists in Gulf Cooperation Council countries as well as anti-corruption initiatives, parliament, and political parties in Yemen. He also spent two years as a paralegal at the U.S. Department of Justice where he was the Victim Witness Coordinator for the Enron Task Force and worked on the largest FCPA case in U.S. history. Matthew has a master's degree in Middle East Studies and Conflict and Conflict Resolution from George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs.

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Khaldoon Tabaza is Founder and Managing Director of iMENA Group, which is dedicated to investing in, building and partnering with consumer online businesses in the MENA region. He is also Founder of Zad Capital, a hybrid venture capital and business incubation platform. His previous firm, Riyada Ventures, an SME and VC firm founded in 2005, was acquired by the Abraaj Group in November 2009. Throughout his career, Tabaza has been involved in 80+ high-impact growth businesses, including co-founding, managing, and advising firms and investment funds in Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar and the United States. Sectors of expertise include Internet, technology, media, telecommunication and healthcare. Tabaza holds a degree in Medicine and Surgery from the University of Jordan. He has also completed the Young Global Leaders Leadership and Policy education component at the Harvard Kennedy School. In 2010, he was chosen as a Fellow of the Kauffman Fellows Program in Palo Alto, California.

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Dr. Razouki has over 10 years of experience in social entrepreneurship with a focus on healthcare, education and e-commerce, shifting from an excellence in clinical practice and research to the management and financing of healthcare and education systems. A graduate of Columbia Business School, Dr. Razouki is the first ever Arab national to receive an MBA with a focus on Healthcare Management and Finance. An Oral and Maxillofacial surgeon by training, Dr. Razouki has completed clinical rotations at New York Presbyterian Hospital of Columbia University Medical Center, Harlem Hospital, Cleveland University Hospital of Case Western Reserve University and Mass General Hospital of Harvard University.

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Lucien Zeigler is Research Director for the Saudi-US Trade Group (SUSTG). Lucien holds a B.A. from the University of Virginia's Woodrow Wilson Department of Politics with a degree in Foreign Affairs, and a Master's in International Commerce and Policy at George Mason's School of Public Policy. Lucien resides in Arlington, Virginia. 

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John Sfakianakis is Regional Director, GCC, Ashmore Group. Before joining Ashmore, Sfakianakis was the Chief Investment Strategist of MASIC, the Riyadh-based investment and asset management company. Previously, he held the post of Chief Economic Advisor at the Saudi Ministry of Finance. He also served as Chief Economist for Banque Saudi Fransi (BSF) and also Chief Economist, Middle East North Africa region for Credit Agricole C.I.B, the foreign joint-venture partner of BSF. He served as the Chief Economist of The Saudi British Bank (SABB) in Riyadh, a joint venture with HSBC and also worked for Samba Financial Group as its Chief Regional Economist. He has also worked for the United Nations (UNDP) and the World Bank as an economist in Washington, D.C. His articles appear frequently in the Financial Times, New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg. He holds a Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University.

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Fahad Nazer is a political analyst with JTG, Inc and a former political analyst at the Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Washington, DC. His writing has appeared in CNN, the International Herald Tribune, Yaleglobal online and Al-Monitor, among others, and was recently featured on the web site of the Council on Foreign Relations. His Twitter handle is @fanazer.

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Richard Wilson is President of the Saudi-US Trade Group. Mr. Wilson was previously Senior Advisor with Committee for International Trade (CIT) within the Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry and also Executive Director of the Middle East Policy Council. Mr. Wilson has more than 25 years experience in the Middle East with particular emphasis on the Arabian Gulf. Having lived, studied and traveled extensively in the region he has developed a deep understanding of the business, social and political environment along with high-level contacts in the public and private sector. Mr. Wilson has a B.A. in Political Science from Davidson College and earned his M.A. in International Relations from the School of Advanced International Studies at The Johns Hopkins University where he focused on economics and Middle East studies. He has also studied at the University of Yarmouk in Jordan and King Saud University in Riyadh.

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Before joining Oratorio in 1997, Bill worked as a White House television correspondent and anchorman for twelve years. He has received numerous professional awards for his work, including an Associated Press citation for excellence in investigative reporting. He holds a B.A. in French Literature from Vassar College and an M.S. from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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Nathan Field spent 2009-2011 working on environment remediation projects in Saudi Arabia with the US firm CH2M Hill and is the co-founder of Industry Arabic.

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Nouf Al Sadiq is pursuing her MA in Middle Eastern Studies at the Elliott School of International Affairs, after completing her undergraduate degree in International Affairs at American University. A native of Saudi Arabia, Nouf has interned at Saudi Aramco, The Atlantic Council, The Institute for Multi-Track Diplomacy, and the Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Washington, DC. 

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Stefanie Hausheer is a Middle East specialist with expertise on Saudi Arabia. She was formerly a graduate research assistant at George Washington University's Institute for Middle East Studies. Stefanie holds a master’s degree in Middle East Studies from The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs. Her graduate capstone project examined the potential social, economic, and political impacts of the King Abdullah Scholarship Program, which has sent over 100,000 Saudis to study abroad. Stefanie speaks the Saudi dialect of Arabic, which she learned while hosting and befriending a number of Saudi students over the years.

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