Theme: Breaking Boundaries

Pushing boundaries is the key to unlocking the vast reservoir of human potential that lies within each of us. By daring to venture beyond the confines of our comfort zones, we open ourselves to new experiences, challenges, and opportunities for growth. Whether it's conquering fears, defying societal norms, or exploring uncharted territories, embracing the unknown propels us toward realizing our fullest selves. When we push boundaries, we discover the untapped reservoirs of creativity, resilience, and innovation that reside within us, paving the way for personal and collective transformation. It is through pushing these boundaries that we not only expand our own horizons but also inspire others to embark on their own journeys of self-discovery and fulfillment.

International College Beirut
Beirut, bliss street
Beirut, Beyrouth, 1107-2020
Lebanon

Bassel Idriss

Board of Directors Member

General manager, marketer and startup advisor. Passionate football fan. Board Member and Chairman of the Executive Committee of a Saudi entertainment company. Mr. Idriss also grew equity, market shares, sales and profit at P&G. He is a holder of multiple certifications from HBS and Wharton and alumnus of LAU and AUB. In his talk he uncovers untold stories of resilience, adaptability, and courage by revealing some of the secrets behind the success of his entrepreneurial journey.

Celina Maktabi

Student

Celina loves singing, drawing, baking, and designing jewelry. Additionally, she enjoys exploring fashion and interior design. Basketball is a sport she finds enjoyable. Celina takes pride in her perseverance; she never gives up and continues trying until she succeeds. In her talk, she describes her journey with dyslexia and the challenges she faced.

Dr. Labib Ghulmiyyah

Maternal Fetal Medicine Specialist

Dr. Labib Ghulmiyyah, known as “Dr. Labib”, is a double board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist and maternal-fetal medicine specialist. His mission is to inspire and motivate individuals to adopt a new perspective on health. Passionate about working with people of all ages who continue to experience symptoms despite trying various treatments, he emphasizes a personalized approach. By carefully listening to understand each person's specific issues, he develops customized plans that cater to their unique needs. Together with his patients, Dr. Labib focuses on breaking down larger health goals into manageable steps, prioritizing consistent progress over perfection.

Dr. Manal Jalloul

Founder and CEO of AI Lab

Dr. Jalloul is a recognized expert in Artificial Intelligence, a keynote speaker and an entrepreneur. She holds a PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering from AUB. She also holds the titles of NVIDIA's certified instructor and University ambassador. She is the founder of AI Lab, a company dedicated to Artificial Intelligence consultancy, training, and solution development. Her talk explores AI's role in education, and stresses the importance of redesigning educational curricula to nurture critical skills.

Dr. Yasmine Dabbous

Jewelry designer and professor

Yasmine Dabbous, PhD, is a fiber artist, jewelry designer and researcher from Beirut. Formerly a journalism professor at the Lebanese American University, she left her position to become the founder of Kinship Stories, a line of tribal necklaces revolving around stories and craftsmanship. She is also the co-founder of Espace Fann, a school of art based in Beirut. She will be speaking about the sheer importance of art and artisanship, and their critical impact on Lebanese youth.

Dyala Chehimi

Student

Dyala is usually shy and reserved, but once one gets to know her she opens up and a beautiful soul appears. In her talk she reveals how music helps her overcome her shyness. Dyala will be presenting a piano piece that she composed under the title : “a chaotic yet tempting one”.

Fatima Slim

Student

She loves art, music, drama and reading for pleasure. For her, books are of great value as they give her the chance to live hundreds of lives. Fatima shares her experience with her grandfather who raised her and taught her to believe in herself and face her fears. He showed her the importance of education in everyone’s life and paved her way to success.

Ghassan Jason Al Amin

Student

Ghassan Jason likes playing video games and football. His talk revolves around death and the feeling of loss. He feels that people need to learn how to deal with death. Death is a natural occurrence, and we need to be able to deal with all the feelings that come with it.

Jad Abou Melhem

Student

With strong determination and clear goals in mind, Jad makes smart decisions and takes calculated risks to move closer to success. For him, staying in one’s comfort zone guarantees success. However, it also sets limits to one’s progress. In his talk, Jad explains the importance of stepping out of one's comfort zone.

Jaden Nasr

Student

Jaden has a passion for vehicles, especially cars and he loves off-road and music. He wants to be a Mechanic and loves doing things that get his adrenaline going. In his talk, he argues that schools need to change and new ways of teaching need to be put in place to foster creativity and shed light on life skills.

Jana Younis

Student

Jana loves to travel, meet new people, discover new places, and create interpersonal relationships with others. She has always been fascinated by these relationships and how they shape our lives. She talks about her struggle with Anorexia nervosa and describes her falls and rises shedding light on the importance of friendship and therapy in her recovery.

Julia Al Hamoud

Student

Julia’s favorite sport is tennis as it helps her deal with stress. She also loves history, politics and learning new languages. Being a premature baby herself, she highlights how misconceptions about prematurity affected her life and ends by describing the path she took to redefine herself.

Loulia Jaafari

Student

Loulia likes coding, painting, sculpting, and robotics; her hobbies are based on a mixture of both humanities and sciences. However, what she would consider most essential to her identity is that she is a bookworm. In her talk, she presents the importance of literature in nurturing one’s imagination, and thus dedicated herself to promoting reading among others of all ages. She believes that imagination can be nurtured, in contrast to the widespread belief that it could only be nature.

Lynn Sabbagh

Student

She is a verbal bubbly person who likes to share her thoughts and ideas through art. Her dream is to become an architect so she joined an art school in order to refine her talents. In her talk, she highlights how women in our society are subject to social stereotypes that negatively affect their self perception and behavior.

Mario Damiani

Student

Mario is passionate about the world of business. He loves to expand his knowledge about a wide range of topics. He describes himself as a charismatic and extroverted person who enjoys other people’s company. His talk revolves around the concept of friendship and how true friends can help you in the process of change.

Mohamad Tarhini

Student

Mohamad is an energetic and sociable person. He has many hobbies such as football, pingpong and playing the piano. Stemming from his personal experience, He argues that height, weight, and size in general don’t really matter.

Nael Oweini

Student

Nael likes gaming, football and drawing. He is a sociable person who enjoys hanging out with his friends. In his talk, he describes how epilepsy knocked on his door and changed his life.

Tarek Fawaz

Student

Tarek loves to sing, dance, draw, design, act, and play musical instruments like the piano and the violin. He also has a huge passion for music in general. His talk is based on one simple question: Why do we abide by gender stereotypes?

Yara Hajj Ali Barada

Student

Yara likes playing the piano, singing and dancing. As a child she was in situations where she thought she couldn't be herself as she was afraid to show who she really was. However, as she matured she discovered a secret recipe that she would like to share with you.

Yasmina Bayrakdar

Student

تتذوّق الفنّ، وتحلم برسم تصاميم داخليّة تحمل إبداعها ورؤيتها للعالم من حولها. واليوم تُقدّم ياسمينة نفسها كأخت كبرى لتوأم، وتتحدّث عن تجربة بدت في ظاهرها مزعجة، فإذا بها، في حياتها، أجمل حقيقة.

Zeid Oweini

Student

Zeid likes sports a lot and his hobbies are weight lifting and jiu jitsu. However, his real passion is Movies. For him, the world of cinema is very powerful as it can play a major role in shaping identities.

Zeina Ramadan

Teacher

حصلت السيّدة "زينة" على إجازتين تعليميتين؛ الأولى في التربية البدنية والرياضة والثانية في الترجمة واللغات. كما حازت على ماجستير في تعليم اللغة العربية لغير الناطقين بها، وتعمل على تدريسها. لن تتحدث زينة اليوم عن تجربتها كأستاذة، بل كأم اعتقدت أنّ عليها تربية أولادها by the book، فإذا بها وجهًا لوجه أمام حادثة غيّرت حياتها، وجعلتها تضع الكتاب جانبًا لتواجه الواقع، وتعيش التجربة ومنها تتعلّم.