Theme: Mind Shift

TEDxAjman is oriented at presenting inspiring speeches and introducing new ideas that have the power to change the world or that could make a difference in our lives.

We feature unique talks by live speakers and great performances combined with TEDTalks videos to spark deep conversations and connections between the attendees of TEDxAjman. TEDxAjman MINDSHIFT will take place on April 23rd at Ajman TV Studios from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm.

Ajman TV Studios
Ajman, 423 ajman, uae
United Arab Emirates

Abdulla Al Kaabi

Born and raised in the Emirate of Fujairah in 1986. At the age of 16, Abdulla moved to Dubai to continue his studies at the American University of Sharjah, While still studying, he was scouted for a reality TV as a presenter on Dubai TV, where he stayed for the next 4 years. Alongside presenting, Abdulla was a full-time model/actor for print media and TV commercials in the region working for a variety of clients. Knowing that he always wanted to be in the Director's seat, he moved to Paris in 2009 to pursue his Master's Degree in Filmmaking and a career in cinema where he directed his first short film, The Philosopher, landing French actor, Jean Reno. As of now, the film has been nominated 22 times worldwide including Tribeca Film Festival and won 3 awards.

Fahad Al Butairi

Fahad Albutairi was one of the first Saudi stand-up comedians to appear on stage professionally in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and in the Gulf region. As of recent, he has also become a well-known YouTube personality. Born in Khobar, Saudi Arabia, in 1985, his debut as a stand-up comedian was in October, 2008, opening for American comedians Ahmed Ahmed and Maz Jobrani in Bahrain alongside a host of other local comedians as part of the Axis of Evil Comedy Tour. Fahad has, since then, shared the stage with a handful of renowned international comedians such as Gabriel Iglesias, Edwin San Juan, Sebastian Maniscalco, Bobby Lee, Erik Griffin, Dean Edwards, Angelo Tsarouchas, Aron Kader, Kuwaiti comedian Tarek Al-Ali and Dean Obeidallah. So far, he has performed in Dubai, Doha, Amman, Riyadh, Khobar, Jeddah, Dhahran, Beirut, Sana’a and New York. Albutairi has also participated in the 2009 “Be a Part of the Amman Stand-up Comedy Festival” Competition and won first place out of 65 contestants that year in the English-speaking category. On March 18th, 2010, Fahad took part in Yemen's first-ever stand-up comedy showcase along with fellow Saudi comedians Khalid Khalifa, Ibraheem Alkhairallah and Arab-American comedian Ahmed Ahmed. He also took part in the “New Faces of Arab Comedy” showcase at the 2010 New York Arab-American Comedy Festival and was one of the “New Faces” to be chosen for the “Best of the Fest” night of the festival. On October 10th, 2010, Fahad Albutairi started his own YouTube-based show entitled La Yekthar Show, which is a Saudi colloquial term that roughly translates to “that’s enough out of you.” He started the YouTube channel with fellow Saudi comedian Ibraheem Alkhairallah and Saudi directors Ali Kalthami and Alaa Yoosef. So far, it has been the fastest growing Saudi Arabian YouTube channel, getting more than 4,000 subscribers in its first month and is currently the most subscribed Saudi channel on YouTube with more than 20,000 subscribers. Fahad is also one of the top 10 most-followed Saudis on Twitter and has over 15,000 fans on Facebook.

Hans Horlings

Hans Horlings is a professional human development specialist. He is originally from the Netherlands, has lived in New Zealand where his two children were born and lives with his family since 1999 in the United Arab Emirates. Hans has worked intensively with young people around the world, in different capacities. Hans worked mainly with young UAE Nationals, during his eight years as a lecturer in Sharjah University City. He is passionate about helping people to reach their potential and make a difference, whatever their ability. Hans has more recently been involved in corporate management training, consultancy and leadership development programs in companies around the GCC.

Jalal Bin Thaneya

He believes in raising awareness through physical activities which have lasted for long durations largely at his own expense. As an Emirati he feels strongly about the subject for special needs students and sees their integration into society as a primary factor to the UAE's development. In 2007 at the age of 20, Jalal BinThaneya started his mission to campaign for special needs. He walked around the UAE in 2007 and became the first to walk the country since its inception in 1971. The Year 2008 saw him embark on a unique urban journey for special needs,this time,climbing the stairs of one hundred of Dubai's Sky Scrapers in 12 days. His latest and recent journey took him from Dubai city to Rub Al Khali desert, one of the largest deserts and most harsh places in the world. He completed these 3 journeys during his years at university.  He has raised awareness for the Dubai Autism Center, Rashid Pedriatric Center and the little known Senses Center all of which operate in Dubai city.

Sheikh Dr. Abdulaziz Ali Al Nuaimi

Abdul Aziz bin Ali Al Nuaimi is a member of the ruling family of the Emirate of Ajman in the United Arab Emirates and infamously known as the “Green Sheikh”, is taking his message of ’holisticliving’ to the world, activating his networks worldwide and inspiring people of all ages, religions and backgrounds. Sheikh Al Nuaimi is currently serving as environmental advisor to the Ajman Government, the CEO of Al Ihsan Charity Centre supporting less fortunate families and children, and WANA Forum in Jordan as international senior board advisor, where he is also Chairman of the International Steering Committee for the Global Initiative Towards a Sustainable Iraq (GITSI), UAE. His Educational background is in Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, diploma in Military Science and Master of Science in Environmental Management. He earned his PhD in Cleaner Production and Industrial (Ecology) Eco-Systems. In 2004 he was awarded first place of his research specifically pertaining to sustainable development at the doctoral level at the 97th Annual Conference and Exhibition at Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. In 2007 awarded as the UAE fine volunteering personality in environment and humanitarian via Sharjah Volunteering Awards. Three Mayors of three cities in Miami presented him with three distinct and prestigious awards. Mayor Julio Robaina of the City of Hialeah presented to announce a Proclamation Award naming the 25th of September, “Sheikh Abdul Aziz Day,” Mayor Matti Herrera Bower of City of Miami Beach gave him the key to the her city. Mayor Carlos Alvarez of the City of Miami closed the ceremony by presenting him with the Visitor’s Award to his city. This year 2010 Sheikh Al Nuaimi awarded the Islamic Personality by Fujairah Quranic Award in the UAE.

Emiratweet founding team

With around 10 years of experience in information technologies (IT) and around 3 years of hands on experience in social media: Ayesha Al Janahi, Hanan Huwair, and Heba Al Samt co-founded Emiratweet. Emiratweet is the first online Emirati community (Majlis) which preserves, maintains, and highlights the Emirati identify and culture. Through social media, Emiratweet builds and sustains the Emirati presence, provides individuals with a platform to share, discuss, and speak up for their culture, traditions, and achievements, and works on bridging the gap between the different cultures and nationalities within the UAE. Emiratweet as well preserves the human interaction and stimulate positive and constructive discussions by organizing a number of meet-ups, events, conferences, workshops and campaigns that bring people together under one roof to discuss and share various topics of interest to them and the community

Ali Al Saloom

Ali Alsaloom is one of the rising media stars and public speakers in the Gulf. He has delivered intercultural awareness talks to hundreds of business groups. His TV show, Ask Ali, reaches thousands, as does his column in the magazine M. Ali is a proud Emirati with a cosmopolitan personality. He is an motivational and entertaining speaker with the ability to inspire.

Susan Macaulay

A feminist, social entrepreneur, writer, speaker, life coach, blogger, expatriate Canadian, citizen of the world, wannabe geek, humble traveler, sometimes rabble rouser, and self-proclaimed amazing woman. She is the founder of Amazing Women Rock and She Speaks Now, and the Chief Inspiration Officer at 1,2,3 Speak Easy. She has more than 20 years’ experience and a passion for excellence in communications, and has lived in the United Arab Emirates for 18 years.

Abdullatif Al Sayegh

One of the Arab world's most distinguished media pioneers. After completing his Media and Communications degree at the University of Tampa, Florida, he joined the Government of Dubai and established one of the UAE's largest media corporates - and the most diverse in the region. He was specially selected by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum to build and manage a gigantic portfolio of media assets for the Government of Dubai. This included 3 daily newspapers, 8 radio stations, the region's largest printing press, the region's biggest distribution company, an outdoor advertising company, the UAE's most active event management company and 3 major TV stations (including MTV and Nickleodeon), among many other ground-breaking projects. Seeking a greater challenge, in early 2010 he entered the more thrilling world of digital and social media. He created his own organization (Alsayegh Media) which serves the entire region with unique world-class services like website development, mobile application development, social media management, SEM services, event management, videography and photography, branding and marketing, media planning/buying as well as media consultancy. Currently, Alsayegh Media is engaged to deliver various projects for some of the biggest and most prestigious brands in the government and private sector. In 2007, Abdullatif Alsayegh was recognized as 'CEO of the Year' by the CEO World Forum. In 2008, he was awarded the accolade of being one of the 'Top 25 Most Influential Personalities in the Arab World', by The Times newspaper.

Amna Al Haddad

an Emirati advocate for health and fitness in the UAE.  She wants to implement change in the society by blogging about such issues, as well as create a program for the well-being of youth and their parents in the near future with a non-profit organization.  She also wants to become a certified personal trainer. Far and foremost, she supports heavy weight lifting for women and is in a quest of achieving her own weight lifting goals.

Founders of Ahdaaf Sports

Anas Bukhash is a Managing Partner at Ahdaaf Sports Club. Anas graduated in 2003 with a BA in Mechanical Engineering from Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts. Following his graduation, Anas began his career as an Operations Supervisor in the Oil & Gas Industry on the onshore oil field Habshan for the Abu Dhabi Petroleum Company (ADCO). In 2006, Anas joined Dubai Properties Group (Injaz) to work on major development projects as a Projects Manager. In addition to managing Ahdaaf, in 2009, Anas joined Dubai Cares as a Country Program Manager and has travelled to many developing countries, such as: Bangladesh, Yemen, Comoros and Mauritania to help ensure children in developing countries have access to quality primary education through its programs.

Qais Sedki

He is the founder and managing director of Pageflip Publishing, an independent Dubai-based publishing house that focuses on producing original content classical Arabic graphic novels in traditional Japanese manga format.  Pageflip’s debut title, Gold Ring, has been penned by Qais himself and has received the prestigious Sheikh Zayed Book Award in 2010 in the Children's Literature category. After having studied and worked in the field of Information Technology for eight years, Qais Sedki redirected his focus towards his passion for bringing about greater interest in reading in Arabic among the youth.  By providing homegrown graphic novels, Qais aims to instill a positive sense of national identity among his readership, bolster values of determination and achievement, and highlight Emirati culture to an international audience. Qais Sedki advocates the necessity of establishing a love of reading in children at a young age and often does book reading sessions for children at schools and elsewhere.

Line and Boushra Dalile

Boushra and Line Dalile are 15 and 13 years old home-schooled students. They were born in Syria and have lived in the UAE since 2005. They attended regular schooling until the age of 13 and 11 when they decided to become homeschooled. Time-flexibility, the ability to achieve faster, and being able to teach themselves the way they want to be taught are ones of many reasons for this very serious decision. Their love of learning expanded to learning multiple languages, for example: Line speaks Arabic, English, Chinese and German while Boushra speaks Arabic, English, Italian and French.They are also multi-sport girls who like to ski, swim and have remarkable achievements in their favorite sport, Golf. When Line was at the age of 12, she published her first poetry e-book. With the help of her sister, Boushra, they were able to organize a golf e-book, it's already published and more are coming soon.