Theme: Vision 2020

In late November 2013, Dubai was announced to be the host of Expo 2020. Celebrations were made, fireworks were lit, and suddenly 2020 became an important year for the UAE to achieve all many sorts of economic goals. What we forget is that 2020 is not only an embark for UAE but for all of us globally. And since now the year is right around the corner, can we establish what have we actually achieved? Not just for UAE alone but universally. Have we reached gender equality? Has global famine rates changed at all? Have we reached political tranquility? Or are we looking forward to a Third World War? This upcoming TedxYouth@SAIS is here to address all sorts of concerns related to the year 2020. From technology and medical breakthroughs to discrimination and global warming. Our diligent speakers have carefully scrutinized global achievements and where we have lacked as human beings. They are here to establish a clear standpoint of how close we’ve come to our goals and its importance cannot be stressed enough. The invitation to attend our event is open to everyone and we hope to awe the crowd with our talented speakers.

The New Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry
173 S124 - Sharjah
Sharjah, Ash Shāriqah, 00000
United Arab Emirates

Aisha Alyassi

Student

Aisha Sulaiman Alyassi, a 19 years old Emirati International Studies Student minoring in Translation Studies at the American University of Sharjah. You can find Aisha roaming between her love for both fashion and politics. Aisha is currently the Goodwill ambassador of MEMUN and has chaired many different model United Nations conferences both locally and abroad. In 2017, Aisha was chosen to be the youngest panelist at the World Skills conference alongside ministers from all over the world. Aisha is an young entrepreneur and has established her own non profit organization at the age 18. She is the youngest Emirati jewelry designer and maker and has her own jewelry line. Aisha is looking forward to open her heart and talk about a very important global issue and ways to overcome it.

Ali Altirkawi

International Relations

I’m a graduate of the American University of Sharjah with a Bachelor of Arts in international Studies. While I hold strong interests in the fields of politics and foreign relations, I also find myself investing time in learning more about the technological advancements of our time as well as music production and the influences of music on the wider society. My upbringing, as I understand it, is in some ways quite normal and in others, quite different. I was born in the United States to a Syrian father and a Filipino mother and this supposed clash in cultures has remained one of the most influential characteristics of my upbringing. It’s continually coaxed in me the broader question of where I duly belong. Multiculturalism became a resounding principle in my day to days and having spent most of my life residing in the Middle East (between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates), this further provided me with a sort of contrast in the various cultures that compose the Gulf region.

Batool Kifah

Student

Batool is a young social activist in Sharjah She has given the privilege to be a speaker in Sharjah child friendly city project and she is one of Athena learning ambassadors. As for her social activities, she has participated in Sharjah Innovative week in 2018 as an innovator. She has been an exhibitor in World Art at Dubai Exhibition. Moreover, she has been selected to be one of 3Dinova ambassadors, that aims to bridge the gap between books and technology. In addition to all that, she has been one of the judges in Sharjah Children Film Festival. Theatrical performances is one of Batool’s interests so she had a role in “mazal baynana” play as an actress. Regarding her achievements, Batool is a prestigious graduate of Afaq Leadership Camp. She has earned many awards such as Sheikh Sultan Award for Celebrating the Spirit of Youth, The Innovative Pioneers Competition where she has taken first place, and Sharjah Award for Voluntary Work where she completed 160 hours of volunteer work.

Dana Atieh

Student

My name is Dana Atiyeh. I’m in 10th grade and a new student in the Sharjah American International School. I come from New York Binghamton, but originally I’m a Jordanian from Salt, but I’ve grown up in the United Arab Emirates for 13 years and I consider this place home. One of my greatest passions are writing poems because it’s a way to express myself. At my previous school, I held a 7 year streak of winning in swimming, cross country and athletics (shot put, javelin, discuss, 100m etc) which was one of my greatest achievements. I’ve always grown up as an athlete so I’ve always been a competitive person when it comes to sports. My future job that I would like to major in would physical therapy or a caradic surgeon because ive always liked to help people in need.

Faisal Al Zarooni

Student

Faisal is a student in Sharjah American International School in the UAE. Faisal is currently 16 years old putting him the youngest 12 th grade a student in his school. He is an extremely curious person, always trying to figure out how things work, in general, he is striving for knowledge of almost anything information that that comes to him, he becomes attracted to it. Faisal’s curiosity made him join into many extra- curricular activities of all kinds, for example, in a single year, he joined into the school football team representing his school in tournaments, he also joined in a speaking competition in school debating on major world issues and how can they be solved, he became a leader in helping young enthusiasts reach their dreams in the future and strengthening their abilities to reach their dream. Faisal also is highly interested in sports as he joined in marathons, football clubs, swimming competition, and is weekly practising driving quad bikes in the desert.

Farah Sherif

Student

Farah Sherif is an 18-year-old Egyptian gym instructor. Being a straight-A student didn’t stop her from working and practising her passion, dancing. She is a very brave person who’s also very competent. She loves trying out new things like football, public speaking, as well as robotics. Her life goal is to be a successful independent trilingual programmer and open her own health club.

Mohammed Al-Qaseer

Student

Mohamed Al Qaseer explains his visions and hopes for technological advancements regarding space exploration and why we as humans should look beyond our solar system and put more effort into exploring our universe and overcoming all the uncertainty surrounding it. Mohamed Al Qaseer, a senior in SAIS, always strives to gain more knowledge about multiple subjects, including astronomy, psychology, politics, economics and finance. Mohamed is an outgoing and optimistic person who mostly likes to delve deep into economics and some sectors of finance, more specifically stock markets, and sometimes maybe even go deeper and learn more about psychology and astronomy. His hobbies include football and occasionally some basketball, and playing fast-paced action video games on his computer. Being the extroverted person that he is boosts his confidence and helps him out. His ability to communicate with others so easily and form connections helps him out in the field of public speaking.

Mohammed Ziad

Student

Mohammed is a senior who aims to go into psychology in the future and loves the study of people, what makes them think, feel, and act. Reading is a massive hobby of his having picked it up at an early age and have never looked back. He believes the written word is one of the greatest inventions to be put forward by humanity as, throughout the ages, its sentiment never fades. He also loves following sports, especially football. He was born in Amman, Jordan but is Palestinian in origin & heart. His initial inspiration to apply for TEDx was a long-held fear of public speaking, under the thinking of: “what better place to learn to swim than the middle of the ocean”? However, as he became better aquatinted with the various topics that have been discussed beneath the TED/TEDx banner over the years, he has realized that it is a platform where some of the world’s biggest unspoken issues can be openly and indiscriminately presented.

Nada Walid

Student

Nada Walid, is a 15 year old student that is in grade 11, she is also passionate about playing sports. She started gymnastics at the age of 3 where she was self-taught, she started taking classes at the age of 12 and worked her way off to an F.I.G level in gymnastics so far, but she has been playing other sports that include: running 100m sprints, relay, football and volleyball, and joined in many competitions such as the DU football competition, for gymnastics she usually participates in all four of the apparatuses that include: bars, floor, beam, and vault and had her competitions in and out and went to Abu Dhabi for one, and she won medals for each and also volunteered in AUS in helping them search for plastic bottles in order to build a greenhouse ,and sometimes joined in school assembly’s and morning assembly’s about once or twice. Nada is a person who likes to talk and express herself therefore she is looking forward for this event.

Nagham Abdelnaby

Student

Nagham comes from a big rural village in Egypt named Beni-adi. It is her first ever speech. In this speech, she is going to be talking about gender equality by 2020. Some of her hobbies are dance, cooking and baking, listening to Kpop, and playing football. She has also won her school talent show twice for her dancing skills to k-pop. Also, fun fact, She has never watched Titanic and not planning to watch it. She doesn’t really have achievements due to her age but she can always successfully embarrass herself and be clumsy. She goes by the motto “Everything happens for a reason”.

Noor Mousa

Student

Noor Mousa is a junior at Sharjah American International School with a profound interest in psychology and the concept of self-awareness. After focusing primarily on herself, she began studying the world that surrounds us to give people a better understanding of how thoughts and subconscious behaviour go hand in hand. In her free time, she likes doing light research about crucial life-altering points in history as well as watching a lot of perspective-changing speeches about the human mind, which makes her so good at public speaking. She is skilled at making complex subjects seem much simpler so her messages can be conveyed to a wider variety of the general public.

Noura Buhazza

Student

In this speech, I would like to promote saving endangered animals from every form of abuse. Moreover, Animals are more like people than you think but most individual do not seem to take as a serious matter. My name is Noura Buhazza, I was born on November 27, 2001 and I am a senior at Sharjah American International School. During my years of learning at school I honestly can say that knowledge can always be apprehended no matter what major or profession you want to follow, I believe that there is never enough knowledge that you can learn from.

Nourdean Shraim

Student

so, my name is nourdean, I am a kid from the Sharjah American International school, I usually play video games, edit videos, do comics, and text on discord. I am half American and half Jordanian and am bit of a weird person overall, plus I was a bit of mute before this, I would speak at really rare occasions, so this might be the first time I am speaking in months, plus I have a high verbosity level, that is a bit of a stretch, but since you are reading this through a computer screen, don’t expect to know a lot about me, so just watch the speech instead of creeping in the description…

Omar Abouzaid

Student

My name is Omar Abouzaid, I am a 16-year-old American-Egyptian 12th grader in an American Curriculum school in Al Ain called GIPA. I have taken many roles of leadership in organizations such as the school’s “Red Crescent Organization”, “The Student Council Organization”, etc. because I believe that if you want to make a change you have to take action. I also have much experience in public speaking due to my involvements in the aforementioned organizations and my participation in other public speaking events and debates. I have a vision for the world and I plan on realizing it. Because of this, I am honoured to have been chosen to speak at this conference since it allows me to spread the message that I have to share with the world and I don’t plan on letting a chance like this go to waste. I believe that speaking is one of the most powerful mediums of inspiration and change which is why this speech is of the utmost significance to me.

Rahaf Al-Ayedi

Student

Rahaf Al-Ayedi, a Palestinian born and raised in the United Arab Emirates. Has been attending Sharjah American International School for the past 12 years. Loves reading, writing, and trying new things. Joining TedX will be the perfect opportunity for her to get out of her comfort zone. It will enhance her ability to speak in front of an audience and teach her how to communicate with a team to achieve with a common goal. She has been a part of many programs such as Vex Robotics and building ROV submarines which have taught her how to work with a team.

Rawan Khalafallah

Student

Rwan is a High School senior who plans to go into medicine in the future. A perfectionist who believes she can do anything she truly puts her mind to, she excels in her classes and hopes to excel in the other things in her life. Born in the UAE, she’s always enjoyed speaking and therefore jumped at the opportunity to join TEDx. A naturally gifted poet, she aims to bring her charm and way with words onto the stage and into people’s hearts .Over the years, Rwan has developed an affection for words and the power they hold on people. She’s also an enthusiastic learner who’s always open to learning something new and likes to apply the skills she’s learnt into everyday life. Rwan may not have everything figured out just yet, but she’s found comfort in knowing that she can cross any bridge when she gets to it.

Takyallah Yasser

Student

Takyallah Yasser Elmehallawy is an 18 year old student in the 12th grade. Takyallah was born in Egypt on 21st of April, 2001. He lived in Egypt until 2007 when he came to the UAE. He studied in IGCSE system up until last year when he joined SAIS. His personal achievements does not extend further than high academic grades. TakyAllah aims to be a programmer and to study Software Engineering in the university. He joined TEDX as it will expand and improves his Public Speaking and social abilities, that’s in addition to it being one of the most important events worldwide. That is all, and Thank you

Teebah Alheyari

Student

Teebah AlHeyari is a very determined and outspoken individual. As a passionate student graduating in 2020, she has set many goals to be achieved that year. She believes it would be the start of a new chapter of her life.Teebah has matured from a young girl who faced challenges to a person who learned from them and grew to become a genuine and determined young adult. She found herself in her words, and in speaking her mind. At the age of 14, she joined her first model United Nations conference, where she recognized her passion for speaking and the strength of her own words. She has also learned many skills such as communication, the ability to work under pressure and most importantly social skills. Presently, she has set many goals for herself that she is very determined to accomplish. Teebah is looking forward to speaking about how she and her graduating class view the coming year, and how we should not undermine our abilities when we are given a chance to be part of something grand.