Under the patronage of Her Excellency Sheikha Lubna bint Khalid Al Qasimi, Minister of State for Tolerance of the UAE and President of Zayed University

Dr. Ismahane Elouafi

Dr. Ismahane Elouafi has been consistently ranked amongst the 20 Most Influential Women in Science in the Islamic World by CEO Middle East Magazine. She is a visionary leader and strategic thinker, highly adept as a transformational groundbreaker, delivering comprehensive stakeholder engagement as a change management champion, motivator, and relationship builder.With global experience in not-for- profit research organizations and government agencies, she is multi-lingual with proficiency in the Arabic, English, French, and Spanish languages.Dr. Elouafi’s immense capability has been well evidenced in her current role as Director General with the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture, where she was selected to steer the organization with robust fiscal and process control, providing direct focus upon non- core funding growth, driving an expanded mandate, and supporting reputational growth as a Center of Excellence for Research and Development in marginal environments.Her contributions to the scientific world have been recognized with the National Reward Medal by His Majesty Mohamed VI, the King of Morocco (2014), and the Excellence in Science award from the Global Thinkers Forum (2014).She has a Ph.D. Genetics from Cordoba University, Spain, and an M.Sc. (Genetics & Plant Breeding) and B.Sc. (Agricultural Sciences) from Hassan II Agronomy and Veterinary Institute, Morocc