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The U.S.-Qatar Business Council, the U.S. Saudi Arabia Business Council, and the U.S.-U.A.E. Business Council invite you to a reception featuring a presentation from Dr. James Zogby, Senior Advisor of Zogby International and President of the Arab American Institute (AAI), and Mr. John Turner, Partner and Head of Middle East Public Sector Practice at Oliver Wyman. Their bios can be found below.
Dr. Zogby and Mr. Turner will present the results from a recent Zogby / Oliver Wyman senior executive survey entitled, The C-Suite View from the Gulf: Business Confidence in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar in the Spring of 2011. Over 160 top executives in the United Arab Emirates, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and Qatar participated in the survey, which covered a number of key economic questions around business confidence and structural and reform issues, including:
– What is the level of business confidence in the region? What are the potential threats to confidence levels?
– Has the “Arab Spring” had any impact on confidence?
– Where do executives see the greatest economic opportunities?
– What are the hurdles to continued growth?
– What are the impediments and drivers to reform?
– What are the concerns associated with the “youth bulge” and who is best positioned to help?
This data provides a unique and rich understanding of the attitudes of CEOs, CFOs, and other C-suite executives in the region on the threats to and opportunities for the region’s businesses.
Dr. James Zogby
Founder and President,
The Arab American Institute
Senior Advisor, Zogby International
Dr. James J. Zogby is the author of Arab Voices (Palgrave Macmillan, October 2010) and the founder and president of the Arab American Institute (AAI), a Washington, D.C.-based organization which serves as the political and policy research arm of the Arab American community. Since 1985, Dr. Zogby and AAI have led Arab American efforts to secure political empowerment in the U.S. Through voter registration, education and mobilization, AAI has moved Arab Americans into the political mainstream.
For the past three decades, Dr. Zogby has been involved in a full range of Arab American issues. A co-founder and chairman of the Palestine Human Rights Campaign in the late 1970s, he later co-founded and served as the Executive Director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. In 1982, he co-founded Save Lebanon, Inc., a private non-profit, humanitarian and non-sectarian relief organization which funds health care for Palestinian and Lebanese victims of war, and other social welfare projects in Lebanon. In 1985, Zogby founded AAI. He currently serves on the national advisory board of the American Civil Liberties Union, The Human Rights Watch Board of Directors for the Middle East and North Africa and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Additionally, he is a Senior Advisor for the polling firm Zogby International, where he is responsible for the firm’s groundbreaking polling across the Middle East.
A lecturer and scholar on Middle East issues, U.S.-Arab relations, and the history of the Arab American community, Dr. Zogby appears frequently on television and radio. He has appeared as a regular guest on all the major network news programs. After hosting the popular “A Capital View” on the Arab Network of America from 1993-2001. From 2001 until now he hosts the award winning “Viewpoint with James Zogby” on Abu Dhabi Television, LinkTV, Dish Network, and DirectTV.
Mr. John Turner
Partner, Public Sector & Media
Oliver Wyman
John joined Oliver Wyman in May 2008 to head the Media & Entertainment Practice for “emerging markets” with an initial focus on the Middle East, North Africa, and India. In 2010, John was also made head of Oliver Wyman’s Middle East Public Sector Practice. Prior to joining Oliver Wyman, John worked 8 years for McKinsey & Company in the US, Europe, Russia and the Middle East.
John’s current media clients include many of the regional and global leaders. John serves these media clients on the full range of operational and strategic issues. John’s media clients also include regional governments on key media regulatory and policy issues. Over the last decade, he has worked in most sub-segments of media including free-to-air television, pay-tv, radio, magazines, newspapers, online, mobile, outdoor, and film.
In the Public Sector Practice, John leads a group of partners focused on supporting governments with major change programs, improving competitiveness, and building modern institutions. The primary focus of this effort is on local and national governments in the GCC.
John often speaks at regional and international media conferences including the World Economic Forum, London Business School, Harvard Business School.
John received his B.A. from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. Later, he received his M.A. from the Fletcher School and an M.B.A. from Harvard University in a joint degree program. At Harvard, John was the recipient of the John Whitehead Fellowship. John was also a recipient of the prestigious Council on Foreign Relations IAF Fellowship.
