Business Foundations

Ahmed Tabaqchali is the Chief Investment Officer (CIO) of Asia Frontier Capital (AFC) Iraq Fund, and has over 25 years of experience in U.S. and Middle East capital markets. He is a lecturer in the Business Department at AUIS, and a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Regional and International Studies (IRIS) and at the Atlantic Council.

Dr. Yass Alkafaji was an Associate Professor in the Business Department at the American University of Sharjah (AUS) for 13 years (ret. 2021), and has taught at Mississippi State University, Bowling Green State University, and Northeastern Illinois University-Chicago. Dr. Alkafaji is also a practicing certified public accountant, and is the founder of A&A Accountants and Business Consultants, based in Chicago, with operations in Dubai. He is the Director of the Iraq Public Leadership Program (IPLP). Dr. Alkafaji has written and spoken extensively on accounting, auditing, and tax issues for professional organizations and in professional and academic journals. He is a CPA, CFE, and CGMA.

Dr. Aida El-Khatib is a Lab Teaching Assistant for the Management Department of the School of Business Administration at the American University of Sharjah (AUS). She has been teaching at AUS for almost 12 years. She has a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from AUS in 2006 as well as a Master's degree in 2013. In 2014, she was awarded the Lab Teaching Assistant of the year. She also worked for 3 years as an Assistant Relationships Manager at the Standard Charted Bank in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where she was responsible for taking care of clients' banking and credit requirements.

Mr. Alaa Hamade is Senior Instructor of Management at the American University of Sharjah (AUS). He has been in the education field for over 14 years. Mr.Hamade has taught Introduction to Business, Fundamentals of Management, Business Information Systems, Social Media, and Mobile Computing in Business. In 2010, he obtained a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from AUS, where he also had a Bachelor’s degree in Management Information Systems in 2007. He worked as a Web And Database Coordinator for six years, and he has been a member of the International Coach Federation (ICF) since April 2015.

Ali Kadhm Graduated from the American University of Sulaimania AUIS with bachelor degree in Business Adminstration and Managment. He works at Ernst & Young as an Associate Auditor.

Patrick Cline taught Business at AUIS for seven years and was founding Director of Takween Accelerator there. He has an MBA from the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and a BS in Financial Management from Clemson University.

Dr. Wilfried Vanhonacker established top business schools in Russia (Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO) and China (China-Europe International Business School, CEIBS). He was the founding director of INSEAD’s renowned PhD program, and led the Olayan School of Business at the American University of Beirut, where he held the Coca Cola Chair in Marketing, and was a Research Scholar at the MIT Sloan School of Management.

Prof. Ashraf Khallaf has taught accounting and finance at the American University of Sharjah since 2012, where his teaching specialities include accounting information systems, financial accounting, intermediate accounting, advanced accounting, and accounting for Islamic financial institutions. His research interests include capital market research, R&D and IT investment return, data analytics and visualization, corporate governance, Islamic finance, and Islamic accounting standards. Dr. Ashraf also taught at Florida Atlantic University, the University of Southern Indiana, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as a Visiting Professor. He earned his PhD in Business Administration from Florida Atlantic University and his MA in Accounting from Assuit University in Egypt.

Muhammed Jamal is the Research and Development Manager at KAPITA. He has four years’ experience as a research and entrepreneurship trainer and works on developing concepts for programs implemented by KAPITA and managing the research team.

Essam Munir is a Lead Researcher at KAPITA. He has three years of experience. He taught the first cohort of BBS research methodologies and how to conduct surveys and questionnaires.

Riyadh Radhi is a Data Science Associate at KAPITA. He has a Master in Computer Science from the American University of Armenia and has more than two years of professional experience in Data Analytics & Machine Learning.

Hussein Albayati is the General Manager of Careem. He has more than 15 years of experience working in Iraq and holds an Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) from Quantic School of Business and Technology, Washington DC.

Ali Al-Suhail is the Managing Director of Investment at KAPITA. He has more than six years of experience in transaction advisory and development finance in Dubai and London. He had worked with entrepreneurs advising them on how to grow their businesses, helping them fundraise, and investing in their startups.

Jawad Allawi is an experienced executive with a demonstrated history of working in the financial services and events industries. He holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Finance and Investment from Bayes Business School. He also has extensive experience in management, sales & business development, and has implemented several business strategies to ensure company growth objectives.

Dhafer Hassan is Founder and Chief Executive at Business by Design LLC. He holds a Master of Public Policy from KDI School of Public Policy and Management and has over 13 years of experience in business development, public policy, and capacity building for institutions and individuals. For seven years, he worked as a project manager with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Iraq.