Business Foundations

One-year program in English, Business, and Professional Skills

Overview Curriculum Faculty Student Body Admissions Career Development Program

BBS faculty in English language, Professional Skills and Business Fundamentals are both foreign and local and have experience as academics and practitioners that has prepared them to teach Iraqi students and equip them for private-sector work. BBS is committed to maintaining high academic standards tailored to Iraqi students and the Iraqi market.

English Language

BBS's English instructors have both formal and informal teaching experience, in-person and online, as well as practical experience working with Iraqi students.

Aya al Shabibi
Aya al Shabibi holds a M.A. in Applied Linguistics at Cardiff University. She has taught English informally for years on Instagram and Facebook in her program, “Learn with Aya.
Adnan Fattal
A TEFL/TESOL certified teacher from Arizona State University based in Erbil, have a 7-year teaching experience with different age groups. have taught English in many national and international schools, colleges and language centers.
Business Fundamentals

BBS’s Business lecturers have worked in the private sector in Iraq, the Middle East, and overseas, as well as in academia, teaching at leading academic institutions in the region and around the world.

Dr. Yass Alkafaji / Senior Advisor, Lecturer
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.
Patrick Cline / Senior Advisor, Lecturer
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.
Ahmed Tabaqchali
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.
Microsoft Office
Ammar Al Khatib
Ammar Al Khatib has more than 18 years of experience in IT and has been a Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT) since 2010. Mr. Al Khatib has taught more than 1000 trainees on Microsoft Office and Microsoft Project (all editions) as well as more than 30 participants in his TOT. Mr. Ammar taught the first cohort; the class of 2021.

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