Naira Hamdy

School Principal

In her 22 years in education, 10 of which have been spent in the UAE, Naira has taught elementary, secondary and higher education covering subjects like Math, Science, ICT and theory of knowledge. She has been an IB team leader, school visitor, consultant, reader, workshop leader and online facilitator in the IB community for over two decades; as well as a school inspector for the ECIS, ADEK and KHDA. Naira is also an international speaker who specialises in working with other educators to find innovative and sustainable ways to transform teaching and to model a professional learning community approach. Her areas of expertise include designing innovative learning experiences, professional learning, cultural leadership and community building.

Mr Ian Thurston

Head of Secondary

Ian is an experienced Head Teacher with a demonstrated history of outstanding leadership in education. An Economics graduate of the University of Sheffield in the UK, he has been teaching Mathematics since 2003, living in Dubai since 2007 and working in Secondary Senior Leadership since 2014. He is highly skilled in pastoral care and safeguarding and enjoys developing those around him. Vastly knowledgeable about the IB Diploma and global university placements, Ian shares this experience by speaking at conferences for the IB and UCAS. Ian is a father of two and he passionately believes in positivity; leading a fun-filled life, enjoying camping, walking and triathlons.

Susan Allenspach

Head of PYP

Ibrahim Abdulla Ahmed Al Ghurair

A Business Management graduate from Boston University Questrom School of Business, USA, in 1999 Ibrahim joined the family-owned Al Ghurair Resources – a key player in the agri-commodities sector – as a Commodity Trader He progressed to be part of the pre-opening team of the first oilseed extraction plant in the Gulf, which is now a major global player in oilseed products. From there he took various responsibilities in the group, including the restructuring of several major units.

With a passion for architecture, established Muraba, a boutique property development company, focusing on developing A-grade residential projects.

Ibrahim is a board member of the Al Ghurair parent company, and a father of six, all of whom are all enrolled in the International Baccalaureate programme.

Dr. Nevine El Souefi

Dr. Nevine El-Souefi is an internationally-recognised educational consultant, and has worked in the field for more than 25 years as a teacher, trainer, curriculum designer and academic advisor. She is the founder and CEO of Edupedia, a leading educational consultancy firm.

Dr. El-Souefi is a certified and experienced International Baccalaureate (IB) trainer and consultant. She is the leader of the curriculum review committee at the American University in Cairo (AUC) – Graduate School of Education – Diploma Programme. She is also certified as an international trainer; has co-authored several publications; and holds a master’s Degree from AUC in TEFL and an EdD in Teacher Education from the University of Leicester, UK.

Arturo Lujan

Arturo Lujan, has recently joined AGI Ventures as CEO. Arturo holds a BSE (Economics, Finance and Management) and MBA (Master in Business Administration) from WHARTON School of Business with Honors; Advanced Management Programs from HARVARD Business School; amongst others. He is certified as Six Sigma Master Black Belt (MBB - CEO) for Driving Accelerated Profitable Growth. Morevoer, he is the First CEO in Spain certified with the prestigious Marshal Goldsmith SLC for Leadership Development.

He has an extensive history in leadership which included prestigious Fortune 100 Companies and Private Equity Firms, like 3M INNOVATION (Top 20 Fortune and 1st Most Innovative Company), TETRA PAK (Global Leader for Industrial & Consumer Sector), LEVANTINA NATURAL STONE COMPANY (1st Global Leader in Natural Stone and Largest PE Deal in Spain - Owned by BNP Paribás and PE Charter House), Stone House Capital Group (Backed by US and International PE Funds), PRAXIS GLOBAL IT (Leading FinTech & IT Company in Latin America), 3E ENERGY EFFICIENCY (PE Owned in Spain), JUANEDA-VITHAS HEALTH CARE GROUP (Swiss PE Group), and REWARDS TO (Silicon Valley PE) amongst some Prestigious and Leading Global Companies.

Arturo leads company value creation, accelerated growth, results improvement, cashflow optimization, M&As, strategic and operational excellence. Moreover, as a result of his strong focus on Developing Teams and People, the companies that Arturo has led ranked consistently in the "TOP 5 GPTW" (Great Places to Work) in their respective Countries.

Dr. Abdullah Saad Al-Khanbashi

Dr. Abdullah Saad Al-Khanbashi is a recognised UAE administrator and academician. He holds a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Tennessee (1997); M.Sc. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Louisville (1991); and a B.Sc. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Louisville (1990).

In the past 25 years, he held many important positions. From 2008-2012 he served as the Vice Chancellor of the UAE University, the main federal University in the United Arab Emirates. He was also a key member of the UAE University Council and the Chairman of the Academic Affairs Council, as well as other specialized University committees. He also served as UAEU Provost (Chief Operating officer) from 2005-2008. Dr Al-Khanbashi made a significant contribution to the development of tertiary education in the UAE.

Dr. Sonia Ben Jaafar

Chief Executive Officer

Dr. Sonia Ben Jaafar has been dedicated to educational development for over 20 years. She has used her expertise in educational leadership and evaluation to cultivate partnerships that promote high impact sustainable solutions to pressing education challenges in the Middle East, Canada, Africa, and Asia.

Dr. Ben Jaafar currently serves as the CEO of the Abdulla Al Ghurair Foundation for Education where she manages one of the largest privately funded philanthropic education initiatives in the Arab world. Prior to this role dedicated to promoting education for elevated livelihoods for over 200,000 Arab youth, she was the Managing Director of EduEvalConsulting, where she cultivated partnerships with governments, international agencies, not-for-profit organizations, and multinational corporations to promote evidence-based decisions for a greater positive impact on education. Her work on major educational development projects with organizations such as the American Institute of Research, Ericsson, UNESCO, UNICEF, and War Child UK focused on SDG4. She holds a PhD in Educational Leadership, and a MA in Curriculum Studies from the University of Toronto. She is passionate about coupling her experience with her academic background to promote knowledge sharing and education for good. But if you ask her, she will tell you “I am a mom who is trying to make the world a better place.”

John Short Ring

Debra Teles

Debra Teles, is Group VP- People and Culture, having joined the business 16 March 2020, for AGI Group, one of the largest diversified Groups in the Middle East, operating in more than 20 countries, and employing more than 28000 people, across various sectors of Foods, Retail, Energy, Construction, Power and Engineering, transport, Hospitality Real Estate, Automotive, Printing and Publishing Exchanges, Retail, Education, Shipping and Travel Agencies.

Debra has more than 30 years’ experience and a proven track record of driving business results through People. Her People and Culture experience has been gained internationally through multinational organizations such as Reckitt and Benkisser, Coca Cola, JD Group, Emirates Leisure, MMI and most recently Meraas.

She is responsible for delivering the People and Culture strategy, governance framework and policies across Al-Ghurair Investment Group. Culture change, leadership development and talent management are at the helm of Debra’s capabilities, which includes developing and implementing Group Emiratization programs, emerging leadership and executive training programs, and career and succession planning.

Tagreed Mohammed Taher Abdulla Almuhatadi

Tagreed graduated from the Collage of Education (with an English and Linguistics major) from the United Arab Emirates University in 1986. She is highly experienced in teaching and educating students as she was part of the Ministry of Education team.

She later joined the family business in jewelry as an events coordinator and established the first jewelry boutique in the U.A.E. Tagreed is also a board member of Jawhara Jewelry Company, which now has more than 50 branches across the U.A.E.

With a passion for volunteering, she joined and supported many institutes and schools such as Red Crescent and Al ittihad Private School in Dubai. Tagreed joined the parents’ council in Dar Al Marefa Private School in 2011 and was elected soon after to become the head of parents’ and teachers’ council in school since then.
She is a mother of two sons and a daughter (a llieutenant in the Dubai police, a doctor in Dubai Health Authority, and her youngest daughter is enrolled in Dar Al Marefa’s International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme).