Writer and Editor

Rana Dakhel is a bilingual creative strategist at Rouya Consultancy, excelling in English and Arabic content creation. She firmly believes in the power of compelling content and building strong audience connections as the keys to career success. Aside from her role at Rouya, Rana volunteers with Syrian Researchers, proofreading medical articles for global dissemination through social media. She's also a dedicated English instructor, teaching senior students at Damascus University, the University of Aleppo, and second-language learners at the Charter English Language Institute. Her academic background includes a Master's Degree in Applied Linguistics in English, a BA in English Language and Literature, and a bachelor's degree in Translation from the University of Aleppo, where she excelled as the top student. Rana is also a published researcher, with two papers in the Aleppo University Research Journal and an upcoming paper on building rapport between teachers and students in Scopus.

Strategic Storytelling

Noora Khammas has a wide array of experiences, as her work varied between years spent understanding urban codes under the jurisdiction of Dubai Creative Clusters Authority (TECOM), followed by her leadership role in Murabaa Architectural Consultancy. Noora is deeply interested in crafts and their role in shaping communities, which gave birth to her startup Riyash, which was selected by the flat6labs accelerator program in 2016. She eventually became the Creative Director of Nomad, an entrepreneurial ecosystem for creatives based in Dubai. Today, Noora focuses on her work as a Whole Person Coach, Associate Certified (ACC) and accredited by the International Coaching Federation (ICF). She coaches Creatives in both Arabic and English. In her work, Noora is aware of the bigger picture: human nature, personality structure, the psychological makeup of creative individuals and the problems inherent in the work creative individuals attempt. She helps her clients reconnect with the creative within in a tailored program. Noora chooses to deepen her understanding of the crafts field in her own space through the Kintsugi apprenticeship program with Kyoto’s generational master. She writes and creates content, mainly in Arabic, when not coaching or crafting. She resides in the city of Tokyo with her husband and three children. As a mother, she is raising her children to be trilingual. Besides their traditional schooling, she is focusing on developing a rich program of Arabic studies at home.

Translator

Mohamed is a highly experienced and published English-to-Arabic translator with over 20 years of experience in the Middle East's public relations and media industry. His passion for providing Arabic content with a natural tone of voice that accurately conveys the inherent message of the English text has garnered him a strong reputation in the industry. Throughout his career, Mohamed has helped maintain consistent and robust visibility for multiple national and multinational clients across various industries. In addition, he has translated more than 50 fiction and non-fiction books, which carry his name in bookstores and has become a sought-after resource for businesses and individuals alike.

Consultant, Learning and Development

Fahd is a seasoned professional with over 18 years of experience in the financial sector, corporate coaching, and training. As an L&D consultant, Fahd has been instrumental in driving significant change in team behaviour and mindset. He believes in captivating his audience's hearts and minds to explore new perspectives directly impacting business outcomes. With his passion for people development, Fahd integrates values coaching into his courses and is also a certified horseback riding coach. He has won several accolades throughout his career, and his leadership has contributed to numerous successful business initiatives. Fahd is an accredited coach in positive psychology coaching from the International Coach Federation (ICF). He is pursuing his Equine Healing Certificate from the Equine Psychotherapy Institute in Australia.

Consultant, Marketing

Marwa is a highly skilled and experienced consultant, trainer, and coach who has dedicated over 20 years of her career to helping individuals and organisations achieve their goals. She has an exceptional marketing, communication, and business development track record and has worked with profit-driven and community-driven organisations. Marwa is an expert in strategic development, learning and development, and strategic planning and implementation. Additionally, she is a certified horse-guided empowerment practitioner and a certified ICF coach in positive psychology. Marwa holds an MBA specialising in Marketing from the American University in Cairo and is an accredited coach from the International Coach Federation (ICF) in positive psychology coaching.

Writer and Translator

Reema is a skilled media professional with over eight years of experience in translation (Arabic/English), public relations, and journalism. She has covered various areas, including education, arts and culture, humanitarian and refugee affairs, and politics. Prior to working with Rouya, Reema worked with the United Nations for six years in different capacities in the region. Reema believes in using her storytelling skills to make a difference and create awareness. She is passionate about bridging cultural gaps and promoting understanding between different communities.

HR and Administration

With over 15 years of experience in administration and IT, Fazuldeen is Rouya's go-to person for all matters related to human resources, government-related communication, and office administration. As our HR specialist, Fazuldeen ensures that our recruitment, employee relations, and performance management processes are streamlined and effective. In addition to his HR responsibilities, Fazuldeen provides administrative support to ensure the efficient operation of the office, completing operational needs and expediting work results.

Accountant

With over 20 years of experience in finance, Juliet is the financial backbone of Rouya. She is responsible for managing and analysing our records and providing us with valuable financial advice. Juliet has gained extensive experience working with various organisations in the UAE and has been developing comprehensive financial plans for decades. Her expertise and dedication have been instrumental in supporting the growth and development of Rouya.

Associate, Business Development

Mohamad Albaik is a Business Development Manager who integrates various work streams, including learning and development (L&D), Digital marketing and research. He champions adherence to meticulously planned timelines, and is committed to driving the success of every campaign he undertakes. With a commitment to developing internal and public initiatives, Mohamad is dedicated to expanding his knowledge and applying the skills acquired through his education and previous work to support the growth and development of businesses.

Cofounder & Managing Partner

Our co-founder Maryam has passionately used storytelling as a driver of positive change. She believes language—when used with wisdom, empathy, and precision—can effectively impact all levels of government agencies, cultural organisations, and art institutions to better serve communities. This seamlessly integrates and bolsters her research work in immigrant identity, language, and politics, in numerous articles and essays that have been published in the UAE and the region. She rounds out her field of expertise as a curator, as a member of the Curatorial Committees for the Dubai Collection, under which she has developed and curated several exhibitions.

Cofounder & Managing Partner

Wissam traversed the ministerial and administrative development landscape in Baghdad before assuming various roles in the UAE. His exceptional writing and editing skills were celebrated at every institution he worked at, and his strong beliefs in the power of the written word set the foundations for what would become Rouya. Wissam maintains an enduring commitment to Rouya and everyone who works there, instilling love for the Arabic language in everyone he meets.

Managing Partner

Abdelrahman brings his curiosity about community and commitment to increasing self-awareness to every aspect of his role at Rouya. His devotion to health and wellness has created a sense of priority for both the personal health of each Rouya member and the overall organisational health. A skill that he is expansive with is gamestorming, a co-creation tool that is implemented at Rouya to collect and organise large quantities of data to solve complex problems. This is one example of how Abdelrahmen leverages his diverse exposure to leadership and organisational development tactics to enrich the Rouya anatomy, leading to a decentralised approach—management by crowd; wisdom of the crowd.

Associate

Arfa believes that working in PR is reverse journalism in action. The work she appreciates the most is strategic, meaningful, and purposeful. After reporting, producing, and writing for various news agencies, she brings her journalistic edge to storytelling, in a place where her individuality can shine through.

Cofounder & Managing Partner

Yusur approaches Rouya as an extended wing of her home. Passion, empathy, and meticulous perfectionism informs both her working style and approach to management. Her rich life experience has developed her resilience and ability to develop creative solutions internally and for every single client, while encouraging a culture of learning and development for each Rouya team member she is proud to call family.

Head of Media Relations

Weaving these two streams of communication together on a daily basis is symbolic of the cross-collaborative approach that is a fixture in the Rouya culture. As a teacher in her past life, and now as a department head, she takes on lead advisory and localised consulting roles—and then some—while paving a bespoke path for each client and their relationships with the media.

Engagement Manager

Dareen approaches working at Rouya with artistry, fueled by an innate passion for storytelling and perfecting the craft of being a PR practitioner. She brings her linguistic skill in Arabic and left-of-centre thinking to the team, working as a unit to constantly think out of the box when developing strategies and connecting clients with a diverse suite of stakeholders. The best part is that everyday, she wakes up with a desire to work.

Engagement Manager

Tamara works closely with cofounder Maryam to create compelling content that serves a range of valued Rouya clients across the government, private, and public sectors in the region—including art and cultural institutions that nurture her passion for literature, culture, and the arts. Her Arabic language skills, honed as an educator, bring greater terminology and literacy that serve to build trust within client relationships and in Rouya as a whole.

Associate

Azar came to Rouya after years at large corporate structures that strike a sharp comparison to Rouya. He brings his expertise in relationship development and management and Arabic language skills to a range of arts and cultural institutions. Azar looks forward to bringing more education and healthcare sectors into the Rouya portfolio, as he looks forward to seeing it grow.

Associate

Expertise: Media Relations Accolades: Diploma in Finance & Banking Off-the-clock: Gift hamper creator Rana's richly industrious professional experience prepared her for the wealth of learning at Rouya, Ever-curious, she revels in the nuanced approach that Rouya takes on traditional PR tactics—the innovative approach that attracted her to join after thirteen years working in education, hospitality, and IT. Rana applies this varied and transferable skillset to the development of media strategies, relationship development, and content creation.