Meet our Leaders
As AIB Africa & Middle East’s main governing body, our leadership team is responsible for member outreach, facilitating professional development opportunities, and organizing our annual Chapter Conference.
Below, you’ll find background details on each of our team members, our roles and responsibilities, and contact information to help you connect with us online.
President (Chair)
President (Chair), Academy of International Business – Middle East North Africa Chapter
Dr. Immanuel Azaad Moonesar R.D.
Assistant Professor – Health Policy
Health Policy Research Group Leader
MPA Program Coordinator
Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government, Dubai, UAE
immanuel.moonesar@mbrsg.ac.ae
Linkedin Profile
Immanuel Azaad Moonesar
Dr. Immanuel Azaad Moonesar hails from the Caribbean island of Trinidad and Tobago, and he also serves as Managing Director at “I AM Consulting” (Trinidad & Tobago), and President (Chapter Chair) and Executive Board member of the Academy of International Business – Middle East North Africa (AIB-MENA).
Throughout his career, he has worked in quality assurance and management, nutrition and dietetics, health and safety, teaching, and institutional research. His current research interests are in public policy, healthcare management & leadership, maternal & child health, health policy and innovation, nutrition, and quality management.
Dr. Moonesar holds a PhD in Health Services: Leadership (Superior Distinction) from Walden University, USA; Master of Quality Management (Distinction) from the University Of Wollongong Australia (UOW); a Postgraduate Diploma in Institutional Community Nutrition & Dietetics (Distinction); and a Bachelor of Science in Human Ecology: Nutrition and Dietetics from the University of West Indies (UWI), Trinidad and Tobago.
A registered dietitian, he possesses professional certifications in ‘NEBOSH Occupational Health and Safety’, ‘Project Management: Certified Business Professional (CBP)’ and ‘Quality Management System Internal Auditors (ISO 9001:2008)’. Dr. Moonesar also over 80 publications ranging across peer-reviewed journal articles, peer-reviewed international conferences, co-authored books, and book chapters to date.
Advisory Board Member
Advisory Board & Founder, Academy of International Business – Middle East North Africa Chapter
Prof. Dr. Melodena Stephens Balakrishnan
Professor of Innovation Management
Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government
melodena.stephensb@mbrsg.ac.ae
Melodena Stephens
Melodena has over 25+ years of corporate and academic experience. She has a multicultural background having lived in India, USA, Taiwan, UAE and Germany. Her corporate experience is in areas of market potential estimation, new market and product development and joint venture negotiations. Before her PhD, she worked in India for the Tata Group. She consults for governments and institutions.
In academia, she has been involved in strategic planning, accreditations, course development and industry outreach. She is currently Professor of Innovation Management at the Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government (MBRSG) in Dubai. Prior to MBRSG, she was one of the first female Indian deans for a German University – Karlshochschule International University, Germany. For over a decade, she also held various positions like Deputy Dean, Associate Professor and Program Director of MBA in the University of Wollongong in Dubai (UOWD), one of UAE’s oldest private universities.
Her areas of research are brand strategy, place/country marketing, social entrepreneurship and crisis management. She is an active contributor of articles in this area. She has published extensively – over 130 publications. Her didactive approach to teaching has been to facilitate an inter-disciplinary, co-created problem-solving competency with a global mindset. She has won several teaching and research awards, including two UAE National Research Foundation grants.
Melodena is the founder of the Academy of International Business – Middle East North Africa Chapter (AIBMENA), a nonprofit social initiative founded in 2009 in Dubai under UOWD. The purpose of the organization is to act as an ambassador and champion for the MENA region by fostering research and teaching in the field of international business. AIBMENA was awarded the ‘Dubai Brand Ambassador Status’ by Dubai Conventions & Events Bureau, Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing in 2012.
Vice-President
Dr. Vijay Pereira
Associate Professor
vijay.pereira@kustar.ac.ae
Linkedin Profile
Vijay Pereira
Vijay is a Human Resource (HR) professional with a wide range of experience in the field of HR, Personnel & Administration and Labour management. He has achieved this in industry, consulting and academia. He has experience of working on his own initiative and as part of a team. Vijay has proven leadership skills involving managing, developing and motivating teams to achieve their objectives. He has exposure to most aspects of HR and managing employees from cross functional and cultural areas. Vijay also possess first-class analytical, design and problem solving skills and is dedicated to maintaining high standards.
Finance & Sponsorship
Vice President (Finance & Sponsorship)
Dr. Racquel Warner
Assistant Professor – Education Policy
Education Policy Research Group Leader
MPA Program Coordinator
Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government, Dubai, UAE
racquel.warner@mbrsg.ac.ae
Racquel Warner
Filareti Since 2003, Dr. Warner has worked in various academic and leadership positions at three major off-shore branch campuses in the UAE. A career educator with over 25 years international teaching experience, her professional engagement has been defined by her keen interest in social justice and equality.
In her home country of Jamaica, she has initiated inner city community engagement projects that connected benevolent business owners with families who needed educational assistance. She also works actively in communities in Nepal, Bangladesh, and Kenya to support the development and accessibility of quality education to at risk groups.
Dr. Warner holds an MA Education degree from the University of Wollongong in Australia, a PG Cert HE from Middlesex University and a Doctorate of Education from the University of Exeter (both UK). Her research interest in student engagement and learner autonomy has led to her work in curriculum redesign, teacher training, and education policy development. Her doctoral thesis at the University of Exeter explored student engagement as an alternative pedagogical approach in Higher Education institutions in the UAE.
She is a member of Higher Education Teaching and Learning (HETL), the Vice President- Finance (Sponsorship & Treasurer) of the Academy of International Business – MENA Chapter, and has presented at many international conferences and published papers on the subjects of study skills, student engagement and the policy imperative of this approach.
Secretary
Secretary, Academy of International Business – Middle East North Africa Chapter
Dr Samer Nakhle
Dean – Faculty of Business Administration
AZM University, Lebanon
snakhle@azmuniversity.edu.lb
Linkedin Profile
Samer Francois Nakhle
Dr. Samer Francois Nakhle holds a PhD in economics and social sciences from the University of Fribourg in Switzerland, an MBA from the Lebanese American University and a master in economics from the University of Jean Moulin in Lyon, France.
Dr. Nakhle has taught in major universities in Lebanon and abroad such as the American University of Beirut, Beirut Arab University, the Lebanese University, the Business School of Lausanne and the University of Fribourg. He is the dean of the faculty of business administration at AZM University in Lebanon.
Dr. Nakhle is a researcher in the field of international HRM, cross-cultural management, and business ethics. He is the founder of SIETAR Lebanon, an association promoting intercultural education, training and research.