John Boehm
John Boehm is a Partner with the law firm, Fulbright & Jaworski LLP, and has worked in the Middle East since 2005. He currently divides his time between Dubai, UAE and Houston, Texas.
Enriqueta Bond
Enriqueta Bond, PhD, retired in August 2008 as President of the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, a private foundation whose mission is to advance the medical sciences through the support of research and education. Previously, Dr. Bond served for nearly 20 years as staff officer and division director at the Institute of Medicine, serving as an executive officer from 1989-1994. Dr. Bond is a member of the Institute of Medicine and is a fellow of the Association for the Advancement of Science. Dr. Bond is chair of the IWFF Board.
Cynthia Helms
Cynthia Helms is the author of “An Ambassador’s Wife in Iran” which recounts her years spent in Iran. A New York Times review (Goodman, 1981) indicated that “While Mrs. Helms accounts of such matters as Persian history, philosophy, religion, cuisine and carpets… she offers interesting observations on the position of women in Iran…”. Cynthia brings to the IWFF board unparalleled knowledge and experience regarding women in the Middle East.
Serra Kirdar
Dr. Serra Kirdar is founder and director of the Muthabara Foundation that complements the work of the IWFF in focusing on the potential of Arab women, particularly in the UAE, in achieving managerial and professional roles. She is closely associated as a Foundation Life Fellow of St Antony’s College at University of Oxford, where she earned undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees, focused on international education and gender and cross-cultural experience with reference to Arab women.
Mary Oakes Smith
Mary Oakes Smith is president and founder of the Iraqi Women’s Fellowship Foundation, making use of her 30-year career experience with the World Bank, and her work on a USTDA feasibility study for a Women’s ICT center in Iraq. As a senior official with the World Bank, she managed industry, energy and telecommunications portfolios worldwide, and replenishment operations for two successive replenishments of the Bank’s soft loan window, totaling $31 billion. She serves as a member of the UN Advisory Board on International Partnerships, the UN National Capital Association Board, the Bretton Woods Committee, and Women’s Foreign Policy Group.
Samir Sumaida’ie
Samir Sumaida’ie was Ambassador of Iraq to the United States from 2006 – 2012, after having been a member of the Iraqi Governing Council in 2003, Minister of the Interior in 2004, and the First Permanent Representative of the new Iraq to the UN in late 2004. He was born in Baghdad, educated in England, and worked in several countries as a designer, consultant, and entrepreneur. He currently lives in the Washington, D.C., area. With a long track record in business and politics, he is engaged in several cultural and philanthropic activities in addition to his core interests in the politics of Iraq and the Middle East.
David Suratgar
David Suratgar is Chairman, Medicapital Bank, Plc, and member of the Board of BMCE Bank and Senior Adviser to the Chairman. He is a Member of Council, Royal Institute of International Affairs and Member of the Board, Major Projects Association. David Suratgar served as a senior attorney in the World Bank’s Legal Department (1964-73) and has also acted as legal advisor to the Bank of England and UK Treasury, to the EIB and to the EC. He served as Director of Morgan Grenfell (1973-97) and as Deputy Chairman, Deutsche Morgan Grenfell International.