Entrepreneur & Thought Leadership Awards Judging Committee

Chair:
Justin Lowes, Co-Founder & Co-CEO 
Scriveiner, London, United Kingdom

Justin Lowes and his wife, Yanning Li, shared a Gold Stevie Award for Best Entrepreneur in 2023. Justin and Yanning are co-founders and co-CEOs of the Scriveiner London luxury brand. Scriveiner was founded in 2019 to create beautiful products that enrich its customers’ lives.

A relentless focus on quality, design and value for money has enabled Scriveiner to achieve remarkable success. It has had the best-selling product in category in the Amazon US marketplace every Christmas since launch. Scriveiner products have generated more than 30,000 incredible customer reviews. Its pens are now available in nearly 1,000 Office Depot stores in the USA where they outsell the combined sales of two of the most recognized pen brands in the world by more than 2:1. The company has won 8 awards to date including 3 global product design awards and the King’s Award for Enterprise. Its more than 100% compound annual growth rate saw it being recognized as one of the UK’s fastest growing privately held companies.

Justin is a lifelong entrepreneur and has previously founded and led companies in the investment and insurance business sectors, in both China and the UK. He and his wife live in the London area and have a 17-year-old son.


Committee:

Alya Al Hebshi, Founder & President: Alya Al Hebshi Consultancy and Head of Outreach & Engagement: Abu Dhabi Govt.
Alya Al Hebshi Consultancy and Abu Dhabi Govt., Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Alya is a prominent figure in the United Arab Emirates, with expertise in strategic communication and a passion for social good. After a successful corporate career, she transitioned to focusing on social entrepreneurship, women's leadership, and community engagement. She currently leads Alya Al Hebshi Consultancy, a boutique consulting firm leveraging her experience.

Gaurav Anand, Vice President
Goldman Sachs, Richardson, Texas, United States
At Goldman Sachs, Gaurav serves as Head of Fraud Risk Strategy Asset and Wealth Management. With a degree in engineering from IIT Delhi, Gaurav is a leader in data science with over 15 years of experience in developing and implementing cutting-edge artificial intelligence, machine learning, and other analytical solutions to tackle challenging business issues.

Tirupathi Anand, Chief Strategist
Leap Business Excellence Advisory FZE, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Alain Roberto Berwa, Co-founder & CTO
Seal, New York City, New York, United States
Roberto Berwa is the founder and Chief Technology Officer of Seal, building accurate information gathering systems based on prediction markets. Roberto has previously worked as a founding Engineer of Vana and an early team member of Stacked. He holds a BS in Computer Science and Economics at MIT.

Andre Cox, CEO
M&I Group, London, United Kingdom

Edward David, Research Fellow 
University of Oxford, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
Edward is the McDonald Postdoctoral Fellow in Christian Ethics and Public Life at Christ Church, Oxford, and has served as an academic consultant for the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses UK program, based at Saïd Business School, for over a decade.

Abdul Jaleel Dudekula, Vice President
Goldman Sachs, Dallas, Texas, United States
Abdul Jaleel Dudekula is a platform engineering leader with 14 years of experience crafting robust, scalable infrastructure solutions. As Vice President and a leadership figure at Goldman Sachs, Abdul spearheads the development and maintenance of cutting-edge technology platforms critical to the firm's global operations.
 

Kellie Dyer, Founder
Keldy, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Pragmatic, versatile and adaptable, Kellie is a sought-after trainer, facilitator, on topics including business, innovation and commercialisation. She is highly sought after as a mentor and business advisor.  With a focus on helping others her goal is to help businesses build scalable, sustainable businesses and think beyond the balance sheet.

Lisa Galea, Disruptive Alchemist
Lisa Galea Consulting, Byron Hinterland, New South Wales, Australia
Lisa Galea, Disruptive Alchemist, has over 30 years of experience in advertising, design, and leadership. She leads transformative retreats and workshops at Sanctuary in the Pocket. Lisa is also an AI consultant and keynote speaker, specializing in turning chaos into clarity for business leaders.

Nikhil Jathar, CTO Director
AvanSaber Inc, Los Angeles, California, United States
Nikhil, a Computer Science graduate with a Master's in Information Technology, began his career at Accenture before founding AvanSaber. He pioneered innovations in mobile apps and SaaS platforms, notably ZapInventory and ZapERP. His leadership has led AvanSaber to financial success and industry recognition, with successful exits to companies in Hong Kong and the USA.

Dr. Abdelfattah Mahmoud, Freelancer
Consultant, Cairo, Egypt

Sudhir Makkar, Senior Manager
Accenture, Arlington, Virginia, United States
Sudhir is a Senior Manager at Accenture with 20+ years of experience in North America Supply Chain and Operations. He has worked on the implementations of SAP (S4HANA) transformation programs in the Retail, Beverage, Agriculture, Aerospace, Life Science, Pharma, and Food and Beverage verticals and has technical experience leading SCM digital transformation strategies.

Pragya Nahar, Director, Test Engineering IoT Wireless and Compute
Infineon Technologies, Cupertino, California, United States

Nilay Parikh, Founder and CEO
Arvist, Chicago, Illinois, United States
Nilay Parikh is the Founder and CEO of a supply chain tech startup in Chicago, USA. Prior to that he has worked in various multi national firms across US and Europe and holds a Masters Degree in Aerospace Engineering from USC.

Raja Patnaik, Director - Technical Architecture
RafterOne, Cumming, Georgia, United States
As a Director with over 17 years of experience in the technology industry, Raja honed his expertise in crafting and executing technology strategies that align with organizational goals. At RafterOne, his role involves overseeing architecture governance processes, driving enterprise architecture initiatives, and collaborating with stakeholders to deliver innovative solutions.

Robin Patra, Director Data, Analytics & AI
Arco constructions, San Francisco, California, United States
Robin Patra, a visionary leader with over two decades of expertise, has redefined data-driven innovation and digital transformation. Leading the Data & Digital Transformation division at ARCO Construction, Robin’s strategic insights and commitment to advanced analytics have propelled industry growth, enhanced operational efficiencies, and unlocked new revenue streams.

Vladislav Podolyako, Founder and CEO
Belkins Inc., Dover, Delaware, United States
Vladyslav is the founder & CEO of Belkins and Folderly He is a serial entrepreneur and investor with a decade of experience in building and growing service companies and SaaS startups in Sales- and MarTech.

Nikki Porcher, Founder
Buy From A Black Woman, Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Nikki Porcher is an award-winning Black Woman Advocate and founder of nonprofit organization Buy From A Black Woman. She’s made it her mission to empower, educate and inspire Black Women Business Owners; and to raise awareness for the need to support and #BuyFromABlackWoman.

Pradhuman Singh, Investment Banker
CDX Advisors, New York City, New York, United States
Pradhuman is a distinguished investment banker at CDX Advisors, renowned for his expertise in financial analysis, mergers and acquisitions, and strategic advisory. With a background in the financial sector, Pradhuman delivered comprehensive investment banking services, capital raising, and financial restructuring. His analytical skills and understanding of market dynamics enable him to craft tailored solutions.

Ali Shahami, CEO and Business Owner
R&K Immigration group, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Ali, president of R&K Immigration Group in Sydney and San Francisco, is an accomplished IT and immigration expert with over 20 years of experience. He holds a Doctorate in Business, a Master's in Migration Law, an advanced degree in U.S. Immigration Law, and a B.S. in Software Engineering.

Donna Stone, Director / Senior Coach
Stone Business Coaching, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Donna Stone is an entrepreneur, business coach, speaker, and published author. Prior to coaching, she grew her own multi-award-winning business in five Australian cities. With formal qualifications in Accounting, Marketing, Business Management, Training plus 35+ years of real-world experience, she earned the nickname ‘Uber Coach’ and swag of fantastic reviews.