Devika Valsaraj

Regional Director, People & Talent
MCN – Middle East Communications Network

With 17 + years of experience as an HR Leader in the MENA region, Devika has carved a niche in HR thought leadership on Culture, Analytics, aligning Business Strategy to Performance, Leadership Development and Employer Branding. She currently helms the People & Talent function of the advertising vertical comprises of award winning global agencies who have recently been Certified as a Great Place to Work™ ; FP7McCann MENAT, MullenLowe MENA, MRM MENAT, Commonwealth, McCann Health ME, Momentum ME and CRAFT. She has previously worked with C-Suite leaders across Real Estate development, asset management, malls, hospitality and leisure, and entertainment industries. Prior to MCN, she served 12 years with EMAAR, leading project teams across Culture Change Strategy and Communications, Digital Employee Experience and Engagement, People Analytics, and Compensation and Benefits. She is a vocal advocate for Diversity, Inclusion and Social Responsibility. An Executive MBA candidate from Hult International Business School, she is also a Certified GCHRO – OnCon, USA, Behavioural Spectrum Analyst (DISC and PIAV), CCBM, CPD, CPTP, Recruitment Analyst and Certified Trainer and Facilitator from AHRB. Her life’s mission is to serve as a catalyst to unlock human potential through Tech.

Farid Ahmed

DIRECTOR, MONSTARLAB BX

United Arab Emirates

Farid is a Director at MonstarLab BX based between London & Dubai, with over 22+ years experience with multinational and Big 4 consulting firms in about 40+ countries in various industries. He is an avid “Growth Mindset” promoter, seasoned board advisor, transformation leader specialized in Organization Development, Performance, Total Rewards and C Suite Leadership Coaching & Mentoring. He is a keynote speaker and panelist on various business strategy and people subjects in many EMEA & APAC conferences, forums and magazines. Farid has a bachelor’s degree in management information systems from Regis University in USA, master’s in organization development and psychology. He has also completed his executive studies post PG in Business & HR Strategy from the ILR School in Ithaca, NY, Cornell University.

Jeroen van der Schenk

Founder / Master Trainer, TRAINEROO.COM

Netherlands

Jeroen van der Schenk is master trainer and founder of Traineroo.com. He is passionate about unlocking (human) potential within organisations, teams and individuals. With his extensive 28+ years of experience in hospitality and training/coaching, Jeroen founded Traineroo.com to challenge the traditional learning & development approach. Focusing on experiential (gamified) learning journeys with measurable impact, increasing the long term effect of learning, and unlocking employee engagement through leadership development.

Sharara Al Ali

Learning & Development Specialist

United Arab Emirates

With the rapidly changing workplace values internationally, people management is the secret to success and sustainability of thriving organizations; however, executives have always focused on the customer success part of it while mainly overlooked the area concerning developing employees. Disruptive innovation, diversity, growth mindset, emotional intelligence, resilience, creativity, adaptability and collaboration are the skills for success in the world of the future. With a desire to make a difference, more than 20 years of experience, passion and commitment for continuous growth, together with the appreciation for the practical and a willingness to explore what’s possible, it is my mission to take part in building the learning organization culture, and to demonstrate the positive correlation between increasing employees’ satisfaction and happiness and strengthening the commercial effectiveness for the organization, using career development various tools. In a nutshell, it is all about translating the organizational strategies and visions to a comprehensive language to every individual, driving them to work together towards more success on the individual and organizational levels.

Hanadi El Sayyed

Founder and Managing Director, &humans Advisory

Hanadi El Sayyed is a strategic and transformational Human Resources Executive with over 20 years of experience in developing and implementing sustainable human capital strategies in the Real Estate industry. A corporate leader, Founder, and Entrepreneur, Hanadi is the principal and owner of And Humans Advisory, a management consulting firm based in Dubai, UAE. Through And Humans Advisory, she partners with some of the top regional conglomerates to develop and implement people-centered, innovative, and effective HR transformation programs that drive sustainable business success. Before founding And Humans Advisory, Hanadi held several leadership roles in human resources at Majid Al Futtaim, the leading shopping mall, communities, retail and leisure pioneer across the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. Additionally, she co-founded and successfully launched the first remote and project work platform for Executive and Expert level professionals in the MENA region. Hanadi is a well- regarded HR industry professional and has been recognized as one of the top 50 global future of work influencers. She is also a key opinion leader on the role of HR in progressing sustainability and ESG in organizations. Hanadi holds a Master’s degree from the University of London.

Leonie Tovell

Managing Director, Blink Consultancy

United Arab Emirates

Léonie is Managing Director of Blink, an international communication consultancy, that believes effective communication is the single most valuable skill individuals can master. Blink began in London in 2006 advising politicians and public figures on personal brand, evolving today into a bespoke training company that leverages existing and emerging scientific tools for measuring and changing how individuals shift stress, focus and performance. Consulting with People & HR Departments to provide: support, clarity and opportunities to develop thriving and effective working teams. Léonie specifically focuses on how brains behave in business; seeking to create connections and control over professional outcomes. Working within a wide variety of government and corporate sectors she combines hard skills such as powerful speaking, knowledge transfer and thought-provoking questioning with the softer skills of coaching, professional impact, protocol and body language, meaning that Léonie’s clients continue to impress in their private and commercial spheres.

Kristina Vaneva

VP, Employee Experience

Kristina Vaneva has resided in five countries and considers herself a citizen of the world. Having completed her Bachelor’s Degree in Communications and International Relations in Malta, she ventured to the UAE and has been living here since 2008. She also holds an MBA in Telecoms and a Master of Science in Applied Positive Psychology.
Having spent a little over thirteen years at Atlantis, The Palm, where she headed the Employee Engagement and Internal Communication Department for 3200 employees from 87 nationalities, Kristina is now in charge of the Employee Experience at Aldar in Abu Dhabi. Growing up in Libya, she adopted many examples from her maternal grandmother who, in the 80s and 90s, was in charge of employee wellbeing at a large Bulgarian oil company. Today, Kristina is on a mission to create instances that encourage and promote happiness and positivity at the workplace and in people’s personal lives.

Jules Housecroft

L&D and HR consultant

United Arab Emirates

Jules is a leadership and learning and development expert, consultant and certified coach who delivers with high-energy and is passionate about applicable learning and excellence. An experienced Head of Learning and Development she has a strong background in people management, performance management and change initiatives. Jules works with individuals and organizations throughout the Middle East and beyond to make a positive impact, guiding her students and clients to effectively strengthen and elevate their leadership, thought process and strategies. With over 24 years of corporate experience nothing excites Jules more than learning that makes a difference. Highly proficient in all areas of Learning & Development, Human Resources and coaching with a career history working in Regional, National and International Operations, HR and L&D roles across the hospitality sector in the UK and Middle East, Jules possesses a track record of success delivering and impacting to the highest standards. A CIPD tutor and ILM facilitator, a qualified coach, IQA and Assessor.

Eugene Goh

Co-founder, HireQuotient

Eugene Goh is the co-founder of HireQuotient, a Singapore-based startup that creates virtual interviewers that help organisations assess business skills holistically. HireQuotient works with top international firms like Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and other leading organisations to assess their talent pool for the skills needed to succeed in the job. Prior to HireQuotient, Eugene also co-founded TalentKraft, a strategy consulting firm that focuses on helping SMEs and startups address their HR challenges, including recruiting process efficiency, employer branding, employee engagement and retention, and many others. Eugene started his career in the Singapore civil service, then spent 8.5 years at BCG, where he worked in their Singapore, Oslo and Dubai offices, with a focus on strategy and sustainability topics. Eugene has a BA (Politics, Philosophy and Economics) and an MSc in Economics for Development from the University of Oxford.

Amritaa Gupta

Founder, The Happiness HQ

United Arab Emirates

Amritaa Gupta Nair is the Chief Program Director & Founder of The Happiness HQ, an initiative she started in 2018 with the intention of helping people curate the best version of their lives and guide corporates realize the maximum potential from their teams. Apart from being a student of Psychology & a Certified Life Coach, Amritaa is a Faculty of Art of Living, a Certified Neuro-Linguistic Programming Practitioner, and a Certified Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Practitioner. Amritaa has significant experience in the corporate sector across India, Oman, UAE, and the US and was a special educator in Georgia, USA.
Amritaa is currently based in Dubai, UAE and her coaching clients span across India, Dubai, USA, UK, Singapore, Bahrain and Portugal.

Dr. Louise Lambert

Head of Happiness Research & Policy Design, Happiness Matters

United Arab Emirates

Dr Louise Lambert, PhD, is a Registered Psychologist (College of Alberta Psychologists, Canada), Researcher and Consultant with 20 years of experience in counselling, mental health, higher education and research, and primary healthcare. She has lived in the UAE for 10 years doing organizational and educational consulting, with clients such as Masdar, Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, KAUST (KSA), Teacherly (UK), and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (Portugal). She is a prolific researcher in the field of wellbeing and has several peer-reviewed publications in positive psychology and the empirical strategies used to attain greater subjective wellbeing. Currently the Head of Happiness Programming and Policy Design with HappinessMatters.org, she is also the podcast host of “A world of wellbeing” in partnership with Gallup (Washington, DC) and the Global Wellbeing Initiative. Dr Lambert is the founder and Editor of the Middle East Journal of Positive Psychology, a peer-reviewed academic journal dedicated to regional wellbeing.

Soha Chahine

Founder, Forward Training & Consulting FZE | Corporate Coach & Trainer

United Arab Emirates

Soha is a multiple award-winning corporate coach and trainer, and Founder of Forward Training & Consulting FZE. She specializes in emotional intelligence, leadership, and team coaching. Soha’s career spans over a decade in corporate HR, with a proven track record of serving Fortune 500 companies in diverse industries.
Aside from possessing a master’s degree in human resource management & training and being qualified through the Chartered Institute of Personal Development (CIPD), Soha is certified in Diversity & Inclusion, NLP, Team Coaching, Lego Serious Play, and is also a certified practitioner of many psychometric assessments, including EQ-I 2.0, EQ 360, MBTI, Leadership Circle Profile, and R@w Resilience.
In addition to her credentials and accomplishments, Soha has also contributed her expertise to the Board Advisory Committee for one industry and serving as a judge for this year’s upcoming "Employee Experience Awards &with Awards International.
As a forward-thinking coach and trainer focused on the skills and competencies needed for the future of work, Soha enables organizations to nurture their people, reach their full potential, and propel their organization to success.

Craig Lee

Independent Advisor & Partner, Kinetic Consulting Services

United Arab Emirates

Craig Lee is a senior advisor in business growth and transformation, with a focus on employee experience as a key driver of business success. With extensive experience across various industries and a background as a Strategy & Transformation Director and CX Lead, Craig challenges leaders to connect the dots between brands, leadership, and customer experience. As an international keynote speaker and trusted advisor, Craig delivers actionable strategies for driving profitable and sustainable business transformation. Based in Dubai, UAE, Craig is a sought-after expert in customer experience, sustainability and business growth.

Faran Niaz

CEO & Founder | CX Future

United Arab Emirates

Faran Niaz is CEO & Founder of ‘CX Future’ where it’s all about Customer Experience. His passion is working with organizations to help develop a culture that ensures not just for customers to come back, customer retention, but to create deeply loyal customers. Making a difference in terms of how organizations approach a customer and how they deliver great & exceptional experiences. Helping organizations to create that kind of a magnitude of experience that helps enhance their CX to maximize ROI & STAR Ratings. Faran Niaz is listed amongst the ‘Top 100 Global CX thought Leaders’ and is also the co-author of the Best Seller Book on Amazon ‘Customer Experience 4 – CX4’. He has over 25 years experience as an accomplished Customer Experience, Customer Centricity, employee engagement and change management expert with some of the top financial Institutions in the world including Citibank, Mashreq & ADIB. He has been an architect of winning multiple CX awards and creating a unique record of moving one of the Banks in UAE from 23 rd to No.1 Bank in Customer Experience and maintaining it for record 7 consecutive years. He is an Internationally recognized Motivation & Keynote Speaker and Awarded by ‘Awards International’ as the most experienced ‘CX Judge’ chairing over 30 events globally.
His Consultancy, CX Future helps organizations elevate and transform their customer experience to the next level with a mission to solve organizations pains in customer engagement across various channels and processes using advanced CX Maturity Matrix models providing in-depth analysis and evaluation based on VOC metrics, NPS, CSS, CES surveys, customer centric design, Employee engagement, Agile journey mapping, and digital transformation in line with global CX Benchmarks. Faran also helps organizations prepare and WIN! prestigious International CX Awards to recognize, celebrate and showcase their achievements in the field of customer experience at Global stage. Faran is also an Award winning Photographer with his work exhibited in Italy, Thailand, United Arab Emirates and Pakistan.

Carolyn Manyapye

VP of Innovation and CX, Emerge Consulting Services

United Arab Emirates

“Creating great Customer Happiness and Experience is the core of what Carolyn stands for. Carolyn is currently working for Emerge Consulting Services as the VP of Innovation and CX, her role is to advise customers in the EMEA region on the latest innovative technologies, and help them get closer to their customers by digitally transforming their businesses. Carolyn has a total of 17 years of experience where she has worked on projects where she assisted various organizations with implementingCustomer happiness departments and implementing/drafting CX strategies.She has also worked in customer success roles with various multinational organizations.In today’s world, organizations will have to rapidly re-engineer themselves and be more responsive to the changing customer needs and ensuring their happiness. EMERGE Consulting is well-positioned to be a partner and co-innovator to businesses in their transformation journey, identifying new growth opportunities, and facilitating their foray into new sectors and markets.”

Vijayan Pankajakshan

Dean – HR Academics, CHRO & Head Career Management Centre | WE School

India

“Vijayan Pankajakshan is the Dean-HR Academics, CHRO &; Head- Career Management Centre @ WeSchool, Mumbai , one of India’s Top Business Schools. He is involved in teaching PG students, designing and delivering MDP programmes/assignments, Assessment &; Development Centres, Mentoring of Students &; other Institutional roles as well. His areas of interest include PMS, Organisation Culture, Positive Employee Relations, Organisation Development and building organisations. He is a Gold Medallist from the 1984 Batch @ TISS, Mumbai , with academic leadership experience of 13 + years( commenced 2009), following a corporate career spanning , 25 years ,during 1984-2009. He has held responsible roles in Personnel Management, Industrial Relations, HRD, OD, TQM and Manufacturing in a range of industries, both in India and overseas. This included a nine year stint with Marico ,when he was the first HR professional to be job rotated as Manufacturing Head in one of Marico's plant locations. His last corporate role was Director- Human Resources with CHEP India Pvt Ltd ( a Brambles Company). He holds certification in GPHR( HCRI) , SHRM- CP ( SHRM). He is currently President ,NHRDN, Mumbai Chapter, and with EFI as Member- Core Committee .In the latter role, he has been closely associated with the conceptualisation &; execution of ‘ Pathways to Excellence: Awards for Best IR/ER ‘ .( Five cycles completed: Launched 2011) He has attended many Executive Education &; Development programmes, including, at Harvard University, Harvard Business School &; Cornell- Singapore campus. A team led by him ,won the runner up position in the Secondary Case writing competition for HR Faculty, conducted by CII- Western Zone ( EdgeFarm: February 2016) He has consulted across industries and organisations- including Government departments/organisations- in the space of Assessment /Development Centres, Workshop Design and Facilitation, Developing and Aligning HR strategy and Executive Coaching. He has designed and hosted Business , People &; HR centric Quiz Shows for students, NHRDN &; Corporates.”

Joseph Abourous

Founder and Senior Consultant | AmPOWERED

United Arab Emirates

“Joseph is an accomplished leadership development specialist, facilitator, and coach with a proven track record of success in enhancing employee engagement, productivity, and customer experience. With over 25 years of experience working with regional and global organizations from various industries, Joseph’s expertise in HR and leadership development has made him a key leader in transforming workplace cultures and improving organizational capabilities. As a seasoned consultant, Joseph has successfully led culture transformation initiatives for multiple organizations across various industries. With over 25 years of experience in HR and leadership development, Joseph has the expertise to identify and address the underlying cultural issues that may hinder an organization’s growth and productivity. By working closely with organizational leaders, Joseph formulates and implements strategies that promote a positive culture, enhance employee engagement, and foster collaboration. Joseph’s approach to culture transformation has proven effective in improving organizational capabilities, customer experience, and profitability. Joseph has facilitated executive and leadership interventions, development, and team effectiveness workshops for organizations. Additionally, Joseph has applied his expertise in the field of Nationalisation across the GCC countries, managing and establishing national development units and strategies for the banking and aviation sectors. Joseph has helped countless HR teams implement change management programs to improve productivity and efficiency in organizations. He has installed talent frameworks that facilitate the identification of high potential, development, succession, and talent mobility, and has enhanced HR efficiency and impact by optimizing HRBP capabilities, streamlining HR policy and processes to ensure fit for purpose is achieved.”

Joe Segean

Founder at People, Not Numbers

United Arab Emirates

“Joe Sejean is a consultant coach and is the founder People, Not Numbers consultancy and podcast show www.peoplenotnumbers.co. He also founded the network Eleven (1+1=11) www.11network.co that gathers the best professionals in People Engagement.
Joe is based in Dubai. His focus to transform teams of executives with a format of immersive coaching adventures over 9–12-month cycles.
He comes with 16 years experience in the GCC, Europe and Asia and is an expert in Retail (Operations and Management), Luxury, Omnichannel, Digital Adoption, Customer and Employee Engagement.
He counts clients like Hermès, Patek Philippe, Versace, Ferragamo, Gucci and B Braun (Healthcare), Barclays (Private banking), Radio Holland and 3C Metal (Engineering).
The 4 topics Joe’s client need the most are Performance, Mindset, Experience (customer and employees), and Culture.

Heike Lieb-Wilson

CEO & Founder, Brightly Labs

United Arab Emirates

“Dr. Heike Lieb-Wilson is a dynamic entrepreneur based in the United Arab Emirates, and the founder of both Brightly Labs and a boutique consultancy firm. Her positive energy and bubbly personality have earned her the nickname Mrs Brightly, which she has used as the name for her wellness brand.
Heike is a single mother of two beautiful children and a seasoned business leader with extensive experience in the fashion industry, having worked for some of the world's high-end leading fashion brands. Her entrepreneurial spirit and endless energy have enabled her to become an innovative, creative, and selfless person who dedicates her time and resources to bettering the lives of others.
Wellness is a huge part of Heike's life, and she remains committed to helping others live a healthy lifestyle through her Brightly Labs brand. As a C-level management consultant, she also provides business strategy services to mainly European corporations, start-ups, and smaller brands seeking to enter the GCC market. Her consultancy firm combines an in-depth understanding of the local and regional markets with the know-how from hands-on operational experience to devise optimal strategies for her clients.
Heike is an influential leader with international experience and a sustained record of success in the retail marketplace. Her expertise includes strategic thinking, business development, sales and marketing, e-commerce, operations and logistics, people management, customer relationship building, financial planning, and regional experience across the Middle East, Europe, and America. She is a trusted advisor to some of the region's influential businesses and is often called upon to solve business challenges that defy conventional solutions.”

Saima Ahmad

Group Director – Human Resources | EFS

Saima Ahmad is a self-driven professional with robust knowledge of Human Resource Management. She has 18+ years of progressive HR experience and is associated to the organization with a transformation or growth agenda in core HR functions including talent management, recruitment, administration, employee relations, engagement welfare to enhance the overall employee experience. At EFS, she hones the global HR team to provide seamless solutions for EFS across the Middle East, Africa, South Asia, Turkey and Europe.

Maha Zaatari

Workplace Culture, Employee Engagement, and Leadership Advisor

“Maha Zaatari is a Workplace Culture, Employee Engagement, and Leadership Advisor. Maha was the Managing Director for Great Place to Work® MEA for 7 years. During her time with GPTW, Maha had the opportunity to lead many projects in the region and help many companies become great workplaces and many leaders to become better leaders. Maha has extensive experience with government and multinational organizations in the UAE, KSA, and the rest of the Middle east. Maha worked closely with Dubai Police as a consultant for the Happiness and Positivity council for more than 5 years. Smart Dubai, DEWA, Ministry of Tolerance, FAHR, Dubai Chamber, Dubai Police Academy, DHL, FEDEX, CISCO, DELL, Hilton, Dubai Future Foundation, and Ajman government, were all clients that Maha worked closely with on different employee engagement projects.
Maha started her career in HR line Management where she held different HR positions and handled different HR responsibilities Like recruitment, performance management and employee relations. Maha then moved to the Management Consulting industry in 2010 when she joined AON Hewitt as an HR Management Consultant.
Maha spoke in many conferences regionally and globally to share her hands-on experience and case studies. Maha is passionate about employee engagement and workplace”

Kerry Lee

Learning and Development Professional

Kerry is a Learning and Development professional, a Coach and a life-long learner with an insatiable curiosity about people and cultures. Kerry’s curiosity has resulted in decades of international work across multiple industries including Tech, Aviation, Retail, Hospitality, Power, Oil & Gas and Education. Her career has spanned all levels of people development from formal education, academic and vocational to corporate and start-ups.
Kerry is driven by the belief that everyone has their own form of genius, but it remains untapped because of the systems within which we work.
She strongly believes that organizations have the opportunity to build engaged, healthy, high performing teams through recognizing and developing innate talents. Furthermore, by leveraging the cognitive diversity that exists within organizations and teams, especially within the UAE, there is an opportunity to solve complex problems and create truly innovative solutions that current structures and thinking limit.

Deepak Manek

VP of HR for APAC, INDIA & META at IDEMIA

United Arab Emirates

“Deepak Manek is the VP of HR for APAC, India and META at IDEMIA, a multinational technology company and a leader in identity technologies.
A passionate senior HR leader with a dynamic personality, Deepak has almost 2 decades of experience spread across five continents and diverse HR functions.
Deepak started his career in Dubai and in the years that followed, he went on to live and work in the UK, Cameroon, and the US.
He believes working in different countries with diverse groups of people has been personally enriching and rewarding while adding greater depth and dimension to his professional experience.”

Karim El Horr

Project Director, Ròya International

Originally from Lebanon, Karim brings more than 20 years of experience in property operations and corporate management. Starting his career with the InterContinental Group in Beirut, he then moved to the Fairmont the Palm in Dubai, before joining FairmontBab Al Bahr in Abu Dhabi as part of the Hotel Executive committee. Karim then joined Millennium Hotels and Resorts Middle East and Africa as Director of Operations, where he was responsible for 52different hotels. He now oversees Ròya’s growing portfolio of prestigious hotels, whilst also offering his insights to new builds and strategic advisory projects.

Pankaj

Managing Partner, COrE Creators

India

Pankaj, Managing Partner, COrE Creators India, has a deep understanding of fundamentals of business & people and believes in the power of collective wisdom in any group. He leverages this  understanding to partner an organisation’s journey of change & growth and enables sustainable change through inclusive decision-making and facilitative leadership practices.
Pankaj has over 30 years of experience in Human Resources &  Organization Development as a practitioner & facilitator in partnering organizations in their growth journey. Over the last 16+ years, with over 100 organizations spanning India, M.E & S.E. Asia, he has brought his expertise in designing and facilitating organization & leadership development through collaborative planning, learning and change processes that have enabled organization growth.
In his first 16 years, Pankaj worked across several roles at Marico Limited. His contributions enabled creation of a distinct culture that has sustained Marico’s business success.

Kanika

Head of Learning & Development
Medcare Hospitals & Medical Center

“I am a highly motivated and accomplished professional with a passion for creating careers that matter personally and professionally. With a proven track record of success in Learning & Leadership development, talent management, Mentoring and Coaching, I bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to every project I undertake. Through my dedication to excellence, strategic thinking, and strong interpersonal skills, I consistently deliver results that exceed expectations.
With over 16 years of experience in Human Resources, I have honed my skills in Learning & Development. I have a solid foundation in Psychology that has helped me achieve success in delivering positive and impactful coaching to senior leaders.
My expertise lies in creating Learning and development strategy in alignment with organizational goals, including Talent development, Leadership development, Process Improvements, Customer and Employee centricity. I possess a strong ability to manage diverse teams and stake holders. I am adept at working with cross cultural teams and across multiple regions. My combination of technical knowledge, analytical thinking, and creative problem-solving enables me to tackle complex issues and devise innovative solutions.
I believe in a collaborative and employee-centric approach. By actively listening to my stakeholders needs and objectives, I can develop tailored strategies and solutions that align with their vision. I value open communication and transparency, fostering strong relationships built on trust and respect. I am dedicated to delivering exceptional results and exceeding organization expectations at every stage of the project.
Beyond my professional endeavors, I am deeply passionate about reading and helping girl child by supporting them in their education to make them independent. I actively contribute to philanthropists that promote education. This commitment helps me remain positive to create an impact and meaningful change within my community and beyond.”