Board and Executive Team

David Laliberte Chairperson  Executive Director - Legal Digital 14 LLC

David Laliberte is a Canadian lawyer with more than 20 years of experience across the telecommunications, technology, media, and legal industries. His broad areas of expertise include corporate governance, technology law, intellectual property law, strategic planning, regulatory compliance and privacy. Throughout his career, he has held various counsel and leadership positions at organizations including Dentons LLP, Baker & McKenzie, Rogers Communications, BlackBerry and Microsoft.

In his current role as Executive Director, Legal, at Digital 14 LLC in Abu Dhabi, he leads a team of six professionals responsible for all legal and regulatory matters including commercial transactions, intellectual property and interactions with regulatory agencies. Until the end of 2015, he served as Director of Intellectual Property Policy at Microsoft in Redmond, Washington, where he was responsible for driving the company’s IP strategy, positioning, and engagement in several jurisdictions, including Europe, India and Canada.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts, with honors, in Public Policy and Administration from York University and a Master of Business Administration and Juris Doctorate in Law from the University of Ottawa. He is quite knowledgeable about the roles and responsibilities of board members having worked alongside board leadership on numerous projects throughout his career as well as by serving as Chairman of the Board of the Centre Francophone de Toronto.

Dhia Hussain Vice Chairperson  Head, Client Relations Al Masaood Power Division

Dhia Hussain has over 35 years of experience in the areas of Technical and Project management, ship building, strategic planning and organizational excellence. He was involved in Major projects as project manager with ADNOC and other companies in the region. Passionate about energy efficiency in the marine market by promoting niche technologies. Active in organizational excellence program in Abu Dhabi & Dubai through the role of team leader in Sheik Khalifa excellence award, Dubai Health Authority and other private & governmental entities. Dhia Hussain is UK Bachler graduate in Marine Engineering and master’s in project management.

Faiza Usman Treasurer  Senior Vice President, Financial Planning & Business Performance Mubadala Investment Company

Faiza Usman is Senior Vice President of the Financial Planning and Business Reporting unit at Mubadala Investment Company. She is a Canadian Chartered Accountant with more than 20 years of experience in developing and building teams, strategies systems and processes to elevate the efficiency of the accounting and finance function of action-driven organizations. Before moving to the UAE, Faiza was responsible for internal controls, statutory reporting, management reporting, and taxation at various leading Canadian-based companies including KPMG, Bell Canada and Barrick Gold. Faiza holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from York University, is a Canadian Chartered Accountant (CA) Certified Public Accountant as recognized by the State of Illinois, and a certified Project Management Professional (PMP).

Antoine Chamy Secretary and Head of Membership

Antoine Chamy has over 35 years of experience with a worldwide knowledge and contacts in different field, including insurance, healthcare and big contracts negotiation.  His role in Al Jaber Group covers taking care of all insurance matters including claim recovery of the group, negotiating and underwriting all insurance contracts with local and international insurance companies, risk management analysis and consultancy, and evaluation, adjustment and settlement of claims.  In 1998, he was assigned the administration department and started taking care of all administrative matters such as general coordination between all departments and offices, custodian of all legal documents, as well as, transactions and business records analyzing and organizing office operations and procedures, and, placing advertising and promotions orders. He organized all Al Jaber group events as well as representing and promoting the Group in different events. He was also the Chairman consultant in many issues, and taking care of his private affairs, including aircrafts and real estate purchase. In 1992, Antoine Chamy was in the board of directors of Union Franco Arabe d'Assurance (UFA), an insurance company created in Saudi Arabia, and having its Head Office in Beirut.

Hani Abu Ghazaleh Board Director Chief Operating Officer Mental

Hani Abu Ghazaleh is an entrepreneur and interactive media expert with more than 20 years of experience in console, mobile games and Virtual Reality development. He served as an executive at several international companies that include Ubisoft, Activision in North America and the Middle East. He co-founded Mental VR in 2018, a software development company specialized in Learning and Development Virtual Reality software.

Majd Abu Zant Board Director Acting Chief Executive Officer UE Medical Services

Majd Abu Zant has an extensive background in healthcare management, and brings a wealth of international and regional experience to UEMedical’s network of hospitals and clinics. Since joining in 2007, he has been a driving force behind the successful collaborations with leading international healthcare providers, creating strong partnerships to enhance and promote quality healthcare services in the UAE. In his role as Acting Chief Executive Officer of UEMedical, and CEO of HealthPlus Medical Services, he oversees the planning and execution of key healthcare projects across the group. Mr. Abu Zant holds a Master’s degree in Healthcare Management from the Royal College of Surgeons, Ireland (RCSI) and a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology and Immunology from McGill University, Canada.

Hans Fraikin Board Director CEO Libra Project Asset Management

Hans Fraikin was born in Montreal, Canada, but he is a citizen of the world, having lived and worked in 10 countries around the globe (Canada, USA, France, England, Switzerland, Sweden, Japan, Korea, Indonesia, and the UAE). As a result, he speaks four languages and is renown as a “cultural decoder”. He has experience in the private sector (Twentieth Century Fox; ViaCarla technologies), in the public sector (Telefilm Canada), and in the non-for-profit sector with the Quebec Film and Television Council, where he was the CEO and commissioner for the last decade. Mr. Fraikin has served on many Boards, including the AFCI (Association of Film Commissioners International) in Los Angeles, the OCCQ (l’Observatoire de la culture et des communications du Quebec) and the CBC (Canadian Business Council) Abu Dhabi.

Kimberli Jeffery Board Director and Head of Events Consultant - Industry Engagement Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT)

Kimberli Jeffery is a Canadian born and raised healthcare professional that came to the region with the intention, like many, to stay for a short period. Twelve years, two kids, four management positions in hospitals, medical devices, and software industries, and quite a few moves later, she finds herself back in Abu Dhabi with a renewed sense of excitement for where healthcare is headed in the region. She currently holds the title of Consultant - Industry Engagement at Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT) and VP, Healthcare and Innovation at KBNordic Consulting, and focuses mainly on bringing new and innovative technologies from The Nordic and Canadian regions, helping them to establish connections, funding, distributorship, strategy, regional representation and set up, marketing and organizational support. Other interests that this new board member would be more than happy to discuss with you include biohacking, hockey (Canadians don’t feel the need to specify “ice”;), do we?), and her love of all things fitness, especially Crossfit.

Lina Hussain Board Director  Digital Associate Brunswick Group

Lina Hussain is a Digital Associate based in Brunswick’s Abu Dhabi office. Since joining in April 2020, she has provided digital communications support across multiple sectors and transactions including healthcare, private equity, finance, arts, M&A, and government services. Prior to joining Brunswick, she worked in a Canadian film and television company managing production budgets and post-production delivery for multi-million-dollar projects, and as a digital content and community manager driving the development, implementation and management of multimedia projects across the MENA region. Lina is a graduate of Screen Production and Journalism from Murdoch University, and speaks English and Arabic.

Katherine Verrier-Fréchette Board Director Managing Director (MENA) Awz Horizons Ltd.

Katherine Verrier-Fréchette is the Managing Director of Awz Horizons, a subsidiary of Canadian VC Fund Awz Ventures being registered in ADGM. She is responsible for Awz’s activities throughout the MENA region (except Israel). Previously, Katherine was a management consultant with McKinsey & Company’s Middle East Office. She served McKinsey’s public sector clients across the Middle East, Africa and Asia on strategy and implementation. She also supported clients’ capability building. Katherine is also a former senior Canadian diplomat. She shaped Canada’s vision and strategy in foreign contexts and represented Canada at the highest levels of government. She concluded her ~2 decades in the Foreign Service as Head of Mission (Ambassador-equivalent). Throughout her career, Katherine has advised leaders ranging from CEOs to community figures and from senior officials to ministers and heads of governments. She has also excelled at building bridges, partnerships and coalitions to sustain progress and innovation. Katherine has lived in the UAE since 2017 with her two dogs. She enjoys art and culture, in particular calligraphy, loves to discover the world, and is a committed dilettante yogi.

Alex George Embassy Representative Counsellor (Commercial) and Trade Program Manager Embassy of Canada in the UAE

Alex George has been the Trade Program Manager at the Embassy of Canada in Abu Dhabi since August 2019. Prior to this assignment he was the Senior Trade Commissioner at the Consulate General of Canada in Ho Chi Minh City from 2016-2019, where he led a team dedicated to assisting Canadian companies pursue business opportunities in Vietnam. Previously, he worked in the Investment Trade Policy division at Global Affairs Canada where he negotiated investment provisions in Canada’s free trade agreements, including the original Transpacific Partnership (TPP). From 2010-2013 he was posted at the Embassy of Canada in Manila where he led the Office of Liaison with the Asian Development Bank (ADB). He has had headquarters assignments with Global Affairs Canada as a Desk Officer for Southeast Asia and also in the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) unit where he worked on Canada’s first CSR policy in the extractive sector. Prior to joining the Canadian government, he worked in the private sector as a telecommunications engineer. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering and an MBA specialising in International Business from McGill University. 

Gregory Zoughbi Past Chairperson Director of Business Development, Middle East, Africa and Central Asia L3Harris Technologies

Gregory (Greg) Zoughbi is the past Chairperson of the Canadian Business Council (CBC) Abu Dhabi and is Director of Business Development, Middle East, Africa and Central Asia for L3Harris Technologies. Throughout his career, he held positions of increased responsibility in strategy and business development, project management, consulting, and engineering of mission-critical systems with organizations including UAE Center of Excellence, CAE Inc., General Dynamics, and BMW. A published author with multiple awards and professional certifications, he has an MBA from Alliance Manchester Business School, a master’s in electrical engineering from Carleton University, and s bachelor’s in computer engineering from McGill University.