Her Excellency Hend Al Otaiba, founder and CEO of HAO Strategies, and former UAE Ambassador to France, will deliver the opening keynote at MEPRA's UAE Leadership Majlis on 23 June in Abu Dhabi.
Al Otaiba is a MEPRA Fellow with a career spanning communications, diplomacy and global affairs. She served as UAE Ambassador to France from 2021 to 2024, and previously held the role of first director of the strategic communications department at the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, where she also served as the ministry's spokesperson. Earlier in her career, she spent five years as Director of Strategic Communications at Abu Dhabi Media and played a role in communications around the Louvre Abu Dhabi project during her time at the Tourism Development and Investment Company.
Now in its eleventh edition, the Majlis returns under the theme "Emerging Stronger: Shaping What Comes Next," bringing together senior communications leaders from corporate, government and agency backgrounds. The programme includes data-led keynotes, panel discussions and interactive roundtables covering resilience, stakeholder trust and internal communications.
In a previous statement, Justin Kerr-Stevens, Chairman at MEPRA and founder of Doha-headquartered Northbourne Advisory, said the event gives industry leaders the opportunity to "collectively define what comes next," adding: "At a time when our region continues to navigate rapid transformation, the role of communications has never been more critical."