Meet our Ambassadors

About GFG’s Ambassadorship Program

We envision a Gulf For Good Ambassador to be an individual who promotes the mission, goals and core values (Compassion, Community, Courage, Fun, Trust and Teamwork) of Gulf for Good. The role of a GFG Ambassador will be to serve as a representative of the organization, in a volunteer capacity, and to help raise awareness and support for our challenges and charity initiatives. GFG’s Ambassadors may use their influence, networks, and public platform to spread the GFG message, participate in fundraising efforts, attending events and meetings, and provide support and guidance to the Board and Ops Team where appropriate. In some circumstances, they may also act as liaison between GFG and external stakeholders such as donors, partners, and media outlets.

Program Goals:

1. Increase visibility

The Ambassador will help increase our visibility through advocating our challenges, charity initiatives and overall mission and vision.

2. Sponsorship/Fundraising

Ambassadors will actively create opportunities, open doors to potential partnerships and establish connections with people and organizations that could assist with sponsorship, fundraising and partnering with GFG either financially or in-kind and spread awareness about GFG’s upcoming challenges and charity initiatives.

3. Outreach

Ambassadors will engage new audiences and stakeholders by reaching out to individuals who may not have heard of GFG before, but who could potentially become supporters, challengers or partners.

4. Impact

A GFG Ambassador will aim to increase the impact of our work by mobilizing a network of dedicated and passionate supporters who can help amplify the organization's message and reach a wider audience.

Pakistan’s most successful female high-altitude mountaineer.

She is the first and only Pakistani woman to climb eight peaks above 8,000 metre. Kiani is the first Pakistani woman to climb all Pakistan’s highest peaks above 8,000-metre. Kiani is also the fastest Pakistani (male or female) to climb all Pakistani 8,000-metre peaks and eight peaks above 8,000-metre in two years.

Halima Jumani is Director and part of the founding family of award winning Kibsons Online Home Delivery Service, which focuses on distributing fresh, healthy food directly from market-to-door for thousands of UAE residents. Halima has worked at Kibsons for over ten years, having seen the company go from strength to strength and leading the expansion through the practical challenges of implementing several projects/initiatives in the world of operations and trading. Today, Halima oversees all finance and operations for Kibsons and a team of over 1500 across the business and over 30,000 orders weekly.

Recently, Kibsons e-commerce has won several accolades and awards including BBC Good Food Awards, RetailME Awards, Entrepreneur Middle East, Arabian Business and Emirates Woman for leadership, innovation, customer service and the best grocery delivery service in town.

When she is not working, Halima loves to spend time with her family, particularly her three children aged 13, 19 and 20. Good nutrition, health and fitness are an integral part of their family routine with all three children passionate about sport and each of them having the honour of representing Australia in junior squash at international tournaments across the globe

GFG Challenger of the Year

Shali is a corporate communications strategy professional who is enjoying living and working in the UAE. An American of South Asian descent, she is a proud ‘second culture kid’ and enjoys the unique life perspective that only viewing the world with more than one cultural lens can provide. She is passionate about helping people in need around the world, especially children, and has taken on charitable causes from a young age.

Recently, she joined the Kilimanjaro Charity Challenge in support of the Larchfield Children’s Home in Tanzania. Her effort on the challenge garnered her the recognition of Challenger of the Year from Gulf for Good, and she hopes to use her account of the mountain climb to move others to pursue a charitable cause. She lives in Dubai with her husband Keenan and their two boys, Kieran and Devin.

Derek arrived and settled in Dubai in late 1985; working in various IT fields, until his retirement in mid 2018. Having been raised in Alexandria, Egypt, in his early years, he is an Arabic speaker. In fact Derek has spent more than half of his life in the middle east, which has helped him build a wide network of contacts, in many walks of life.

He has undertaken several challenges with Gulf for Good, over the years, starting with Kilimanjaro in 2003, and more recently volunteering in Malawi, at the Sparkle Foundation. In addition, Derek has trekked in Bhutan, Vietnam, Patagonia, Cambodia, Kazakhstan and India. Like many Gulf for Goodies, he is an avid traveller, having visited 67 countries and lived in 8 of them. His current bucket list includes Iceland, Namibia, Cuba, and Tajikistan.

Born and raised in Liverpool, Mark started his career as Civil Engineer and spend 20 years working in the Construction Industry across a multiple of sectors. He moved to the UAE in 2008 and has been involved in many high-profile construction projects across the Emirates.

He currently leads the McLaren Construction business in the Middle East. With a passion for lifelong learning, he most recently completed his MSc in Construction Project Management at Heriot Watt University.Outside of work Mark enjoys playing golf (badly), networking, and mentoring up and coming talent with the construction industry.

His passion for golf and supporting those less fortunate, has enabled him to facilitate various golf days to support local charitable organizations and individuals. His extensivenetwork combined with his enthusiastic nature will support and expand the Gulf for Good activities.