As Secretary General of the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, H.E. Hassan Al Thawadi is responsible for coordinating among public and private entities to ensure that infrastructure and development projects are delivered in time for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

His appointment in 2011 as Secretary General followed his role as Chief Executive Officer in Qatar’s 2022 Bid Committee, in which he worked to promote Qatar’s ultimately successful attempt to bring the FIFA World Cup to the Middle East for the first time. In addition to this, he also serves as the Chief Executive Officer of the Local Organising Committee for the FIFA World Cup in 2022, responsible for organizing and staging the event.

A lawyer by profession, Al Thawadi previously served as General Counsel for Qatar Investment Authority and Qatar Holding. He holds board positions at Katara Hospitality, Qatar University (Colleges of Business and Economics, Humanities and Social Sciences), Qatar Chamber for Commerce and Industry, Qatar International Islamic Bank, and Msheireb Properties. Al Thawadi is a graduate in law from the University of Sheffield and speaks four languages.

After studying law, economics, and political science, in 1986, Philippe d’Ornano joined Sisley, the high-end cosmetics business founded by his father. Since his appointment as CEO in 2001, he has pursued the development of Sisley in the world, notably by creating the brand’s Asian subsidiaries and opening regional offices in Hong Kong, Miami, and Dubai.

Now president, d’Ornano runs a company that is present in more than 90 countries, employing 4,000 employees of 100 different nationalities. Additionally, he is co-chair of the “METI,” the French association of medium-sized companies, founded by Yvon Gattaz in 1995. He also chairs the “Syndicat Français des Produits de Beauté” and is director of the Federation of Beauty Enterprises.

An avid reader and literature enthusiast, d’Ornano has written several collections of poetry and short plays with his wife Mina. A father of three children, he loves nature, travelling, and sports, including surfing, skiing, tennis, swimming, and rugby.

Since 2014, Arnaud de Puyfontaine has been chair of the management board and chief executive officer of the French mass media conglomerate Vivendi. He started his career as a consultant for Arthur Andersen, and then worked as a project manager at Rhône-Poulenc Pharma before joining the newspaper Le Figaro as its executive director.

De Puyfontaine is a founding member of the magazine publisher the Emap group, and was appointed chair and chief executive officer in 1999. He led several mergers and acquisitions, and oversaw the company’s digital subsidiary. From there, de Puyfontaine transitioned to the European media company Mondadori France, and later became general manager of all its digital business. In 2009, he moved to Hearst UK, where he led the acquisition of 102 magazines and was eventually appointed executive vice president of Hearst Magazines International.

De Puyfontaine says that the unifying thread in Vivendi’s rich history is its ability to anticipate and reinvent itself, which requires constant innovation and new partnerships. He has been named a Knight of the National Order of the Legion of Honour, and awarded the Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. He is a graduate of the European business school ESCP, the Multimedia Institute, and Harvard Business School.

Model, actress, muse, and documentary filmmaker, Farida Khelfa was born in Vénissieux, France, to Algerian parents. As a model, she graced the podiums of the most talented designers of the 1980s—Jean-Paul Gaultier, Azzedine Alaïa, Thierry Mugler—incarnating a spirit and a look that hinted at rebelliousness while representing the diversity that was highly sought after during that era.

Inspired by her experiences in fashion, Khelfa started acting in films in the mid-1980s. In 1995, she joined Azzedine Alaïa’s design studio, and in 2002, she became the head of Jean Paul Gaultier’s Haute Couture salons. Two years later, Khelfa returned to the world of cinema, where she switched from actress to film direction in 2010. Her first documentary showcased the success story of Jean Paul Gaultier. Others followed, featuring subjects as divergent as the artistic youth of Tunisia after the revolution, the French presidential campaign of 2012, and the passion of shoe designer Christian Louboutin in 2014.

Fashion remains one of the main pillars in Khelfa’s life. Recently, she spent five years as the House of Schiaparelli’s ambassador, evoking the spirit of a multifaceted woman as embodied by the founder of this storied haute couture label.

As a member of the board of the Aurora Foundation, Birta Olafsdottir is extremely focused on the cross-genre dialogue that has been so important for the realization of Aurora’s projects. The Aurora Foundation aims to be a dynamic catalyst in development and culture by executing projects that provide a robust and permanent boost to communities. Olafsdottir helps the foundation fulfill its vision to nurture and cultivate the free and creative spirit of the mind to improve and enrich people’s lives.

Olafsdottir brings considerable experience and insight into the creative industries. She is an energetic and goal-oriented person with work experience as a production manager, creative director, and creative concept developer for various projects associated with the Iceland Design Center, STEiNUNN fashion label, and Festir real estate developer.

Mitch Weiss is an American photographer and visual artist. His photographs reflect the heritage of 17th century tenebrism paired with the techniques of mid-20th century large-format film photography. The setting of subjects against his signature dark field creates a meditative atmosphere that suspends time and focuses the viewer on the quintessence of each subject, stripping the celebrity from the famous and the mundane from the ubiquitous. Weiss complements his studio work with street photography and drawing.

Weiss’ artwork resides in private collections around the globe, and he photographs regularly on commission for patrons, national advertising campaigns, and magazines. Specializing in high-end portraiture, he has captured some of the most iconic faces in the world today, from Lady Gaga to Annie Leibovitz.

As part of his residency at the Northeastern Center for the Arts in 2014, Weiss was commissioned to create a series of photographs that abstractly represented the College of Arts Media and Design, of which he is a graduate. His resulting photographs explored symbols, scale, and materials to express the individuality of each discipline contained within the college.