Middle East Leadership Initiative
Developing and connecting a new generation of purpose-driven leaders in the Middle East
Who We Are
The Middle East Leadership Initiative (MELI) brings together proven leaders across sectors in the Middle East to apply their unique skills and platforms to solving pressing societal challenges in their communities and the region.
MELI curates a diverse community of locally-rooted and globally-connected leaders, equipping them with the self-awareness, courage, and community to enable their potential for positive impact. The two-year Fellowship deepens Fellows’ capacity to lead with purpose and integrity and connects them to a growing community of leaders working toward a more just, prosperous, and resilient Middle East.
Using the time-tested Aspen Institute method of text-based dialogue and building upon the Institute’s 75+ year commitment to values-based, action-oriented leadership, the program provides Fellows with the platform and perspectives necessary for effective leadership.
Since its founding in 2009 by Henry Crown Fellows Chadia El Meouchi Naoum and Shane Tedjarati, MELI has connected more than 100 leaders across the Middle East. They come from a variety of sectors, including the arts, media, finance and banking, civil society, community development, technology, and more. MELI Fellows join a growing community of more than 4,200 other Fellows from 62+ countries as part of the Aspen Global Leadership Network (AGLN).
Our Approach
Our community of leaders embrace an ambitious mindset for what’s possible. Across all sectors, Fellows come together under one north star of regional and community prosperity and well-being.
Building Fellowship
MELI brings together a highly diverse community of proven, high-integrity leaders for something rare: the time and space to pause, reflect, and refine how they lead at home, at work, and in the world. We seek leaders at a personal inflection point, willing to deeply explore their values and build authentic connections across national, sectoral, and ideological lines.
Over two years, Fellows attend four seminars where they engage in timeless questions about leadership and purpose, expanding their leadership capacity and catalyzing new levels of impact. Through that shared experience, Fellows forge enduring bonds of trust and mutual accountability that extend far beyond the seminar room.
Catalyzing Impact
MELI fosters a community of leaders acting with greater purpose and cross-cultural understanding who will shape the future of the Middle East. Fellows explore how to leverage their talent, experience, and resources to address major challenges facing their communities and the region at large.
From providing employment opportunities to women in Saudi Arabia to inspiring civic engagement among youth in Palestine, Fellows are moving the needle on their communities’ most complex challenges.
Forging a Global Network
Fellows join the Aspen Global Leadership Network, a worldwide community of leaders who participated in another Aspen Institute Fellowship program and who are committed to taking courageous action on the world’s greatest challenges. During the Fellowship, MELI Fellows have an opportunity to meet Fellows from across the AGLN at the “Leading in a Global Context” seminar, one of four seminars in the Fellowship arc.
They become active nodes in a worldwide leadership network, creating a critical mass of leaders in the Middle East who are actively, visibly, and measurably addressing the region’s most consequential concerns. Through participation in annual events like the Resnick Aspen Action Forum and other global gatherings, the Middle East is increasingly represented in, and connected to, the global leadership ecosystem.
Questions?
Contact the AGLN team.
