Sana Bagersh Email & Phone Number

Seattle, Washington, United States

Bagersh set up The Global Braintrust in response to what she sees as a need for everyday people from across the globe to be part of the AI conversation. The Global BrainTrust's formulation was finalized in 2nd May 2024, and the brain trust was launched in Seattle on 15 June 2024.

United States

Government and institutional consultant in communication, strategy and innovation, with clients in the USA, UAE/ Gulf, and Ethiopia. Provided consultancy services, under BrandMoxie's umbrella, to private and public institutions in the areas of international communication (branding, marketing strategy, product and service design, customer journey mapping, digital strategy) as well as thought leadership, strategic content development, multi-level campaigns development, stakeholder coalition building, community engagement, as well as diversity, culture-building and inclusion strategies.As an advocate of startups, SMEs and women's empowerment and diversity, I have given talks, workshops, seminars and mentoring to women's groups, entrepreneurs, students, business executives, government staff and civic organizations. I have also served on various advisory committees, and have collaborated with universities such as the Sorbonne, New York University, Insead and others.I often participate in government policy events, such as the annual lunch with Christine La Garde (for over three years with women ministers at the Government Forum in Dubai); events hosted by the US State department; and international forums such as the Women's Forum for Economy and Society.

Uae

I launched Tamakkan, a knowledge sharing platform, as a CSR initiative that supports SMEs and startups by offering guidance on entrepreneurship, leadership and innovation through seminars and coaching sessions.Tamakkan features experts and consultants to give back to the community by sharing their insights and knowledge on topics such as funding, marketing, social media, leadership, franchising, new technologies, leadership, diversity and ethics.We've seen over the years that startups and small businesses often fail because of misses that can be mitigated through better strategy. So Tamakkan focuses on the ‘triggers’ that can make a difference by focusing on the fundamentals of business success. It offers a community where entrepreneurs can meet with each other and collaborate with institutional and governmental entities. Tamakkan has become a valuable, and much needed monthly time and place for entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs to network, learn and collaborate. Tamakkan has been supported, or worked with, Fatima Bint Hazza Foundation, the US Embassy Abu Dhabi, AmCham Abu Dhabi, Mubadala GE, Aldar, INSEAD, Franklin Covey Middle East, Wollongong University, Boston University, NYU, the Sorbonne University, NYIT and others. Speakers who have volunteered their time have included Stephen M.R. Covey President and CEO of Covey Leadership Centre, Mark Thompson CEO and Co-Founder Virgin Unite Mentors, and author UAE ambassador Omar Ghobash, and others.One of our programmes is Innovation Impact Community (IIC) which recognizes community heroes in six categories: Change Agents, Thought Leaders, Nationbuilders, Artists, Influencers and Entrepreneurs. We have also held industry focused events, such as one on filmmaking where we brought together HBO Film President Len Amato, Film Independent President Josh Welsh and a Hollywood delegation with with regional filmmakers.. Tamakkan has also supported and promoted the US Department's Select USA programme.

I launched Tempo in 2009, because of my own personal diverse background, as a way to bring people together. It is a social and community platform to build bridges between different ethnic groups, to promote cultural understanding and inclusion, and to support community heroes, small businesses and creative thinkers.Tempo celebrates ‘everyday people’ who make a difference within their communities. Diversity is reflected through the magazine’s contributors and also through those featured. The magazine includes features such as “Tempo Cause” where the magazine backs public good causes; “The Planetarians” which promotes conservation and sustainability; and “Give a Damn” which urges readers to spread the values of fairness, sharing and compassion.We have organized regular "Tempo events", within BrandMoxie's innovation space including spoken word events, theatre and competitions in flash fiction, music and art. To support freelancers in the gig economy, we have featured individuals in Tempo and have provided them with community event space to showcase their products and services. Tempo also organized entrepreneurship events for youth, sustainability camps for school children, and awareness seminars on climate change and conservation.

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

I established The Smovies film competition in partnership with VOX Cinemas and the US Embassy in Abu Dhabi to provide a platform for filmmakers through themed short film challenges. The competition focuses on universal themes like tolerance, gratitutude, inclusion, family values as well as global concerns such as climate change. Through the competition amateur filmmakers submit short films shot on a camera or a mobile phone, and the winning films get screened before the main feature across VOX Cinemas in the the region. The aim of the Smovies is to teach emerging filmmakers about the power of visual media and story telling while inspiring them to spread positive messages through organically created short films.

I helped to set up BrandMoxie in May 2004 and became fully engaged as its CEO from 2008 to 2020. I now provide advisory services to BrandMoxie as its Global Engagement Advisor. I differentiated BrandMoxie from others by offering the full 'agency' suite of services but integrated high level strategy and consultancy services. Our slogan was "Intelligent Marketing" and we offered:Design: concept, ideation and design services across all media, including collateral development, website, apps, digital and campaigns. Branding: corporate identity development includes logo guidelines and extension branding. Includes messaging, templates across multiple touchpoints, collateral, publications, digital assets (website, social media interfaces, landing pages), retail and space design plus creating corporate culture environments.Events and experiences of all sizes, from large conferences and exhibitions, to small seminars, strategy sessions, design bespoke experiences and brand activations. From adhoc services to turnkey engagement.Social media strategy development, brandbuilding and tactical campaigns and management of all socmed channels. Includes strategy roadmap development, implementation plan, messaging, content, and metrics for organic and paid.Crisis communication and media training includes risk register, contingencies and mitigation. Spokespersperson hierarchy, protocols, media training and staff preparedness through simulations and role playing.Strategic communication including roadmap development, messaging, strategy alignment across institution and touchpoints, for internal and external stakeholders. Expanding comms touchpoints, media channels and optimizing engagement with stakeholders to ensure buy-in, alignment on goals and KPIs, and amplifying reach. Research (perception, dipstick and focus groups).Reputation building through thought leadership, strategic PR and engagement platforms. Includes corporate stylebook language manual development.

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Acted as advisor to the Director General of the Abu Dhabi Municipality on innovation, partnerships and intrapreneurship, and managed VIP and diplomatic corps relations. Provided high level consulting to senior management on strategic comms including engagement with internal and external audiences. Developed partnerships blueprints and strategies to support Abu Dhabi's vision.Led teams on innovation, engagement and knowledge management; streamlined messaging across the institutions; and helped to unlock internal and external comms touchpoints, especially partner government stakeholders to amplify messaging. Identified opportunities to enhance Abu Dhabi's reputation through messaging, programming and digital strategies, Oversaw the development of a suite of branded templates for community event activations across parks, beaches and municipal public spaces.Designed and launched Innovation Nation and Innovation Tuesday, two programmes intended to unleash innovation with internal staff, and to open it up to external stakeholders, respectively. I developed the platforms that included the challenge selection strategy, the implementation protocols, the branding and the collaboration framework.Innovation Nation identified government challenges that were pitched to innovators to seek new solutions. These involved collaborations with technology and government partners, embassies, as well as universities civic groups and SMEs.Innovation Tuesday was an internal culture building initiative to expose staff to new ideas, and to engage with them to brainstorm and explore better solutions to serve the public. The programme rewarded staff achievements and adopted solutions that improved the government's performance.Serve on the Advisory Board for the Abu Dhabi Smart Cities Summit which explores innovations in smart urban planning and design solutions, sustainability, connectivity, community programming, private-public-partnerships and new technologies.

Abu Dhabi

In addition to serving on the board of Amcham AmCham, I chaired two committees. AmCham Abu Dhabi is a member of the global network of American Chambers of Commerce whose mission it is to promote commerce, investment and goodwill between the US and the UAE. I chaired AmCham Abu Dhabi’s Women in Business committee for two years (ending June 2015), during which time I developed the Women Achieve charter. The charter comprised seven women’s empowerment ideals that include equal training and job opportunities for women in leadership and board positions. My aim was to encourage gender and racial inclusion through a pledge that is formally signed off by the leaders of institutions and then adopted within their organizations. I targeted both multinationals and locally based companies and organizations. While I was chair, I presided over the signing ceremonies of over 40 companies of the Women Achieve charter, that included Parsons, Lockheed Martin, Exxon Mobil, Metlife, Accenture, Boeing, Raytheon, Bechtel, Cleveland Clinic, INSEAD, Northup Grumman, Mubadala GE Capital and Mubadala GE.In June 2015, I became chair of AmCham’s Art and Culture Committee and my goals were to boost the cultural and artistic contributions of the different communities by encouraging corporate patronage for the arts and support for artists. The committee brought together local museums and art organizations such as the Louvre, NYU, Flash, twofour54 and the universities to collaborate and promote each others events.

Abu Dhabi, Uae

I served on the board of AmCham, the American Business Group whose aim is to strengthen business trade between USA and the UAE. AmCham is an independent, private, non-profit association of US companies, high profile American and local business executives, entrepreneurs, US Embassy officials, US citizens, and select Affiliates. Our role as board members was to facilitate discussions with the UAE government and the US government to explore investments, facilitate business opportunities companies, and to build lasting relations between the two countries.As board member I chaired two committees, and led discussions on Women's Empowerment, Arts and Culture, and Entrepreneurship at the AmCham Roundtables for three years. Others who served on the boards included the principals of leading organizations such as Lockheed Martin, Exxon Mobil, GE, Cleveland Clinic, Raytheon, Harris Corporation, New York University, Dolphin Energy, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Accenture, UPS, Etihad Airways and others.The AmCham board worked closely with the US Embassy, and through them with the State Department. We participated in events such as the annual door knock advocacy outreach to Washington DC government representatives, and supported the annual Select USA program, Discover America and cultural diplomacy programmes.

United Arab Emirates

Served as a project consultant to support the Higher Colleges of Technology's communication strategy across its 17 campuses located in six emirates. My work comprised developing a unified communication strategy for the entire system, to streamline messaging and enhance the university's reputation and branding. Through my work, I set up of a communication framework that ensured consistency of messaging, enhancement of brand identity, alignment with the university's goals, and amplification across all touchpoints.I also developed the strategy for the university's calendar of events, conducted perception audits of the university's reputation online, and developed the strategies to enhance positive content that positioned the institution favourably for university rankings.

Worked at Thuraya Satellite Telecommunication Company from 1999 to 2008 as Manager Marketing Services one year before the launch of the first satellite. I led the marcom team that managed the brand communications, image and thought leadership, and implemented the strategy and marketing campaigns for Thuraya across a footprint of 110 countries (Africa, Asia and Europe). I led a team that included the advertising, PR, digital, events and customer services departments, developing content and campaigns in several languages (including English, Arabic, French, Spanish, Portuese, German, Hindi, Farsi) across broad media platforms (TV, radio, print, outdoor, digital etc). Our objective was to communicate Thuraya’s products and services, and the company's vision of connecting rural communities and regions afflicted by natural disasters and war through advanced satellite telecoms solutions. My team implemented campaign activities across three continents, for both vertical and horizontal markets (eg government, maritime, explorations, education, healthcare), through traditional advertising, stakeholder advocacy, digital marketing, roadshows and community outreach programming. I established Thuraya's first call centre connecting with key customers and providing support to our service providers across our footprint of 110 countries. We managed Thuraya's brand communications, developing branded blueprints and templates to enable service providers to rapidly localize their own campaigns. The aim was to ensure brand and messaging and brand compliance across our retail and points of service, while enabling rapid adaptation of campaign material to support service roll out across our markets.I also provided marketing strategy consulting for service providers internationally, and developed and implemented Thuraya's CSR programme that boosted the brand through satellite telecom services offered for education and telemedicine projects in remote villages.

I started my career as a journalist at Gulf News in Abu Dhabi, UAE (1985 – 1990), being one of the first women reporters in the country. I worked as part of a small team and was responsible for a broad news beat that included police, government, economics and politics. I worked for almost five years and then moved to Seattle Washington to start a family.I returned to the UAE in 1997 and was hired back to Gulf News, but this time as bureau chief (1997-1999) of the Abu Dhabi office, overseeing a team of reporters and photographers across Abu Dhabi emirate. I developed the capital's daily news roster for the newspaper, oversaw the output of the journalists in my team, checked accuracy and integrity of content, and ensured that our reporting was balanced and fair. I also represented the newspaper in the capital in official government events and initiatives.During the time I was a journalist I met countless newsmakers in politics, economics, entertainment and sports. I met HH Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al Nahyan and the rulers of the Gulf states, Richard Branson, George Bush Sr., Kurt Waldheim, Princess Diana and Prince Charles; attended numerous press conferences for political figures such as Kofi Annan, Yasser Arafat, Muamar al Gaddafi, Benazir Bhutto, Jacques Chirac and Richard Cohen; and interviewed personalities such as Nelson Mandela and Wilfred Thesiger. I occasionally travelled on assignment to cover stories such as the PLO conference in Algiers, the Concorde factory in France, the Fistula Hospital in Ethiopia, and to do a story on the Berlin Wall two months before it was dismantled. During the time I was bureau chief I launched the Gulf News' Neighborhood Reporting Scheme to encourage women, youth and members of the different ethnic groups residing in the UAE; to share their stories with us and become voices for their communities. I gave workshops on writing and journalism ethics.

B.S., Communication

Ged, High School