Dina H. Sherif

Dina Sherif is a renowned expert in the fields of economic development, risk capital (from philanthropy to venture capital) in addition to entrepreneurship and innovation. With over twenty years of experience, Dina has made significant contributions to shaping and advancing these sectors in various regions around the world, most specifically in the Middle East and Africa. She is known for her 1) ability to build mission driven organizations and teams from the ground up, 2) ability to inspire through public speaking and storytelling, 4) her ability to advise government on policies required to create robust and sustainable private sectors, in addition to 4) her ability to build communities and global networks that act as collective agents for change.Dina Sherif is currently a Senior Lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School of Management where she also acts as Executive Director of the MIT Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship. During her tenure at the Center, Dina has deepened the Center’s work in Africa through on the ground bootcamps and workshops and a unique Fellowship for advanced African innovation driven entrepreneurs, known as the Foundry Fellowship. She is also a Founding Partner of Cairo based Ahead of the Curve, which is the Arab region’s leading firm on issues related to sustainable business growth and impact driven entrepreneurship. Dina is also a Partner in Disruptech, Egypt’s first Fintech focused venture capital fund as a Partner, pursuing her passion in building a fund that will support technology being used as a critical tool in creating financial inclusion for a largely unbanked population, most specifically women. Most recently, Dina became a Senior Advisor to the Atlantic Council’s Middle East Program with a specific focus on entrepreneurship. Dina previously held the endowed Willard Brown Chair for International Business at the American University in Cairo (AUC), where she was also the Founding Director of their Center for Entrepreneurship. Prior to the above, Dina helped establish the John D. Gerhart Center for Philanthropy and Civic Engagement at AUC. Dina has been lead author of several publications including the book From Charity to Social Change: Trends in Arab Philanthropy and key reports such as the 2015 UNDP Business Solutions Report and the first of its kind 7 country study on trends in responsible business practice in the Arab region, in addition to other key policy pieces and blogs on the importance of entrepreneurship and impact investing to building more sustainable and inclusive societies.