Former U.S. Ambassador Michael Corbin is CEO of Corbin Crossroads Consulting, a consulting firm based in the U.A.E. He was a career diplomat and retired as the Ambassador to the U.A.E. in December 2014. He has since devoted his energy to supporting the private sector and promoting international understanding. He lives in Abu Dhabi and provides strategic advice in the region.

Prior to his UAE posting, Ambassador Corbin served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Iraq Affairs 2009-11, Minister-Counselor for Political-Military Affairs in Iraq 2008-9, and from 2006-8, as Chargé d’Affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Syria. He held various positions at the State Department and served in Embassies abroad: twice in Egypt, twice in Kuwait, and twice in Tunisia. He also worked at the Embassy in Venezuela from 1997 to 2001. Ambassador Corbin joined the Foreign Service in 1985.

For the past three years he has greatly enjoyed teaching political economy to the Shaikh Mohamed bin Zayed Scholars program at NYU Abu Dhabi.

Ambassador Corbin graduated from Swarthmore College in the U.S. He speaks Arabic, French, Spanish and is learning Italian. He is an avid cyclist and practices yoga.

Karen E. Young is a senior fellow and founding director of the Program on Economics and Energy at the Middle East Institute. She was a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, focusing on the political economy of the Middle East and the member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council. She has taught courses on the international relations and economy of the Middle East at George Washington University and at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. She regularly teaches at the US Department of State Foreign Service Institute. Before joining AEI, she served as senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute, a research and visiting fellow at the Middle East Centre of the London School of Economics and Political Science, and an assistant professor of political science at the American University of Sharjah in the UAE. She was twice awarded a Fulbright fellowship, first to Ecuador and later to Bulgaria.

In addition to her publications in a variety of academic and policy journals, Dr. Young’s analysis has appeared in the popular press, including Bloomberg Opinion, Foreign Policy, the Financial Times, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post. She is frequently quoted in the media and has been interviewed by the BBC, CBS News, NPR, Al Jazeera, CBC, France 24 and CNBC Arabia, among other networks. Dr. Young has contributed numerous chapters to edited volumes, and is the author of The Political Economy of Energy, Finance and Security in the United Arab Emirates: Between the Majilis and the Market (Palgrave Macmillan, 2014).

Education:
Bachelor's in anthropology, Wellesley College
Master's in political science, Columbia University
Master's in international economic relations, Universidad Andina Simón Bolívar in Quito, Ecuador
Ph.D. in political science, Graduate Center of the City University of New York

Farhad Alavi is Partner at Akrivis Law Group, PLLC, a law firm in Washington, DC practicing in international trade, banking, and corporate matters. His practice focuses on corporate and trade laws, including U.S. sanctions, export controls, and anti-corruption regulations and compliance, in addition to banking & finance, corporate, and international tax issues. Mr. Alavi’s clients include major multinational companies around the world as well as medium-sized businesses and high net worth individuals. A large part of his practice is focused on clients in the GCC region, particularly the UAE. Mr. Alavi is often quoted by global media outlets such as The New York Times, Financial Times, and The Wall Street Journal, on U.S. sanctions issues and has appeared on BBC World, BBC Persian, and CGTN discussing this topic. He lectures on trade topics extensively in the United States, UAE, and Europe.
Mr. Alavi was previously with a number of firms in Washington, most notably at major global industry leaders Baker & McKenzie LLP and Holland & Knight LLP, where he also had a dual, concurrent appointment in the firm’s Abu Dhabi office. He received his B.A. in Economics and International Relations from Tufts University, his J.D. from George Mason University School of Law, and his LL.M. in Banking & Financial Law from Boston University School of Law. Mr. Alavi has also served as an Adjunct Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center.

Mike Jones is the owner, founder, and President of the Capitol Capital Group, LLC (CCG). For the past 19 years, CCG has provided Washington, D.C. representation to The Middle East Council of American Chambers of Commerce (The Middle East umbrella affiliate of the United States Chamber of Commerce). CCG also provides representation for companies that render cost effective training for air traffic controllers (both domestically and internationally), integrate critical intelligence information for government agencies, provide educational programs and software to schools across the U.S., protect nuclear facilities from terrorist threats and promote U.S. business interests abroad.
As a graduate of The American University, Jones lives both in Washington D.C. and the Boston area.

Charles has lived in the UAE since 1986, both in Abu Dhabi and in Dubai. He is seeking reelection to the Board of Directors of AmCham Abu Dhabi, where he serves as Secretary.

Charles’s law firm, Afridi & Angell, was a founding member of AmCham Abu Dhabi, which formally organized in 1990 and was formally recognized by the Abu Dhabi government in 1996. Charles served as that AmCham’s first chairman, and thereafter served on the Board of Directors for several years. Charles is one of only 5 recipients of the Ambassador’s award, which Ambassador David Litt awarded to Charles in 1996 in recognition of his leadership role in support of American business interests and in the formation of
AmCham Abu Dhabi. In addition, Charles has been a member of AmCham Dubai since its establishment in 1986. He has served on two occasions as its Vice President Legal Affairs and Secretary. Charles is a partner in the law firm of Afridi & Angell, a Corporate Member and Corporate Founder member of AmCham. He holds a J.D. and an M.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, an M.A. from the University of London School of Oriental and African Studies, and a B.A. from Dartmouth. Charles looks forward to another year working with the other members of the Board and with the AmCham membership.