Al-Hamdani’s background in foreign and public policy experience comes from working directly with international and non-governmental organisations in the fields of education, human development, migration and peacekeeping. With a proven track record as a researcher and consultant, focusing on issues of security and development in Yemen, he is currently employed by the ARK Group as a research specialist.

Raiman is an expert on his native Yemen, with a focus on local actors, bottom-approaches to development and community resilience in the context of international conflict and climate security. Additionally, he is a research fellow and co-founding member of the Yemen Policy Center (YPC), focusing on research programmes and policies that aim to improve living conditions of the people in Yemen.

He has an MA in International Security and Conflict Management from the American University in Cairo and an MSc in Development Studies from SOAS, University of London. Aside from his professional work, Al-Hamdani is an enthusiastic birdwatcher and musician, though he considers himself an amateur in both pursuits.

Dr. Hamdan Dammag is a prize-winning novelist, poet, and researcher, with several publications. In 2005 he received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Reading, and since then he worked as an academic, researcher, journalist, translator, human rights activist, and political analyst. He has diverse research and writing interests, ranging from the design of safety-controlled systems to Arabic literature and criticism.

He worked as a managing editor of the Yemen Times newspaper (2005 to 2007) and in 2008 he was appointed as a Vice President of the Yemeni Center for Studies and Research (YCSR) in Sana’a. He is also the editor-in-chief of the Ghaiman literature journal, the executive director of Tamadon for Media and Cultural Development (UK), and the Vice President of the International League for Peace and Human Rights (ILPHR) – Geneva.

Born in Ibb, he is the son of renowned Yemeni novelist Zayd Mutee Dammaj. His recent books include The Agony of Silence: A Collection from al-Baradouni’s Poems (Al Owais Cultural Foundation publications, Dubai, UAE, September 2018), The Gemstone of Attakkar Mountain (a prize-winning novel, Arab Creativity Prize, Sharja, UAE, 2015) and No One Was But Me! (a poetry collection, Arwiqah for Studies and Publication, Cairo, Egypt, 2013).

James read Arabic with Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at university, spending his year abroad in Yemen. He was lucky enough to work across the Middle East during his career, but there’s always been something fascinating about Yemen.

Dr. Sarah Clowry is a Fellow at the Institute of Political Science, Tuebingen University. Her research explores international peacemaking in Yemen and Syria. She was awarded her PhD at the School of Government and International Affairs, Durham University, in 2021 where she was funded by an Economic and Social Research Council studentship.

Prior to her Ph.D., Sarah worked in the field of international affairs, spending two years based in Nablus, Palestine before returning to the UK to manage global grants programmes for the British Council.

She holds a First Class BA in Music from the University of Oxford and an MA with Distinction in International Studies from Durham University.

Asma Ibrahim graduated from Cambridge with a BA in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies in July 2022. She specialised in China and spent her Year Abroad in Taiwan. Interested in facilitating conversations about Yemen, she founded the Cambridge University Yemen Society in 2019.

Passionate about art and culture, since 2020 she has served as co-director of Al Yamaniah, a bilingual digital network for female creatives in both Yemen and the diaspora. She is editor of Al Yamaniah magazine, a 268-page art magazine dedicated to the theme of home. The inaugural edition was published in February 2024.

Julian Lush studied Law at Cambridge University before joining Shell Group in 1958 and studying Arabic at the Middle East Centre for Arab Studies (MECAS) in Lebanon. He was posted to Sudan, and then to Shell’s new oil exploration venture in Oman as Desert Liaison Representative for three years from 1961-63.

Back in Shell London, Julian joined the embryonic Natural Gas Trading Organisation; was then inducted into the gas business in the southern US; was posted to New Zealand to sell Maui offshore gas; and then spent three years as Shell’s Natural Gas Representative in Japan where Shell liquefied natural gas from Brunei was being imported by public utilities.

Returning to Arabia, Julian negotiated Shell’s involvement in a natural gas liquids joint venture in Abu Dhabi, and he was then appointed Shell Representative in Abu Dhabi for five years from 1981-86.

Back in London, he looked after Shell’s business in countries in francophone Africa. Finally, he was appointed Shell Representative in Sana’a, retiring from Shell in 1990. Post-retirement, Julian has worked with archaeologists in the UAE, was Secretary of the London Beekeepers Association, and helped to found the British Yemeni Society in 1992, serving as its first Secretary.

Honorary British Yemeni Society Vice President Mr. Dirhem Abdo Saeed has over 30 years of commercial experience. He is currently the Vice Chairman of Hayel Saeed Anam Group, Managing Director of Longulf Trading (UK) Ltd, the Chairman of Cepac Ltd, and a Board member of the Tadhamon International Islamic Bank.

He was previously General Manager of the Yemen Company for Industry & Commerce and General Manager of the National Food & Dairy Industry. Mr. Dirhem Saeed holds an MBA from Oklahoma City University, USA, and a Finance & Accounting degree from Cairo University, Egypt.

Honorary British Yemeni Society Vice President Mr. Dirhem Abdo Saeed has over 30 years of commercial experience. He is currently the Vice Chairman of Hayel Saeed Anam Group, Managing Director of Longulf Trading (UK) Ltd, the Chairman of Cepac Ltd, and a Board member of the Tadhamon International Islamic Bank.

He was previously General Manager of the Yemen Company for Industry & Commerce and General Manager of the National Food & Dairy Industry. Mr. Dirhem Saeed holds an MBA from Oklahoma City University, USA, and a Finance & Accounting degree from Cairo University, Egypt.

James graduated from Cambridge University in Social and Political Science, later achieving an MA from the London Business School. His early career focused on the development challenges of the poorest countries of the Middle East and Sahelian Africa as Director of Progressio’s operations (Yemen/Somalia, 1976-80) and for War on Want (Middle East/Sub-Saharan Africa during the 1980s).

He was Director-General of Consumers International in the 1990s before establishing James Firebrace Associates in 1998. This took him back to Yemen, including as Senior Advisor to Yemen Liquefied Natural Gas Company, with the UN on coastal livelihoods, and through a major UK-funded assessment of the future of Taiz which was facing extreme water scarcity and constraints on industrial investment.