){kind=icon}
Board of Governers
Our board members are all highly experienced professionals with strong links to Ras Al Khaimah and the region. We are delighted to have such prestigious individuals at the helm of our organization.
Sheikha Amneh Bint Saud Al Qasimi (Chair)
As Chair of the Investment and Development Office (IDO), the strategic investment arm of the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Sheikha Amneh Saud Al Qasimi is responsible for optimizing the investments of the most northerly of the seven emirates that make up the UAE.
With a mandate to implement Ras Al Khaimah’s economic policy and its special focus on sustainable development, Sheikha Amneh’s remit includes managing the Emirate’s credit rating, sovereign debt issuance, and diversified investment portfolio that covers sectors such as quarrying, hospitality, healthcare, education, energy, and real estate.
Prior to her role as Chairman of the IDO, Sheikha Amneh was a member of Goldman Sachs’ Investment Strategy Group in New York, where she focused on identifying tactical asset allocation opportunities in emerging market currencies and equities.
Sheikha Amneh serves on the board of IDO’s portfolio companies RAK Ports and RAKBANK.
Sheikha Amneh holds an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the American University of Sharjah in the UAE. She is also a RAK Academy alumn.
Alison Grinnell
Alison CEO of RAK Hospitality Holding LLC (and former CFO). Alison has over 25 years of experience working within the hospitality industry, having worked in over 30 countries covering Europe, the United States, and the Middle East/Africa. She has lived and worked in the Middle East since 2012.
Prior to her roles at RAK Hospitality, Alison helped establish PwC’s Middle East Hospitality and Leisure practice into a leader in its field.
Alison also serves on the Boards of RAK Abela LLC and RAKIA Georgia.
Alison comes from a strong financial background, with a BSc in Economics and an ACA Chartered Accountancy Qualification. She started her career with Andersen in the UK and the US, moving to PwC in 2001.
Dr. Pablo Fetter
Dr Pablo Fetter is an expert in education with a track record of successfully running and improving international private school operators. He brings in three decades’ worth of experience in education, investments, and industry, both as executive and as board member. Throughout his career, Dr Pablo has been a member of 10+ Boards of Directors.
As Capital School CEO, he led the turnaround of the company, both academically and financially: from “Satisfactory” to “Good” (according to the British government’s BSO) and from declining to increasing profitability.
Dr Pablo participated in the world’s largest Education transactions including TA Associates’ investment into InspirED, the sale of Cognita and the reshuffle of GEMS’ private equity investors.
Previously, Dr Pablo was CEO of Kings’ Education, an operator of premium schools in the Middle East. As CEO and board member of GEMS Africa, he was instrumental in building GEMS operations in Africa to a $250M partnership with the world’s largest development-oriented fund. As Commercial Director & Head of Investments at GEMS Global, Dr Pablo was responsible to expand the company’s international footprint both through joint ventures for new green-field school projects, and through acquisitions of existing schools.
Peter Hill
Peter Hill has been a teacher and school leader for over forty years and has taught both the ‘British’ and IB curriculums in the Middle East, Europe and the Americas. During this period he has had the privilege of being a Principal and Head of four very different schools and was a member of the Headmaster’s Conference (HMC). All four schools saw a sustained improvement in their inspection outcomes thanks to the efforts of every member of the school community.
A significant period of his career was spent at Dubai College both as a teacher of History, Senior Master and Headmaster. He has addressed a range of educational conferences and, more recently, has been involved with the NPQH training programme for school leaders. During his long career he has learnt that constantly evolving structures and systems are crucial for a school’s success – but so is strong, deeply rooted and long lasting emotional engagement from all members of the organisation.
Colja Christian Smely, LL.M. corp. restruc.
Colja Christian Smely is an Investment Director at IDO and supports RAK Academy also as Chair of the Executive Committee. Colja has more than 12 years of experience working in the Private Equity field in Germany and Europe as a consultant at leading firms.
His expertise centres around the fields of value creation and transformation and he has gained significant experience in the area working with management teams and Private Equity clients in challenging contexts. Besides that, Colja has held interim and leadership positions as a Director at EY Parthenon and working for Alvarez & Marsal before he joined IDO in 2023. At IDO, he is a member of several committees at other SOEs with the mandate to drive optimization and value creation.
Colja has a very strong interest in education and academia having also worked as a research assistant at WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management. He holds a B.Sc. in Business Administration from the University of Mannheim, and M.Sc. in International Management from ESADE Business School Barcelona and an LL.M. in corporate restructuring from the University Heidelberg.
Dr. Mohamed Abdul Latif Al Shehhi
Mohamed Al Shehhi currently holds a number of government positions including General Director of the HR Department, General Director of Sheikh Saqr Program for Government Excellence, and General Secretary of the Executive Council.
Prior to joining RAK Government, he was an associate professor in the College of Business at United Arab Emirate University. In his career, he has served on various boards including RAK Ceramics, RAK Co. for White Cement, American University in RAK, and Emirates Association for Social Development.
Dr Mohamed received his Master’s and PhD Degrees in management from the University of Southern California, USA.
Jessica Tsimprea Maluch
Jessica Tsimprea Maluch serves as the Director of Strategy, Research, and Impact at the Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi Foundation for Policy Research in Ras al Khaimah, UAE. She is responsible for ensuring the production and dissemination of high-quality, relevant, and impactful research and publications across the Foundation. She also serves the community by sitting on the advisory board of Ras al Khaimah Medical and Health Sciences University College of Nursing. Jessica previously worked as an Assistant Professor at American University in Dubai School of Education, a researcher at the Institute for Quality Educational Progress in Berlin, Germany, an Educational Advisor and English Language teacher for AMIDEAST in Sana’a, Yemen, and a middle school language arts educator in Virginia, USA.
Jessica received her doctorate in Education from Humboldt University of Berlin, M.Ed. in International Education Policy from Harvard University, and B.A. in Middle East History from Wellesley College. Her research interests and publications focus on bilingualism, language development, and assessment. She is passionate about conducting innovative research that positively impacts the children, education systems, and the community. In her free time, she enjoys camping, sailing, and enjoying nature with her husband and two young boys.
