Diving for Pearls

MELA 5: PRE-START

Welcome to MELA 5, the fifth regional leadership workshop of the Middle East Leadership Academy. Where better to celebrate this landmark jubilee than in the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Doha?

Doha, Qatar. Once a remote desert outpost – now a miracle of contemporary architecture. Once a small community of pearl-divers –  now a global hydrocarbon leader. 

MELA 5 will draw its inspiration from the best of Qatar's new and old ways. In our leadership explorations, we will use industrial-strength techniques to burrow far below the surface and bring forth new sources of energy and potential. And at the same time, with old-fashioned skill and determination, we will dive for the pearls that are hidden, sometimes trapped, within every one of the extraordinary individuals attending MELA 5.

An introductory MELA pre-event was held in the Ritz-Carlton to launch the program and introduce it in Doha. H.E. Sheikh Abdulla bin Ali Al-Thani (Managing Director, Qatar Leadership Center) and Wael Sawan (Managing Director and Chairman, Qatar Shell), representing MELA 5's sponsoring partners, presided over a seminar, "Leaders Developing Leaders."

Read all about it! (Gulf Times, 6 March 2014).

Before the program proper commences, the MELA facilitators undergo two days of advanced pearl-harvesting training under the tutelage of dive-master Bill Starnes.

The MELA team proffers its most enthusiastic thanks to Jaafar Al-Sarraf (MELA 4) for hosting a dinner at his family's atmospheric Al-Liwan Suites Hotel, followed by a fascinating and erudite briefing on the history, culture and current affairs of Qatar.

The cake is revealed to be a (pre-) birthday cake for MELA Program Director Samer Ebbini. He's skippering the pearl boat.

Counting the hours till tomorrow.