ABOUT THE SPEAKER

 Aziz Abu Sarah is a National Geographic Explorer and a TED fellow. He is an entrepreneur, speaker, peace builder and author. He is the author of Crossing Boundaries, and coauthor of Strangers, Neighbors, Friends.  In 2009, Aziz co-founded MEJDI Tours, an international tourism company built on the idea that a place can not be understood until you see it through multiple perspectives. In 2014, he gave a TED Talk about his vision for redefining tourism. Aziz has spoken at countless of international organizations and universities, including The United Nations, Nexus, TED, BMW, European Parliament, and Harvard. He has published articles in The New York Times, Washington Post, National Geographic, TED, Haaretz, the Jerusalem Post and others.

He was also recognized by former UNSG Ban Ki Moon for his work in peace building. Aziz is the recipient of the Goldberg Prize for Peace in the Middle East from the Institute of International Education, and the Eliav-Sartawi Award for his Middle Eastern Journalism. He was named one of the 500 most influential Muslims in the World by the Royal Strategic Centre in Jordan. He won the Intercultural innovation award from the UN Alliance of Civilizations and the BMW Group.