Director’s Biography

Me

Mario Stephan is the founding director of Arabian Perspectives. He holds a Master’s degree (M.A.) in management and business administration from the KEDGE business school (Bordeaux, FRANCE) specialising in corporate and organisational strategy.

He is also a professional trainer, certified by the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (UK) in 2009.

Mario has lived in the Middle East and North Africa region for 18 years, and most recently in the Gulf for almost 4 years now. Born to a Syrian and Lebanese family in Damascus, he grew up in Syria before moving to France at the age of 16. He has been working in the MENA and GCC regions since 2010 in senior management and executive roles. Dubai based since 2012, he continues to travel regularly throughout the region. He is trilingual with full professional fluency in Arabic, English, and French, and has a good grasp of Spanish.

A seasoned expatriate for over 12 years, Mario has developed his multicultural expertise overseas while working for diverse international humanitarian organisations. Mario has lived and worked in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Kenya, Afghanistan, Somalia, and Egypt. He also held regional positions covering Eastern and Southern Africa, the MENA, and the GCC, based there as well.

Mario is no stranger to the corporate world, from his business studies to his initial experience in the consulting industry all spanning over 5 years. Lastly, he has been actively interacting with the media world for the past 10 years.