Compass Rose International

SUSAN SANDOUKA- Managing Director
Susan founded Compass Rose in 2004 with a mission to utilise private sector engagement to effect positive change in the Middle East and North Africa region. Prior to founding Compass Rose, she worked in business development and business intelligence in Europe and the Middle East. Susan graduated from King’s College London with a degree in international relations and German. She is a British / Jordanian, of Palestinian origin.

CHRIS WOOD – Strategic Director

JO HUGHES – Operations Manager
Jo has a background delivering high level conferences and events to a variety of audiences. She has a degree in Cognitive Science from Exeter University and joined Compass Rose in 2005. Jo is involved in all three of Compass Rose’s programmes from a variety of aspects including project management, design & marketing and operations.

LAURA HESELTINE - Tawteen Liaison Manager

SONJA VISIC - Tawteen Project Advisor
Sonja is a Project Management specialist with a focus on the education and tourism industries. Sonja's professional experience includes multiple project management of key destination brands and marketing campaigns for State destination management organizations in Australia. Sonja holds a Bachelor of Business degree from The University of Queensland and a post-graduate qualification in International Development from RMIT, Melbourne. Sonja joined Compass Rose in 2007 and is currently Operations Manager for the UAE Tawteen Programme. Her role includes management of eight education-based nationalization projects.

MAHER SANDOUKA – Finance & IT Director
As Director of Operations, Maher is responsible for IT and Accounting management at Compass Rose. Maher is British / Jordanian of Palestinian origin and is fluent in English and Arabic. He Graduated from Leicester University with a BEng Honours degree in Electrical & Electronic Engineering in the communications sector. He has extensive experience in IT, mainly in software and web development . He worked for a multinational company for several years before establishing his own businesses in Logisitics and IT.

SAMAR SHAWAREB ASHQAR - Non-Executive Director
Samar worked for several years at the British Embassy in Amman promoting and developing trade and investment between the UK and Jordan as a Senior Trade & Investment Officer. During that period Samar was awarded the British government’s D Group Award for Outstanding Achievement.

Samar now runs her own company, Events UnLimited, producing and managing various conferences, trade shows and seminars. These include the annual Middle East Travel and Tourism Summit, in association with Compass Rose and the Middle East Association; the International Hospitality Forum and the Wedding Show. Samar Shawareb Ashqar is a holder of a Masters degree in Business Administration and is currently working towards a certification in Event Management from George Washington University.