Women on the Edge of Evolution

Women Leading Change: A New Perspective on Ourselves and Our World

Elza Maalouf is an Arab-American futurist and cultural development specialist focusing on cultural and political reform in the Arab world, including Palestine, Kuwait, Dubai and Syria. As one of the world's foremost experts in Memetics of the Middle East, Elza was named by EnlightenNext Magazine as one of today's brightest minds. She is co-founder and CEO of the Center for Human Emergence Middle East, a think-tank and strategy center that emphasizes the understanding of cultures through recognition of the underlying values upon which they are founded.

Born in Lebanon, Elza is a former attorney and corporate executive who draws on more than 15 years of experience in the areas of depth psychology, world philosophies and consciousness studies. A dynamic speaker and trainer, she has offered hundreds of personal and professional Integral training seminars to people around the world. Elza also works closely with renowned social scientist Dr. Don Beck, Chairman of the Global Center of Human Emergence and co-creator of the Spiral Dynamics Integral theory (SDi). She believes it is precisely the application of "whole system" theories (such as Spiral Dynamics Integral) in the Middle East that holds the highest potential for finding culturally congruent solutions where all types of initiatives have failed before.

Elza lives with her husband Said Dawlabani in La Jolla, California.