Executive Leadership Team
Our diverse and experienced executive team are dedicated to creating a better environment and experience for all of our students.
Working with governing bodies such as the Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge they guide our network of schools in our quest to develop our students and uphold our purpose, promise and values.
HIS EXCELLENCY
MOHAMED KHALIFA AL MUBARAK
Chairman
Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak is Chairman of Aldar Education and has overseen the company from its beginnings. Mohammed is passionate about the contribution that education makes to society and takes very seriously the role that Aldar Education plays in developing citizens of the future.
Mohamed is the Chairman of Aldar Properties PJSC. He is a Member of the Executive Council of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and is the Chairman of the Department of Culture & Tourism of Abu Dhabi and also Chairman of Image Nation, which seeks to develop the UAE film industry through the production of films that take Emirati and regional stories to a wider global audience, as well as funding international motion pictures.
Prior to joining Aldar, Mohamed worked in London for Barclays Capital. A native of Abu Dhabi, he is a graduate of Northeastern University (USA), with a double Major in Economics and Political Science.
SAHAR COOPER
Chief Executive Officer
Sahar has extensive experience in global education management over a period of 25 years. She has spent the past 19 years in the UAE in various senior leadership roles having been the Chief Schools Operations Officer at GEMS Education and the Associate Director of Operations at the American University of Sharjah.
Sahar has extensive management experience in leading the delivery of large, complex and multi-site projects in education. She has an established track record of business performance improvement in education through operational delivery, supply chain management, risk and governance, health and safety, strategy development and execution, project management, M&A integration, facilities and asset management, talent development, succession planning and change leadership.
Prior to joining Aldar Education, Sahar was the Chief Schools Operations Officer at GEMS Education one of the largest K-12 private education providers globally. Her role centred around the empowering of schools to focus on delivering the best possible education by providing centralised operational support and commercial leadership for all non-academic group functions; focused on the alignment of strategy and programs to drive business value for internal and external stakeholders.
Sahar was educated in the USA and attained a Master’s Degree (MBA) in International Management, graduating with honors from Southeastern University Washington DC.
Supporting Our Schools
STEPHEN SHARPLES
Chief Education Officer
Stephen has worked in education for over 20 years and spent most of that time in a variety of leadership positions, including, Head of School and Principal/CEO.
Stephen has supported schools and Principals in the UK, North & South America and the UAE to develop new curriculum models, introduce innovative programmes of study, train senior leaders and prepare schools for inspection. He has vast experience in school start-ups, new school buildings and expansions and raising school performance standards.
In addition to his work in school leadership he has also been employed by the International Baccalaureate Organization as a consultant and was made an IB Ambassador for the Europe, Africa and Middle East region. He has extensive experience of school improvement, raising standards and developing leadership capacity. He is particularly proud of having mentored several direct reports who later progressed to be successful Principals across the world.
In addition to his Bachelor’s Degree, Stephen holds the National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH) and has a Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership, Management and Learning.
DAVE TAYLOR
Chief Operating Officer
Dave moved to the UAE in June 2013 after having managed a £35m construction project for a new Academy model in the UK. He worked in various school based administrative and operational roles within the UK before moving to the UAE to manage and lead the construction of a British premium private school in Dubai.
Dave joined Aldar Education in December 2018 following a successful 5 years with a Dubai based global education provider as their Vice President of Operations. He brings more than 15 years of education management experience and has successfully led a network of 52 School based Operations Managers across the region, whilst also overseeing group wide support services, a housing portfolio for over 5,000 international teachers across the UAE and Support Staff accommodation for over 4,000 employees.
Dave is responsible for leading all school based Operations and Support Services along with the development and implementation of all group wide operational strategic aims, service delivery, external service provision, operational risk and safety, government relations, international staff housing and the Aldar Education brand.
Dave is a qualified NEBOSH practitioner, a member of the Institute of Workplace and Facilities Management (IWFM) and is currently studying his Masters in Business Administration (MBA) with Keele University.
DONNA MCMASTER
Executive Director of Education
Donna joined Aldar Education in October 2020 from West Lothian Council in Scotland, where she was Head of Education with a proven track record of implementing transformational change across a range of Education Services. Donna provided strategic leadership to almost 80 primary and secondary schools, and 70 nurseries in all aspects of Education. She has extensive experience of leading Schools, Performance and Quality Improvement teams and Professional learning teams.
Donna has a wealth of experience, having started her career as a Physics Teacher before progressing into senior leadership and then three Principal posts, prior to her role as Head of Education.
Donna was a member of the Association of Directors of Education Scotland, representing all Directors on many Government boards holding a pivotal role leading change on a local and national level, including shaping and influencing the national curriculum. Donna has extensive experience in developing and implementing 3 – 18 curriculum models at school, local authority and national level. She has embraced international research and evidence-based approaches to influence the direction of travel in education for many years.
In addition, Donna was a Professional Associate Inspector with Education Scotland the National Improvement agency.
Donna holds an honours Degree in Physics, Scottish Qualification for Headship and Diploma in Pastoral Support.
Supporting Our Growth
RAVI RAMANI
Chief Financial Officer
Ravi joined Aldar Education recently as Executive Director – Finance taking over the leadership of the Finance and IT functions for the group. Prior to joining Aldar Education, Ravi has been a key member of the leadership team that built GEMS Education into a multibillion-dollar worth business. During his 16 years tenure, GEMS grew its schools from 17 to 68 in the Middle East, increased revenues by more than 12x to 1.2B$, raised three rounds of private equity capital. During his 16 years with GEMS Education, he had an accelerated career path from Senior Financial Analyst in 2005 to Chief Product & Planning Officer in 2017. Ravi brings with him finance and strategy skills relevant for the Education sector particularly in building schools operating and business models, developing strategic master plan of ‘what to build’ & ‘where to build’, public private partnership models, benchmarking studies, greenfield pre-operations, acquisition and integration.