Collective Resilience and Healing.

At a time marked by uncertainty and rapid change, the Hearth Summit Kuwait offered something both rare and deeply needed: a space to slow down, listen, and (re)connect with ourselves and those around us.

Held from 4–6 December 2025 at the American University of Kuwait, the three-day summit brought together more than 200 educators, artists, students, researchers, community and non-profit leaders, health practitioners, and creatives from across Kuwait and the wider region. Organized by en.v in collaboration with The Wellbeing Project, Hearth Summit Kuwait was the first gathering of its kind in the Middle East to explore the intersections of personal, collective, and ecological wellbeing as foundations for a more inclusive and resilient society.

Part of a global movement of 27 regional Hearth Summits across 18 countries, the Kuwait edition was rooted firmly in local context while connected to a wider vision of wellbeing for all. Across conversations, workshops, artistic performances, and moments of quiet reflection, participants engaged with three core themes: ecological belonging, intergenerational healing, and art as a catalyst for growth.

Structured as a three-day journey — Connecting, Remembering, and Imagining — the summit invited participants to deepen relationships with one another, reflect on shared histories and lived experiences, and envision new ways of being together. From storytelling and music to embodied practices, contemplative rituals, and collective meals, the program centered care not as an abstract concept, but as a lived, shared practice.

Participants consistently reflected on the power of the gathering to foster belonging across difference. Many spoke of renewed confidence in connecting with others, a deeper appreciation for Kuwait’s cultural and generational diversity, and a strengthened sense of shared humanity. As one participant shared, “We all have a role to play in the flourishing and healing of Kuwait, and no matter what our focus is, we can work toward this together.”

The summit also highlighted the role of creativity in holding complexity. Artistic practices — from poetry and film to music, installation, and theatre — created accessible ways to engage with difficult emotions, collective wounds, and hopes for the future. These experiences were complemented by contemplative and embodied practices that supported presence, deep listening, and care for both self and community.

While the Summit has come to a close, its impact continues to ripple outward. The gathering reaffirmed that when people are invited into spaces where they can show up fully — with curiosity, creativity, and care — something powerful becomes possible. Difference becomes a source of learning, community becomes a site of resilience, and wellbeing becomes a shared responsibility rather than an individual burden.

Our Speakers & Facilitators

  • Artist, writer, filmmaker

    Zahra Al-Mahdi (1989) is an artist, writer, musician, comedian, and filmmaker from Kuwait. She is known for collage work using ink sketches layered over photographs, animation on live action, and installations that deal with dissected anatomical figures. Her more notable works are her debut graphic novel titled We, The Borrowed (2016), an online mockumentary miniseries titled Bird Watch (2017), and the online series "Haltooma" (rant) on social media platforms.

  • Professor, Intergenerational Trauma Specialist

    Dr. Mays Imad is a neuroscientist and an expert on trauma-informed teaching and learning. She passionately advocates for institutions to make mental health a top priority and to systematically support the education of the whole student. An associate professor at Connecticut College, Dr. Imad is interested in understanding the social determinants of student well-being and success, and conducts research on emotions, biofeedback, learning, and pedagogy. Her work reflects a deep commitment to justice in and through education. With fervor, she advocates for institutions to pay close attention to trauma and to prioritize healing, repair, and intergenerational well-being. 

    Her academic journey began at the University of Michigan–Dearborn, where she pursued philosophy and minored in chemistry. She earned a doctoral degree in cellular and clinical neurobiology, with a minor in biomedical engineering sciences, from Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit. After a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Arizona's Department of Neuroscience, she joined Pima Community College (PCC), teaching a variety of biology-related subjects. During her tenure at PCC, she founded its Teaching & Learning Center.
    She is also a content curator and Advisory Board member at The Wellbeing Project. 

    Outside of the classroom, Dr. Imad works with faculty members across disciplines at her own institution and across the US to promote inclusive, equitable, and contextual education—all rooted in the latest research on the neurobiology of learning.

  • Doctoral Candidate in Counseling Psychology and Drama Therapist

    Fatmah Al-Qadfan is a Kuwaiti Drama Therapist and Fulbright alumna. She holds a Post-Graduate Certificate in Post-Traumatic Stress Studies. Currently, she is completing her PhD in Counseling Psychology at Auburn University. Her TEDx talk, "Finding Drama Therapy and Bringing It Home," is available online. Fatmah is deeply passionate about enhancing mental health services and eating disorder treatment for Arab women, with a focus on culturally responsive care.

  • Associate Professor of Communication and Media Studies

    Dr. Fahed Al-Sumait is an Associate Professor of Communication and Media Studies at the American University of Kuwait whose research focuses on strategic and political communication, intercultural studies, and digital inequalities with a concentration on Kuwait and the Arabian Peninsula. He has served as a research fellow with the Fulbright-Hays program, the National University of Singapore, and the London School of Economics and Political Science. Dr. Al-Sumait is a Past President and current board member of the Association for Gulf and Arabian Peninsula Studies. He holds an MA from the University of New Mexico and a PhD from the University of Washington, both in Communication.

  • Artist, architect, and art educational expert

    Dr. Jawaher Al Bader is an artist, architect, and art educational expert in studio-based instruction. She has a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction in Art Education with a specialization in Studio Environments, an MFA in Painting from Pratt Institute and undergraduate degrees, BArch and BFA from Rhode Island School of Design.

    Al Bader is also a former faculty member at Kuwait University, where she taught at both the Department of Visual Communication Design and College of Architecture, for over 23 years. She is also the visionary behind Art Studio Kuwait, a communal space that fosters artistic exploration and creation. This studio serves not only as a hub for creatives but as a catalyst for Al Bader's own artistic journey.

    Al Bader’s multi-media art practice is embedded in daily acts, bridging boundaries between all aspects of life and disciplines through an Arts-based existence. Her paintings are intimate reflections of her environment that intricately weave color, paint, and movement to evoke presence.

  • Mediamaker and Maritime Archaeologist

    Talal Al-Muhanna was born in Kuwait and raised in the U.S. and U.K. After earning an MA in Film & Moving Image Production (UK), he produced films for TV and cinema. Since 2017, he has also produced artistic programs at JACC, including Memoirs of a Sailor. Talal is currently pursuing an MA in Global Maritime Archaeology at the University of Malta. He organized Project 3D-Q8 the first underwater archaeology forum in Kuwait in 2025 (underwaterkuwait.com).

  • Founder of School of Systems and Complexity

    Pedro Portela is an aerospace engineer turned organizational consultant and educator. He founded the School of Systems & Complexity, where he explores how systems thinking, resilience engineering, and relational governance can help teams and networks act effectively in complex environments. His work bridges corporate innovation, peacebuilding, and social change.

  • Assistant Professor Earth & Environmental Science, Kuwait University

    Reem Alawadhi is an assistant professor in the Earth and Environmental Science department at Kuwait University. She received her PhD in Environmental Science & Policy from University of New York and her Master's from John's Hopkins University. She has a certificate in Advanced Studies in Sustainable Enterprise. Her reaserch intrests involve understanding environmental citizenship, environmental justice issues in Kuwait, and developing environmental policies in the GCC.

  • Psychotherapist, Certified Grief Educator, & Founder of She is Fierce

    Dr. Ayesha Kamal is a Psychotherapist, Certified Grief Educator, and Founder of She is Fierce. She adopts a culturally-sensitive therapeutic lens and draws from her own life experiences to help people navigate the nuances of societal and family expectations to develop one's sense of self and belonging. She has a special interest in Women's Health, particularly at the intersections of mental health, physical health, and the long-term psychological effects of abuse and neglect. At the Hearth Summit Kuwait, she invites us to explore the many ways in which we can develop a stronger sense of self, safety, belonging, and connection.

  • Certified Life Coach

    With 30 years in leadership and board roles, Fawzi Almusallam has a strong background in strategy and organizational restructuring. He is passionate about helping others reach their potential through mentoring and coaching.

  • Somatic practitioner, organizer, and writer

    Zeena Ismail works at the intersection of trauma resolution, nervous system repair, and grassroot systemic change. Supporting individuals and communities to shift from survival patterns into greater choice, agency, and connection. She roots in the belief that personal transformation and collective liberation are inseparable, and her work is here to remind people of their inherent possibility and move towards what they deeply care about, beyond protective strategies and outside the limits carved by dominant systems.

  • Architect, textile artist

    Born in Kuwait in 1988, Mishari AlNajjar is a textile artist and practicing architect at Babnimnim design studio. His work has been exhibited across the Gulf and supported by institutions such as Sadu House, Misk Art Institute. As co-founder of Innarrative (2017) an exploratory platform that further explores his field of research and injects storytelling into architecture, he collaborates with Sara Abdulla on workshops and research exploring storytelling within architecture across the GCC.

  • Assistant Professor of English Literature at GUST

    Dr. Nour Dakkak is interested in how literature shapes and reflects our understanding of landscapes and the more-than-human world. Her work on environmental humanities draws on neo-materialist and ecological perspectives to ask how writing, places, and matter intertwine.

  • Visual artist, curator and educator

    Through painting, drawing, video and sound, she reflects on the interactions of people with land and landscape. She received an MFA in Art from the California Institute of the Arts and a BFA in Fine Arts with honors from the School of Visual Arts in New York.

  • Writer and academic

    Dr. Mai Al-Nakib is author of the novel, An Unlasting Home, and the award-winning collection of short stories, The Hidden Light of Objects. She taught English and Comparative Literature as an Associate Professor at Kuwait University for twenty years. Her academic research, short stories, poetry, and occasional essays have appeared in numerous publications. She lives and writes in Kuwait.

  • Highschool Student & Founder of the Kuwait Autism Initiative

    A student who has spent the past decade navigating various educational systems in Kuwait, Joudy is passionate about building inclusive, safe, and supportive school communities for everyone. This passion inspired her to found the Kuwait Autism Initiative in 2024, an organization dedicated to promoting awareness and understanding. Its goal is not only to educate but also to provide support for students who may feel out of place in their schools.

  • Culturologist and Manager

    Ksenia Graovac is a Culturologist and a Manager of Promenade Culture Centre. For over twenty years, she has been involved with community building through arts and culture. Ksenia's educational background in cultural management and diplomacy help her shape programmes that involve the community, while envisaging creative spaces for artists and those interested in positive social change.


  • Researcher, Storyteller & Advocate


    Lynn is a researcher and creative whose work blends research and art to explore how communities heal, connect, and imagine change. Through storytelling, sound, and participatory design, she explores how people make sense of care, migration, and belonging. Her work weaves research and creativity into acts of listening, dialogue, and transformation.


  • Facilitator, storyteller, and community builder

    Fatemah Ashkanani is a facilitator, storyteller, and community builder dedicated to fostering connection through culture, dialogue, and creative expression. As the Alumni Coordinator at the American University of Kuwait, she leads initiatives that celebrate alumni achievements and strengthen lifelong engagement. Beyond her university role, she facilitates youth programs with en.v, LOYAC, and Enbat—KIPCO’s flagship career readiness program—where she guides emerging changemakers in social entrepreneurship, leadership, and purpose-driven impact. Drawing from her background in media, PR, and social impact, Fatemah’s work bridges storytelling and community building to create spaces where empathy, collaboration, and creativity can thrive.

  • Operations Manager & Community Host

    Operations Manager at en.v, Khadija creates spaces where food, stories, and traditions bring people closer together and spark social change. At the Hearth Summit Kuwait 2025, she will host Namak, a communal eating experience exploring how breaking bread together can become an act of connection and reflection.

  • Professor of Practice & co-facilitator of Equity Unbound


    Maha Bali is Professor of Practice at the Center for Learning and Teaching at the American University in Cairo. She has a PhD in Education from the University of Sheffield, UK. She is co-founder of virtuallyconnecting.org (a grassroots movement that challenges academic gatekeeping at conferences) and co-facilitator of Equity Unbound (an equity-focused, open, connected intercultural learning curriculum, which has also branched into academic community activities Continuity with Care, Socially Just Academia, a collaboration with OneHE: Community-building Resources and MYFest, an innovative 3-month professional learning journey). She writes and speaks frequently about social justice, critical pedagogy, and open and online education.

  • Artist and educator

    Fatema (founder of Arttt Addiction) is an artist and educator. Her approach to education emphasizes integrative learning, inspiring creativity, fostering holistic development and empowering communities.

  • Nudge Club Facilitator & Coordinator

    Maryam is a homemaker passionate about education reform. She is a key member of the Nudge Club, and helps create safe and empowering spaces for teachers and students.

  • Nudge Club Facilitator & Coordinator

    Alongside her full-time role as an Executive Assistant at Warba Insurance, she volunteers with Nudge Club, where she helps with outreach and facilitates wellbeing-centered sessions for students and teachers.

  • Layan Al Dabt (RYT500) teaches Hatha and Restorative yoga with advanced adjustment therapy, and over 2,500 hours of experience between Kuwait and India. With roots in social inquiry and design, she approaches yoga as a way to reclaim agency and deepen self and systems awareness. In her classes, she explores the interplay between physical movement and mental patterns, with clear alignment and somatic cues, individualized adjustments, and a range of props that invite fuller engagement with the practice. 

  • Hayat Spokeswoman

    Her bachelor’s degree is in Botany, and her minor is in Desert Science from KU, She had her master’s and Ph.D. in Ecology and Environmental Biology from the University of Glasgow in Scotland. A co-founder of the Hayat volunteering group and the official speaker.

  • Assistant Professor, Earth and Environmental Sciences

    Abdullah Husain is an assistant professor  at the College of Science teaching environmental sciences, Kuwait University. His research focuses on the nexus between social processes and environmental policy formation in Kuwait.

  • Writer and Educator

    Jenna Cahusac de Caux is a MA graduate in English literature interested in the ways in which we form ideas of home and belonging through writing practices. Her research examines cross-cultural engagements with poetry as an act of home-building - in displacement and times of conflict - to explore poetry’s regenerative and radical properties. 

  • Assistant Professor Earth & Environmental Science, Kuwait University

    Reem Alawadhi is an assistant professor in the Earth and Environmental Science department at Kuwait University. She received her PhD in Environmental Science & Policy from University of New York and her Master's from John's Hopkins University. She has a certificate in Advanced Studies in Sustainable Enterprise. Her reaserch intrests involve understanding environmental citizenship, environmental justice issues in Kuwait, and developing environmental policies in the GCC.

Our Performing Artists

  • Professor Nidaa Abou Mrad (PhD in Musicology and MD) is the Dean of the Faculty of Music and Musicology at the Antonine University (Lebanon), and Senior Professor of Musicology, Neuropsychology of Music and Music Therapy, co-responsible for the Music-Health axis at the Collegium Musicæ, Sorbonne Université (Paris). He is also the scientific and artistic director of the Maqām Festival. He won the Lebanese National Council for Research Annual Research Excellence Award in 2017, for his theory on the Modal Semiotics. As a violin player and a composer, with twenty audio CDs, he is specialized in the art Maqām music Arabic tradition of the Mašriq.

  • Dr. Ghassan Sahhab, PhD in Ethnomusicology from Paris-Nanterre Université, is one of the very few instrumentalists in the Arab world to cultivate at a higher level the traditional art of playing qānūn according to the Egyptian Nahḍa tradition, recording CDs and giving live performances in reputable theatres. He is co-founder and musical director of Me‘zaf Initiative (Lebanon) and teaches musicology and qānūn at the Faculty of Music and Musicology of Antonine University. He is also a qānūn player in the Maqām Festival Ensemble.

  • Holistic Wellness Facilitator

    Hamad is a movement and wellness educator integrating ancient and modern theories in health, Qigong, music and contemplative practices. Through his teaching, he invites participants into embodied presence, mindfulness and open heartedness.

  • ARTSCENE founder

    Areej is a poet, writer and founder of ARTSCENE, where she curates spaces for creativity, conversation, and community. Her work weaves together literature, art, music, and collective expression.

  • Yousif Yaseen is a Kuwaiti singer, composer, and guitarist whose work blends Arabic folk influences with modern, atmospheric arrangements. His music draws on nature, memory, and the textures of regional traditions, shaping a sound that feels both rooted and exploratory.

Our Agenda

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