Tala Al Anasari

Tala Al Ansari is the Director of District 2020’s Innovation Ecosystem; which is EXPO2020’s legacy.

She leads the development and execution of District 2020’s ecosystem strategy that support the curation of its innovation-driven community. Her role involves building partnerships and engaging with the diverse stakeholders required across government, academia, labs, accelerators and incubators. Tala also oversees the implementation of District 2020’s global entrepreneur programme, Scale2Dubai, which is focused on attracting innovative startups and small businesses.

Previously, Tala worked with the International Participants team at Expo 2020. More than 190 participants will come during this 6 month mega-event. In this team, Tala was responsible for securing the participation of 13 strategic countries from Europe and Asia, as well as several International Organizations, NGOs and Academia. She also forged partnerships for Expo 2020’s programming around the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the global development agenda.

Tala has been recognized as one of a few Expo 2020 Mission leaders by Her Excellency Reem AlHashimy. She is one of the UAE’s first Nation Chief Design Officers focused on human-centric design (Design thinking) at the heart of government.

In her early career, Tala led the initiation and operation of a group-wide Innovation and Change Management Unit at Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC) which was certified as a ‘Model Scheme’ by global accreditors.

Tala has a master’s in International Business and HR alongside a bachelors in Business Finance. She is also an accredited change practitioner and a certified trainer in creative lateral thinking by Edward De Bono Group. Tala has conducted several training sessions & customized innovation workshops during her time at ENOC & EXPO2020. Her sessions have resulted in an average of 40 workable ideas with a satisfaction feedback training score of 4.6/5.0. Tala is also a regular speaker at international events on the topics on innovation, entrepreneurship and transformation.