The strategy is not the problem. The room is.
Transformations stall when the people who must implement a decision are not yet aligned around it, or aren’t even present. I work with senior sponsors in the MENA region to convene and hold the rooms where that alignment is built, and to ensure the decisions made there survive contact with reality.
Senior advisory for high-stakes alignment in transformation settings.
Trusted when the room is complex.
Mawzun works with the sponsors and senior leaders of transformations, reforms, and consequential leadership transitions — across governments, multilaterals, sovereign-backed institutions, family enterprises, and large private-sector organizations.
There is no “one size fits all.” Every engagement is tailored to meet your specific needs, challenges, and goals.
- Governments & Multilaterals
- Sovereign-backed institutions
- Family enterprises
- Large private-sector organizations
- Non-Profit & Public-Sector Organizations
The work is organized around four engagements, each designed for a different stage of the alignment problem.
Alignment Read
A two-week senior diagnostic. Confidential interviews with the principals and key stakeholders, a map of where alignment is breaking, and a candid sponsor memo on what is at stake and what should happen next. Often the first engagement.
A two-week senior diagnostic. Confidential interviews with the principals and key stakeholders, a map of where alignment is breaking, and a candid sponsor memo on what is at stake and what should happen next. Often the first engagement.
Patterns I help clients identify and navigate.
Real progress you can actually measure.
Improvement in measured leadership scores across 18 World Bank cohorts — through sustained senior leadership alignment and capability work
Reduction in actual gun violence in three months, following a cross-bureau alignment process that converted resistance into shared accountability
Convened with rooms that include ministers, executive state governors, executive directors, military commanders, multilateral leadership and senior decision makers — in environments where the cost of misalignment is borne by populations and communities.
Years operating at senior level in fragile, conflict-affected, and reform-minded systems — long enough to know that the quality of a decision is determined before the meeting begins.
Most of this work
is confidential.
Selected public-safe cases below.
Saudi Arabia — Vision 2030 Assessment
Supporting the World Bank GCC Prosperity team in the assessment of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 progress and next steps. Ongoing.
- Context
- World Bank GCC Prosperity team
- Mode
- Assessment facilitation and next-step design
- Status
- Current engagement
Malaysia — National Governance Reform
Directed a $27M governance portfolio engaging Parliament, ministries, anti-corruption bodies, and civil society on reform priorities. $17M in cumulative impact to 80+ local actors within 18 months.
- Role
- Chief of Party
- Table
- Parliament, ministries, anti-corruption bodies, civil society
- Scale
- $27M portfolio; 80+ local grantees
World Bank — Leadership Development at Scale
Delivered leadership training across 18 cohorts of World Bank Team Leaders and Supervisors. Cohorts recorded a 16% improvement in measured leadership scores.
- Audience
- Team Leaders and Supervisors
- Scale
- 18 cohorts
- Signal
- 16% improvement in leadership scores
Mawzun Advisory is a private advisory practice led by Shareef Khatib.
Eighteen years of senior international experience across the Gulf, the Levant, Africa, and Asia, including chief-of-party leadership of multi-country governance and reform portfolios up to USD 161 million.
World Bank facilitator and trainer roster member. Georgetown-trained in Leadership Coaching and in Organizational Development & Change Leadership. British and Jordanian — formed by both worlds and comfortable operating across them.
The work is advisory. The purpose is consequential: decisions that hold, institutions that deliver, and communities that shape their own futures.
Real evidence from real leaders.
Shareef landed in Portland and within 3 months had done things that no one in our city had done before. Today, gun violence is down nearly 60% since 2022 — I'm convinced we wouldn't be where we are today without Shareef's work.
Partnering with Shareef was a turning point for our leadership team. His ability to surface core values, strengthen team cohesion, and offer practical strategies empowered us to lead with clarity, cohesion and confidence.
His mixture of experience, empathy, and clear guidance turned my rushed prep into a confident and polished performance. His composure techniques and stress management strategies have made a huge difference — I'm generally more grounded and ready to tackle professional challenges.