e are pleased to announce the 2025 recipients of the FFI GEN scholarships. These scholarships are made possible through the generosity of the FFI Board of Directors and the 2025 scholarship sponsors. Recipients are enrolled in and benefit from the interdisciplinary education provided by the GEN certificate program.

Please join us in celebrating the recipients and in thanking the sponsors who make this initiative possible.

Rakan AlBitar began offering freelance management consulting to entrepreneurs and small family firms in Jordan after pursuing his MBA at the Arab Open University. This experience deepened his interest in the consulting field and led to his current role as a business development specialist at a Saudi-based consulting and outsourcing family firm. He aims to continue growing in this industry, particularly by supporting family businesses in Jordan and Saudi Arabia, two markets shaped by strong family ties, deep-rooted traditions, and a rising focus on innovation, sustainability, and professionalized governance.

Khadija Mubarka, PhD, is an assistant professor of family business at Al-Yamamah University in Riyadh. A native of Pakistan with global academic experience, she earned her PhD from WHU Otto Beisheim School of Management in Germany. Her research focuses on governance, board diversity, and foundation ownership in family firms. She also serves as a consultant at the university’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation and holds SAP certification, enabling her to support digital transformation and sustainable growth in family enterprises across the MENA and South Asian regions.

Lira Low is the founder of The Mencius Advisory in Zurich, serving individuals, families, and companies globally. With a background in government diplomacy, peacemaking, and international armed conflict mediation, Lira specializes in trauma-informed mediation and brings her experience to family businesses and advisory firms through mediation, strategic counsel, and conflict management. Lira is interested in how trauma and its effects can be addressed in business families in order to resolve tension and secure lasting legacies.

Hamza Nidaazzi, PhD, is a management scholar and advisor specializing in family business, strategy, and sustainability. He is a member of the Laboratory of Interdisciplinary Studies in Management and Business Law (LIRE-MD) and visiting researcher at the American Institute of Applied Sciences in Switzerland. His 2023 doctoral thesis on family businesses earned the AMCCA Certificate of Excellence and the OEC Certificate of Recognition. His academic work is focused on the strategic aspects of management, with an interest in advancing theoretical and applied research in the context of family businesses.