Overview
Hear from Dalya Mohamed, General Manager at MEPRA, and Ghaleb Zeidan, MEPRA Executive Board Member, Chair of the Awards Committee & Regional Managing Director at Weber Shandwick MENAT, as they walk you through:
• What’s new and refined for 2026
• What judges are really looking for
• How to structure a compelling, high-scoring entry
• The most common pitfalls to avoid
Facilitator
Dalya Mohamed, General Manager at MEPRA
Dalya Mohamed is the General Manager at the Middle East Public Relations Association (MEPRA), where she leads strategic initiatives to strengthen the association’s impact and relevance across the communications industry. In her role, Dalya works closely with the board and leadership team to shape organisational strategy, drive operational excellence, and accelerate growth across key member programmes and industry platforms.With deep experience in membership engagement, communications strategy, and event leadership, Dalya oversees the planning and delivery of MEPRA’s flagship events, learning initiatives and professional development offerings — including the MEPRA Academy — to champion continuous capability building within the regional communications community. Prior to her tenure at MEPRA, Dalya worked as a freelance journalist and editor, bringing a strong foundation in storytelling, media insight, and content creation. She also served as a campus journalist for the Leopard newspaper at the American University of Sharjah. Dalya holds a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication from the American University of Sharjah, where she developed her passion for strategic communications and industry leadership.
Ghaleb Zeidan, MEPRA Executive Board Member, Chair of the Awards Committee & Regional Managing Director at Weber Shandwick MENAT
With over 17 years’ experience in media and public relations, Ghaleb heads up Weber Shandwick UAE. He joined the agency in 2010 and brings expertise in consumer, corporate, financial and government communications, as well as employee engagement, speaker training and issues and crisis management. His sector expertise includes aviation, education, energy, finance, healthcare and tourism. Client experience includes the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi, Qasr Al Watan, the World Health Organization (WHO) and Yas Island, in addition to several NGOs. He provided senior counsel to numerous mergers in the region. Currently, Ghaleb provides counsel to a range of local and federal government clients, including TikTok, Uber, Gulf Business Machines, UBF, FAB, SCAD, and the UAE Ministry of Finance (MoF). Before joining the agency, Ghaleb managed a client portfolio that included Air Arabia, Aramex, Dubai Bank, Dubai Financial Market, Dubai Islamic Bank and SEDDCO. Ghaleb holds a Diploma in Diplomatic and International Relations from the Beirut Arab University and a BA in Political and Administrative Science from the Lebanese University in Beirut. He is fluent in Arabic and English. Ghaleb was named ‘PR Leader of the Year’ at the 2019 PRCA MENA Awards.
Date & Timings
20 May 2026, 4:30 PM – 5:30 PM GST
Location
Online via Zoom
Registrations
Free for members and non-members
Registrations Deadline: May 19 1 PM GST