Choosing Values in Chaos

Imad’s story begins in Syria, where he launched his first company in water and sustainability. But when the revolution began, he was faced with a choice: stay silent or stand for freedom. He chose to tell the story. Armed with a camera instead of a weapon, Imad became a war correspondent, documenting the reality of war and resisting violence through truth. In the process, he lost his company, his office was bombed, and his equipment stolen. But he gained something deeper: the conviction that leadership means choosing values even when the world collapses around you.

 

 

The Greatest Leadership Lesson

As violence escalated, Imad had no choice but to flee - this time not alone, but with his family. With no resources and no map, he led them across borders, through the fog of uncertainty, and across the Mediterranean on a rubber boat. It was his closest, most personal team - his family - looking to him for clarity when none existed. Through trust, vision, and vulnerability, he brought them from surviving in Syria to thriving in Sweden. Imad calls this the greatest leadership lesson of his life: real leadership is not about control, it’s about building trust in the fog of uncertainty.

 

 

Reinvention in Exile

Arriving in Sweden with no money, no jacket, and no network, Imad had to rebuild from scratch. He struggled with post-traumatic stress and burnout, but instead of hiding from it, he studied it - diving deep into psychology, therapy, and self-healing. What began as personal survival turned into a mission.

 

He created Kidnovation, blending science, psychology, and storytelling to help children heal from trauma and rewrite their inner narrative. His award-winning children’s book and educational programs reached tens of thousands of children and schools, gaining national and international recognition.

 

Awards soon followed:

 

• Sweden’s Change Leader of the Year (2017)

• Royal Award of Entrepreneurship by His Majesty the King of Sweden (2018)

• United Nations Global Innovation Award (2020)

 

 

Innovation & Impact at Scale

From this foundation, Imad founded Nordic Future Labs, a venture studio and innovation consultancy that helps governments, city planners, and global organizations design future-ready cultures of innovation and resilience. His work bridges sectors and continents, supporting startups, corporates, and world-leading urban planners in building sustainable, adaptive systems for the future of work and society.

 

He has collaborated with organizations such as the United Nations, WHO, Karolinska Institute, and leading Nordic urban planning firms, helping them navigate change, scale impact, and thrive in complexity.

 

 

Today - Guiding Leaders Through Turbulence

Today, Imad is a keynote speaker, strategist, and advisor trusted by leaders across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. He distills his lived experience into practical frameworks for organizations and executives facing turbulence. His core work addresses two of the most urgent challenges leaders face today:

 

1. Leadership in Turbulence - How to build clarity and trust when disruption, complexity, and uncertainty dominate.

2. Sustainable Performance & Retention - How to prevent burnout and disengagement by shifting from fear-driven performance to purpose-driven resilience.

 

Imad’s presence is described as calm, trustworthy, and inspiring - the kind of leader people lean into when everything else feels unstable. His talks combine storytelling, strategy, and soul - showing leaders how to transform breakdowns into breakthroughs, chaos into clarity, and turbulence into trust.

 

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• Awards: Sweden’s Change Leader 2017 • Royal Prize of Entrepreneurship (King of Sweden, 2018) • United Nations Global Innovation Award 2020

• Founder: Nordic Future Labs • Kidnovation (award-winning children’s mental health innovation)

• Clients: United Nations, WHO, Karolinska Institute, Nordic urban planners, global corporates

• Presence: Based between Stockholm, Dubai, and Bali, working globally