The Principal of NLCS Dubai has responsibility for the leadership of the School, including strategic direction and the annual School Development Plan.
The School Governing Body is comprised of members nominated by NLCS (UK) and Meraki Education, our partners in the development of NLCS Dubai.
Parents will also be invited to be members of the Governing Body. In this capacity, they will help to shape the School’s future direction and ensure a strong connection and sense of community between the School’s leadership and parents: a partnership in which we firmly believe.
Co-Chairman of PNCI Group, UAE.
Ajay Rajendran joined PNCI in 2004, bringing with him a wealth of industry and leadership experience. In his capacity as Co-Chairman, Ajay has helped shape PNCI Group’s growth in the UAE, a key market for the company, including the diversification of the Group into educational services. He is known for incisive industry analysis and team-building skills.
Ajay is a gold medalist in Chemical Engineering from M.S University Baroda and holds a post-graduate degree in Business Administration from Jamnalal Baja Institute of Management Studies, University of Mumbai.
Chairwoman of Governors
Jules Quinn is a partner in an international law firm with offices in the Middle East and London. As a partner in the Labour and Employment practice, Jules represents major corporations and financial institutions in a variety of global labour-related matters. Jules brings particular experience in international project management to her work with companies headquartered outside of the UK, particularly U.S.-based corporations with global operations. She often works alongside in-house counsel or senior management with responsibility for EMEA acquisitions, mergers, employee transfers and the restructuring of EMEA based workforces.
Jules is a former governor of NLCS (UK), where she served for eight years including as chair of the Personnel Committee and of NLCS Enterprises, where she was involved in setting up the NLCS family of schools’ first overseas venture in Jeju, South Korea and in establishment of NLCS Dubai.
Jules holds a Master’s Degree in Law from Oxford University.
Josh is a business leader with extensive international commercial experience across a range of geographic and product sectors. He has particular skills in trouble-shooting, strategy and negotiation which have enabled him to deliver consistent and impressive business growth.
On graduating from Oxford, Josh joined Unilever as a commercial trainee. He qualified as an accountant and then worked in both the UK and overseas in a variety of commercial roles.
After 15 years in Unilever, Josh was headhunted to run the international operations of the Body Shop in 45 countries as General Manager Global Sales, Finance and Franchising. From The Body Shop, he moved to Eurostar as Executive Commercial Director, where the business generated significant year-on-year revenue growth, through revenue management, pricing, marketing activities and closer integration with French and Belgian operations.
Josh then joined Storehouse PLC as Managing Director, International for Bhs and Mothercare. He was responsible for managing and developing relationships with franchise and JV partners across Europe, Middle and Far East and oversaw a business which outstripped the UK in both sales and profitability.
For the past 8 years, Josh has been Chairman and co-founder of Clarity Search Limited, a high profile and successful headhunting business focusing on the Retail and Consumer sectors, on an international basis.
Josh is the Chairman of NLCS Enterprises and a Governor of NLCS Jeju and NLCS (UK).
Bernard J. West has two decades of experience building investor-backed education businesses across developed and frontier markets in Asia, Africa and America. His work in the sector spans K-12 education, post-secondary training and online learning. Currently, he is an advisor to Meraki Education.
Bernard served as the founding CEO of Tadrees Education Holding in KSA, a K-12 education platform sponsored by the Safanad and NCB. He grew the school platform to serve more than 12,000 students in less than 5 years. Bernard’s previous work includes managing and advising several leading education companies, school acquisitions and public/private partnerships.
Bernard West is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies and of Howard University.
Edwina Viel was born in Singapore but was raised and educated in the UK at Wycombe Abbey School, and later graduated from Edinburgh University with a degree in Economics and Politics MA Hons.
She chose a career in finance, working at various institutions including Coutts Bank, Morgan Stanley Quilter and UBS Wealth Management (UK Ltd) where she qualified as fund manager.
Edwina moved to Dubai in 2008 to raise her family and helps run a family-owned business. She is currently a parent of four children at NLCS Dubai.
Khawar Mann is the Chief Executive of Evercare Group, a healthcare company providing services to the low and middle income populations of Africa and South Asia.
Prior to joining Evercare, Khawar was a partner with Apax Partners, the international private equity firm, where he specialised in healthcare investments. He was also Chairman and President of Medsi Group, Russia’s largest private healthcare company.
Khawar began his career as a lawyer with Linklaters in London, specialising in Corporate Finance and Intellectual Property. He then moved to Weston Medical Group PLC as the Commercial Director before joining Apax Partners in 2003.
Khawar earned a degree in Medical Sciences and Law from Cambridge University and an LLM Master of Law. He received an MBA from The Wharton School, where he was a Fulbright and Thouron scholar.
He is also a founder and Chairman of Mosaic, the UK based mentoring charity, for which he received an OBE. He serves as Chairman of the UK selection committee for the Thouron Award.
Rohan Bhaskar leads the Investments and Strategy department for Meraki Group. He has over 15 years of commercial experience, primarily in real estate and education, including acquisitions, development management, capital raising, fund management and financial operations.
Rohan has closed transactions both internationally and in the GCC region worth more than AED 3.7bn (including UAE, UK, US, Saudi, Qatar, Bahrain and Singapore). He has led several sale and leaseback funding transactions for K-12 schools in the region and has been involved in both debt and equity capital initiatives.
Prior to Meraki Group, Rohan spent close to a decade in the region working at investment banking units in Qatar and Bahrain, and has also worked in India at PricewaterhouseCoopers and PepsiCo.
Rohan holds a degree in Chemical Engineering from S.V. Regional Engineering College, Surat, and holds a post graduate diploma in management from the Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow, he is also a Chartered Financial analyst (CFA).
Yousuf Lootah holds a Bachelor of Architecture from the Pratt Institute in New York and is the owner and principal architect of the Dubai based Plus971 Architectural Consultancy.
Yousuf has a keen interest in falcons, travelling and art, and is the patron of the annual NLCS Dubai Yousuf Lootah Art Prize. He currently has a daughter attending NLCS Dubai.
Gwen Byrom graduated from the University of Manchester, UK with a first class Honours degree in Biochemistry in 1992 and began a career in genetic research at Guy’s Hospital, London. Following a chance encounter with a biology class in a London school, Gwen made the decision to change careers and train as a teacher, gaining her postgraduate teaching qualification from Goldsmith’s College, University of London. She gained her MA in Education in 2007, focussing on science education, childhood development and educational leadership and since then has also carried out research into independent schools as drivers of social mobility.
Gwen has wealth of educational experience after teaching and leading for over 20 years in boarding and day, single sex and co-educational, maintained and independent schools in the UK. She has led teams in some of the UK’s most prestigious schools, including Roedean School and The Cheltenham Ladies’ College. From 2011-2018 she led Loughborough High School, a girls’ school in the UK East Midlands. In addition, whilst a Head she was heavily involved in the Girls’ Schools Association, which represents some of the very best independent girls’ schools in the UK. She became President of this Association in 2018, representing the interests of girls’ schools nationally and internationally. Gwen has served as a governor for independent schools in the UK and since September 2019 has been Director of Education Strategy for NLCS International.
Deepak Malhotra was born in Kingston upon Thames and raised in the outskirts of London and educated at Hampton School, Middlesex. He graduated from Manchester University with a degree in Economics, thereafter qualifying as a Chartered Accountant and Chartered Tax Adviser (prize winner). He has a successful career in advising ultra-high net worth families with complex advisory requirements and developing strategies to safeguard the family and best protect assets.
His career in London saw him in positions with PwC; Deloitte; Grant Thornton and Barclays Wealth. Deepak moved to Dubai in 2013 as head of the MENA wealth advisory business at Barclays. In 2016, he set up Mayfair Private, Dubai, a business wholly owned by Mischon de Reya. He is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Alderley Global and Senior Partner at Sanctuary. Sanctuary and Alderley Global provide a wide range of financial and fiduciary advisory services to individuals and families.
Deepak supports many charitable causes in Dubai, India and UK. As a Type 1 Diabetic, he is particularly keen to assist and mentor those who are also diabetic. He goes to extra-ordinary lengths to research the latest technology so ensuring his quality of life and passing this information on to others.
He is a family man above all else, passionate about sport, in particular supporting Manchester United. He currently has two daughters at the school and Mahi, the youngest, was the first student at NLCS, Dubai.
Jennifer Nwodo is a Health Economist and Business Strategist who has been based in Dubai since 2011. She has worked in several regions including the UK, Middle East and Africa. Jennifer began her career in the pharmaceutical sector, focused on revenue generation and stakeholder relationship management. She also worked for an NGO in partnership with the UK National Health Service (NHS) leading programmes aimed at strengthening health worker capacity globally.
She is a founding parent at NLCS Dubai, with daughters, Rainna in Senior School and Savanna in Junior school.
Currently, Jennifer is a managing partner at a design firm in Dubai focused on branding, storytelling and corporate identity. She is an artist who views painting as a unique vessel for self expression and a DJ who uses the power of music to bring people together.
Jennifer believes that regardless of your chosen career path, making room for some creativity and self expression is important.
“For me, education is not just about absorbing knowledge, it is about experiencing it, making meaningful connections, understanding global perspectives and seeking avenues to channel your unique voice. The journey from classroom to boardroom is not only about mastering subjects, it is also about carving out an authentic identity in a sea of voices and having the confidence to share original ideas and contribute meaningfully to conversations in a constantly evolving global narrative.”
Jennifer Nwodo has completed the Investment Management Regulations at the CFA UK institute. She earned a Bachelors degree in Genetics and Microbiology (BSc) from Queen Mary University of London, a Masters degree in Health, Population and Society (MSc) from the London School of Economics and she has completed a program in Public Policy Economics at the University of Oxford.
Nesreen Srouji is the Head of Middle East for Bridge Investment Group and has over 20 years of experience in investment banking, private equity, and asset management. She has held senior leadership roles at Amundi, Standard Chartered Bank, and NBK Capital, where she played a key role in developing investment strategies, managing sovereign wealth and institutional portfolios, and pioneering private debt initiatives in the MENA region. Nesreen began her career as an M&A lawyer at Freshfields in London before transitioning to investment banking at Goldman Sachs.
She serves on the Endowment Management Committee of the Board of INSEAD and is a consultant for the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group. Nesreen holds an LLB/JD from Osgoode Hall Law School in Canada and an MBA from INSEAD in France.
As a dedicated member of the NLCS Dubai community, Nesreen is a proud parent of students who have been part of the school since its founding, with graduation years in 2024, 2026, and 2028.
Parent Portal