Meet our Team
As a family run independent school, Al Salam has always put education and children at the heart of all of its ambition.
Ms Sue Johnston, having founded the school in 1985 and served as headmistress until 2016, continues to guide the vision and ethos of the schools. Al Salam has been fortunate to have been able to assemble a team of highly experienced and committed board members to help ensure governance across both schools delivers exceptions levels of suppport, challenge and positive accountability. This helps keep the core belief of ‘where every child is special’ alive through an ethos of care, commitment and challenge.
Al Salam Executive Committee
Salam Education is a school operator responsible for managing Salam Nursery, ASPS and ASCS.
As a family, we have operated our schools with an ‘education first’ priority and this stems from our identity and commitment as educators.
The executive management team at Al Salam are responsible for the executive function as the key decision makers for the group, as well as for the provision and management of shared services to the schools. As such, the strategy and the performance of our schools – in all respects are – under the purview of the executive committee.
Sue Johnston – Founder and Chairwoman
Executive Committee member
Mrs Sue Johnston is the CEO and Founder of Al Salam Private School and Nursery and has been in the field of education for over 40 years. She and her late husband established the school after beginning as a small Nursery in Deira. She has nurtured the growth of the school to its current state, offering quality education for over 1200 students from Nursery to Year 13. In doing so she has continued to develop and promote the beliefs of ‘a good education for all children’ and ‘every child is special’. Her name and reputation has been a major driver of a successful opening and growth in both ASCS and ASPS.
She has been in Dubai for over 33 years as a teacher, leader and entrepreneur and continues to be deeply involved at all levels of the schools and nursery.
Governance Priorities:
- SEND/Inclusion
- Child Protection and Safeguarding
- Teaching and Learning and Community
Taher Gharib – Chief Executive Officer
Executive Committee member
Taher Gharib is a second-generation leader and the Director of Salam Education, continuing and advancing a family legacy of educational excellence in the United Arab Emirates. He oversees the performance and strategic direction of the schools, ensuring alignment with the guiding belief at Al Salam that every child is special.
Born and raised in the UAE, Taher obtained his undergraduate and Masters degrees in Neuroscience, followed by an MEd in Educational Leadership. His academic journey reflects his deep interest in understanding human development and learning, which has profoundly influenced his approach to education leadership.
Since joining Al Salam in 2011, Taher has played a key role in shaping the group’s identity and driving its expansion, now serving over 3,500 students across Salam Nursery, Al Salam Private School, and Al Salam Community School.
His leadership reflects a commitment to fostering inclusive, values-driven education and empowering the next generation of learners.
Governance Priorities:
- Strategic planning and partnerships
- Teaching, Learning, Curriculum and Assessment
- Business and Administration
Ahmed Hamdi – Chief Operating Officer
Executive Committee member
Ahmed is the CFO/COO at Salam Education and is responsible for the Financial and operational management and strategic business leadership of the group and schools. His background as a result-driven CFO, with solid financial and commercial acumen, extensive experience in Financial Services and Real Estate.
His experience and capability in applying internal controls and generating in-depth reporting mechanism that facilitates executive decision-making. Ahmed has an interest and focus on unifying organization and staff objectives and is passionate about developing people, team building, and creating new leaders. He has a proven track record in negotiating and executing complex deals in different domains that achieved remarkable results.
Governance Priorities:
- Finance, Strategy and Operations
- Legal
- Infrastructure development
Amal Zen Al Deen – Chief People Officer
Executive Committee Member
Amal is Chief People Officer at Al Salam Education. She is a trained Co-Active Coach and SHRM-certified HR professional who brings a wealth of experience in HR within the education field. She leads the wellbeing initiatives and oversees the HR functions across the group, strategically enhancing people-centric initiatives. Through her coaching skills, Amal is actively working to embed a coaching culture within Al Salam, fostering a positive and growth-oriented workplace.
Amal joined Al Salam in 2019, and since then, her tireless efforts have been dedicated to transforming the HR department into a centre of excellence.
Governance Priorities:
- Compensation and People strategy
- Wellbeing
- Policy and accountability
Ralph Tabberer – Education Strategy Advisor
Education Specialist
Ralph is an alumni of Plymouth College after which he attended Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge University, gaining a MA in Economics, Social and Political Science. In addition, he gained a PGCE from Brunel University.
Ralph was a teacher and completed 10 years’ of research study into how children learn before joining the Civil Service. A highly successful career led to his appointment in 2000, as Chief Executive of the TTA (Teacher Training Agency), which became the TDA (Training and Development Agency for Schools), and was the UK’s most senior official for schools under the Blair Government. In 2009, he came to the Middle East as Chief Schools Officer and Chief Operating Officer for GEMS Education.
After 4 years in charge of their schools, he set up his own companies in the UK and UAE that provide governments, investors and operators with financial, planning, educational and marketing support for their schools. and is a visiting professor at Warwick University and University College London.
Ralph has been associated with Al Salam since 2016 where he was part of the core inspiration to open ASCS and supported the strategic and operational stages for its launch in 2019.
Governance Priorities:
- Strategy and Leadership development
- Educational standards and excellence
Wael Nafii – Specialist Strategy Advisor
Community Leader and School Parent
Wael is a Y Combinator alumnus and serial entrepreneur who has co-founded startups in the Silicon Valley and the Middle East.
He was one of the early employees of Careem and held roles including VP of Product Development and was Careem’s MD of Platforms, leading Careem’s vision to become a Super App company. Wael has built technology products used by tens of millions of users worldwide, featured in publications such as TechCrunch, TheNextWeb, Engadget, and many others. He is has been advisor to many VCs and startups in the region and is passionate about building tech capacity and fostering entrepreneurship in the MENA region.
Currently, Wael is now a Partner at Raed Ventures where he works with founders to create and scale breakthrough companies in the MENA region.
Governance Priorities:
- Technology, data and Communications
- Digital strategy and data management
- Tech investment and smooth operation of systems
Margi Kulsoom – Specialist Inclusion advisor
Community Leader and Education specialist
Qualified in 1969 in the UK as a Speech & Language Therapist in the Kingdon-Ward Speech Therapy college affiliated with University College London, Margi specialised in Paediatrics and School services, and has a wide range of educational and special educational experience behind her. She served as a Governor of the Walthamstow School for Girls in London for five years, and internationally later.
In Dubai, as well as being a Governor, she provides consultancy in Al Salam schools where she observes and advises on a range of pupils about whom there are concerns.
Margi has worked in Ethiopia and China for short periods. In Pakistan, working with a group of local people and parents, she set up two special schools in KPK, Pakistan. She also became Special Advisor to the Pakistan Federal Government on Special Education, during President Zia ul Haq’s time, providing national training for education professionals across Pakistan. Children with disabilities previously hidden away and a symbol of shame, started to be accepted in Pakistan society.
In London, during more than 20 years as a UK qualified Speech and Language Therapy Manager, she achieved significant improvements in four London Speech and Language Therapy services, linking Educational with Health provisions as inclusive practice was implemented more widely in the UK.
The philosophy of including children with special needs in mainstream schools has driven Margi throughout her career, and her work alongside Education colleagues focuses upon a joint approach to meeting each child’s needs. Learning happens with practice, everywhere and always, and Margi maximises the practice opportunities, helping to train and model true Inclusivity, to parents, teachers, assistants, inclusion staff, leaders, students – the whole school community.
Governance Priorities:
- SEND / Inclusion and Provision for Emiratis Areas
- Wellbeing
- Policy and accountability