- UAE, UK
Leena Al Olaimy Keynote Speaker
- One of the Most Original Voices on Nature, Governance and Planetary Futures & Creator of Nature on Board—Giving Nature a Seat in the Boardroom
- Advisor to Governments, Nobel Laureates and Institutional Investors
- Fulbright Scholar, Dalai Lama Fellow and Author of Compassionate Counterterrorism
Leena Al Olaimy's Biography
Leena Olaimy gives Nature a seat at the table and a voice in the room. Over 25 years— from the World Economic Forum to the United Nations—she has delivered over 300 talks across five continents, bringing Global South perspectives to economics, peace, governance and planetary futures.
As an advisor to governments, Nobel laureates and institutional investors, Leena reframes ecological collapse not as an endpoint but as an opening—helping leaders reimagine a future where human, artificial and natural intelligence converge.
Leena is a systems alchemist and serial social entrepreneur, and the Founder and CEO of Symbaiosys, a science and data-driven venture making the value of nature visible to markets. She is also cofounder of three other impact ventures: 3BL Associates, Public-Planet Partnerships, and Diversity on Board.
Leena is the creator of Nature on Board, a governance methodology enabling organizations to move beyond ESG compliance toward competitive advantage, grounded in a radical truth: every company is co-founded with nature, and nature is the universal owner underwriting our global economy. Her work explores new financial mechanisms such as the IPPO (Initial Public–Planet Offering) and Interspecies Diplomacy as a framework for peace and security.
On stage, Leena does what few speakers dare. Embodying the voice of Nature itself, she invites audiences to experience ecosystems as legitimate authorities. Her keynotes blend data, humour and moral imagination—leaving audiences equipped with new frameworks, language and the courage to lead as if the Earth herself were in the room.
Earlier in her career Leena convened key regional security forums at the Bahrain Ministry of Foreign Affairs, also serving on a Chatham House steering committee for Future Dynamics in the Gulf, on the advisory board of His Royal Highness Prince El Hassan Bin Talal of Jordan’s West Asia-North Africa Forum, and on the Board of the Bahrain Foundation for Reconciliation & Civil Discourse post-Arab Spring.
Leena is a Fulbright Scholar, a Dalai Lama Fellow, a Wall Street Journal ‘Woman of Note’, and has been named among ChangeNOW’s 25 Women Changing Our Future and Fin-Erth’s 101 Women in Climate Awards. She is the award-winning author of Compassionate Counterterrorism: The Power of Inclusion in Fighting Fundamentalism.
Leena Al Olaimy's Speaking Topics
-
Nature on Board: When Every Company Is Co-Founded with Nature
Every company is co-founded with nature, and nature is the universal owner underwriting our economy—yet no board has nature on its cap table. Leena shows boards how to move from ESG compliance to reciprocity, reducing systemic risk and unlocking regenerative value through a governance model built for fiduciary decision-making.
Best for: boards, chairs and NEDs, CSOs and heads of sustainability, institutional investors.
-
The Convergence: When Human, Artificial and Natural Intelligence Meet
Nature has 3.8 billion years of R&D; AI has computational power at scale; humans have creativity and judgement—yet we rarely design them to work as one. Leena shows how leaders can draw on all three intelligences to build institutions that are resilient, adaptive and regenerative, learning from living systems as models, not metaphors.
Best for: C-suites, innovation and strategy leaders, technology and transformation teams.
-
From Responsibility to Reciprocity: The Initial Public Planet Offering
What if nature held shares in the companies that depend on it? The IPPO reimagines capital allocation around reciprocity rather than extraction, showing how treating nature as a shareholder becomes a source of competitive advantage rather than a compliance cost.
Best for: institutional investors, asset managers, CFOs, sustainable finance leaders.
-
Interspecies Diplomacy: When a River and Land Owns Itself
When a river or a forest is granted legal personhood, the map of power shifts—and biodiversity loss and climate adaptation are already redrawing geopolitics. Leena shows how recognising ecosystems as diplomatic actors transforms relationships between people, power and place, and builds resilience in contested terrain.
Best for: governments and policymakers, geopolitical risk and strategy teams, boards operating in contested regions.
-
Collapse as Opening: Leading Through the End of the World as We Know It
The breakdown of extractive systems feels like catastrophe—but collapse is also an opening for renewal. Leena helps leaders navigate institutional transformation and ecological grief while cultivating the courage, humility and moral imagination to steward life in an uncertain age.
Best for: mission-driven organisations, multilaterals.
Why Book Leena Al Olaimy as a speaker?
-
She equips boards and leaders with forward-looking frameworks—including Nature on Board, the IPPO and Interspecies Diplomacy — that move organisations beyond compliance toward competitiveness, reduced systemic risk and regenerative value.
-
She connects climate, nature, finance and geopolitics into clear strategic implications, helping leaders understand why Nature belongs at the centre of fiduciary and capital decisions.
-
She is a rare performer on stage, embodying the voice of Nature itself and blending rigorous data with humour and moral imagination to leave audiences uplifted, provoked and equipped to lead differently.
-
She facilitates customised Interspecies Board Meetings—immersive simulations where leaders deliberate a live decision as an assigned species or habitat—reframing how they see risk, resilience and the systems their organisation depends on.
-
She is trusted to brief the most senior audiences, advising governments, Nobel laureates and institutional investors, and turning complex planetary risk into decisions leaders can act on.
Videos of Leena Al Olaimy
Articles, Media & Podcasts
Books by Leena Al Olaimy
Check Leena Al Olaimy's speaking fees and availability
Discover other speakers
