Goumbook is dedicated to accelerating Sustainability and Climate Action in the UAE and beyond since 2009. We aim for high-impact change and to guide, inspire and empower businesses and individuals on their path towards setting and reaching sustainable development goals and ESG practices.
Thriving through Sustainability.
A world where communities thrive in harmony with our environment, our society and our economic needs through sustainable living and business practices with a balance between purpose and prosperity.
PASSION. We are passionate about sustainability and environmental protection.
COMMITMENT. We are committed to a better world, creating initiatives, sharing facts and ideas, and offering advice, changing mindsets.
INTEGRITY. We manage our resources transparently and publish the annual results of our activity.
INDEPENDENCE. We work independently from any public, political or religious power.
WOMEN EMPOWERMENT. Our hiring policy favors the inclusion of women in the labor market, offering the ideal conditions to allow labor reconciliation to women who must combine motherhood and family life with their professional activity.
GIVING BACK. Through our campaigns and initiatives we always look for ways to involve the community and achieve a positive and beneficial impact for it.
GLOBAL IMPACT. We believe that all actions have a positive impact, and that local actions accumulate to have global effects
OUR PROMISE: Goumbook commits to making a difference and reinvests all its profits to carry out long term programs and develop new initiatives.
Goumbook was born to bring attention on the region’s efforts towards a greener economy and instead of choosing a name starting with ‘eco’ or ‘green’ we made sure it was strongly rooted into the local culture:
‘Goum’: the Bedouin tribe that used to travel around the desert from Persia up to Morocco, living together according to an ethic of self-help and collective responsibility, sharing resources, reusing them when possible and avoiding wastage. In the UAE it is often written ‘Goam’, with the same tribal meaning. The original root of the word “‘qâma’, means to ‘get up’ / ‘stand up’ and in Arabia evolved to mean ‘rise up’.
‘Book’: refers both to reading our story together but also using the book to find sustainable resources, except our book is not a physical one but our website.
‘Goumbook’: stand up for a better future! The aim is to make all of us stand up for an ideal and unite towards a better world, sharing facts, ideas and advice on how to live a more responsible life.
Anything we can do together for the planet is a good thing for this and future generations.
Goumbook commitment for a sustainable future
We are proud to be a Signatory of the United Nations Global Compact.
The UN Global Compact mission is to generate an international movement of sustainable companies, and impact companies and organisations to align their strategies and operations with Ten Universal Principles on human rights, labour standards, the environment and the fight against corruption, and to promote the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Our Team
The Goumbook team is characterized by its commitment for sustainability, environmental protection, and women empowerment. Since 2009, Goumbook has had the immense privilege to count on dedicated and highly skilled women who have made the company what it is today. Women from different nationalities, and with different professional specialties and backgrounds, who have contributed with their experience and knowledge to generate positive impact in the UAE and beyond.
Tatiana Antonelli Abella
Founder & Chief Impact Leader
Tatiana moved to the UAE in 2005. Having studied Architecture and Urban Planning in Italy, she felt she was at the right place at the right time in order to support sustainable development and help raise awareness among the local community: curb pollution, conserve natural resources and reduce the impact on the environment.
Her passion for Sustainability led her to found Goumbook in 2009, creating the first ‘green’ information resource of the MENA Region. Her commitment to the Environment blossomed into a sense of duty towards our Youth and future generations.
In April 2019 Tatiana started Forward Talks, a podcast highlighting leaders and professionals who, through their work, entrepreneurship and commitment promote positive impact and sustainability in the UAE and beyond.
Natacha Seker
Education & Collaboration Leader
Natacha is an impact driven project designer and manager, a sustainability advocate and an educator. Originally from France, she studied public policy management at Science-Po. She also holds a degree in “local development of the MENA region”.
Natacha has over 15 years experience in building engaging and innovative programs / workshops / events, empowering all generations for a Sustainable Future. Before joining Goumbook in June 2022, she worked in many countries:
- in Lebanon, for the French Embassy, she was responsible for the coordination and funding of NGOs.
- in Luxembourg, she worked as a program manager for the biggest local NGO specialized in microfinance.
- in Turkey, she became the managing director of a business networking platform.
- in Morocco, she co-founded a start-up offering educational workshops on sustainability for teenagers.
Carolin Hussein
Growth and Partnerships Leader
Having studied in Germany and Egypt, Carolin started her career at a grassroots NGO in Cairo working on various projects ranging from economic development and community empowerment to health and social inclusion.
Since coming to the UAE in 2009, Carolin has balanced working at the country’s biggest German-speaking publication, completing her Master’s degree in Sustainable Development Cooperation and raising her young children.
Carolin’s goal is to make a difference for the public. For her that means working on a few key issues, with an emphasis on social and environmental projects that can foster new ideas, establish cross-sectoral partnerships, and achieve tangible results that serve the public interest. Looking for a meaningful and impactful assignment, she joined Goumbook in 2020, sharing the enterprise’s approach that driven by the power of knowledge we can raise awareness, invigorate civic life and ultimately help solve today’s most challenging problems.
Lama Saleh
Sustainable Business Leader
Lama moved to Dubai in 2010 where she was introduced to the world of social enterprise and impact investing. It was within her dual role as project manager and marketing communications analyst for a social impact business incubator that her interest in equity and sustainability considerations matured.
As her roots run deep in the Middle East, her passion for serving the region and influencing its narrative moved her to conceptualise a platform to support female artisans from refugee camps in the Levant to later covering success stories from the MENA for a social publisher.
While raising her young children, she worked across industries spanning from the creative arts to technology. Through these experiences she was able to gain a multidisciplinary skillset to feed into her role with Goumbook from June 2022.
Lama recently completed a postgraduate certificate in Sustainable Development from SOAS, University of London. Previously a student of Political Studies and Public Administration from the American University of Beirut, Lebanon, her journey took her back to where it all started – a commitment to human development and a passion for inspiring positive impact on the world as we know it.
Samantha Kayruz
Strategy and Sustainability Impact Leader
Samantha’s experience stems in the corporate world where she held regional and strategic positions across different industries.
Her previous experience is varied from Advertising & Communication, Business Strategy, E-commerce, Startups, Automotive, FMCG, Food Retail to name a few.
She also recently headed a global initiative tasked to develop, support and implement startup innovation solutions to tackle the UN SDGs and global pressing social and environmental issues, in conjunction with the various United Nations entities.
Samantha holds a Bachelor in Business Administration from the American University of Beirut, an ExecutiveMasters in Marketing & Sales from ESADE & Bocconi Universities along with “Business Sustainability Management” certification from Cambridge University and “Leading Sustainable Corporations” from Oxford University’s Saïd Business School program, as well as being ESG GRI “Global Reporting Initiative” trained.
With a foot in the corporate world and another in the sustainability space, Samantha feels that purpose and profit can coexist, allowing all stakeholders to thrive; benefiting the economy, society and the environment to drive positive lasting impact.
Anuradha Bhattacharya
Outreach and Impact Leader
Anuradha has 12 years’ experience driving research led program development, outreach strategies, project management and strategic partnerships for diverse knowledge sharing platforms across the energy, sustainability and development sectors in the MENASA regions.
She has a strong grasp of technical concepts in energy, climate and sustainability, and has developed and delivered content strategy and event programming, for multi-stakeholder projects for diverse virtual and in-person platforms including leadership accelerators, strategy and technical workshops, circular economy led capacity building community projects and digital publications. She is currently also pursuing a Certified Sustainability Manager course majoring as a SDG specialist (SDG frameworks and ISO26000 integration for organisations) by VERIFY Sweden.
Nasrin Suleiman
Campaign Leader – Give A Ghaf and Trees Matter
Nasrin moved to the UAE from Kenya in 2012 after having worked in Turtle and Elephant Conservation since 2009, shortly after graduating with a degree in Environmental Management.
With a passion for the Environment and the desire to work for a ‘environmentally-centered’ organization, Nasrin joined the ‘Goum Team’ in 2013, engaging in the Give A Ghaf Tree Planting Program.
In 2020, due to the increasing requests to plant large amounts of trees, Nasrin took on the new project Trees Matters supporting Goumbook partners and clients in planting Mangroves and other keystone species locally and globally.
Marta Roman
Campaign Leader – Dubai Can, Save The Butts and Youth Action
Marta moved to Dubai back in 2012 after living and working in different countries. She holds 2 university degrees and 1 master’s degree in PR and Communications and holds a Cambridge certification in Sustainable Business Management.
In her spare time, Marta has been promoting a sustainable lifestyle within the community, running workshops, and developing educational programs for adults and school students. With a focus on the Sustainability 3R’s refuse, reduce and reuse, Marta tries to encourage citizens to be environmentally responsible with their daily consumption.
Marta joined Goumbook in May 2021 to project manage Dubai Can, an initiative by H.H. The Crown Prince of Dubai, to drive awareness and behavior change related to single-use plastic consumption in the hospitality sector in Dubai and in the wider community.
Today Marta manages the Save The Butts campaign to raise awareness on waste and circular economy solutions, and she leads the Youth Action program engaging future generations to take sustainable actions.
Janelle Lopez
CSR and Engagement Leader
Janelle started her career in the UAE in 2010 in an Interior Design firm located in Dubai. Having an educational background in Architecture and Interior Design, she continued learning by investing in Leadership and Social Entrepreneurship courses.
Upon being aware of what’s happening in the environment, she strongly believes she has a greater purpose as an individual.
She joined Goumbook in September 2019 intending to support sustainable initiatives and help make a difference.
Today, Janelle supports Goumbook clients and partners to engage in impactful and meaningful CSR and team building activities.
Tricia Rodrigo
Team Leader
Tricia moved to Dubai in 2021 and started her career as an admin assistant in a corporate service provider located in Dubai. She recently completed her bachelor’s degree in Psychology, where she was involved with youth volunteering, health and safety advocacy, and a student leader for various campus organization.
She joined Goumbook in January 2023 “the year of Sustainability ” and aspires for a better future, where the next generation can experience a greener and healthier environment.