Dr. Nadine Alameh
Dr. Nadine Alameh tells us that, “I am currently the inaugural Executive Director of a brand new research institute focused on geospatial technology and impact. My goal is to build the most powerful consortium of researchers who can use geospatial and location data to address some of the pressing issues of our times – climate resilience, disaster preparedness, food security, public health and more.
My strength is in building collaborative teams who believe in big missions and come together to accelerate getting us to impactful solutions! To have the opportunity to do all of that while being on top of techs like digital twins, AI/ML, cloud, edge, and quantum computing to name a few is such a privilege!”
What were your initial years of growing up like? Tell us about your life before starting your professional journey and what inspired you to choose this career.
I grew up in Beirut Lebanon and lived the first 22 years of my life during the horrible horrible series of civil wars – something I don’t wish on anyone. We barely went to school as we kept moving from shelter to shelter escaping the bombs. We were poor and raised by my mom, my hero who kept me and my sister and brother going despite some very tough circumstances.
My tough childhood taught me a lot about resilience, and about not stressing out if the challenge is not life or death related 🙂 I ended up studying Computer and Communication Engineering at the American University of Beirut – even though I had never seen a computer before (we didn’t even own a phone and we barely got electricity a couple of hours a day). But I guess I have always liked challenges 🙂 As one of the top students in my graduating class, I got offered a scholarship to study Geospatial Information Systems (GIS) at MIT – an opportunity of a lifetime! And that’s how I ended up in the amazing field that is geospatial 🙂
I never imagined I would be where I am today, leading global organizations in a field I never heard of 30 years ago. Life works in mysterious ways 🙂
Was there any turning point in your life that changed your journey? If so, what was it? Please tell us the backstory behind it.
In many ways, every decision is a turning point!
One turning point: My decision to apply to the American University of Beirut even though I didn’t even study English (we learned Arabic and French in school) and despite my mom warning me that we will never ever be able to afford it if I get accepted (I got a scholarship for being in the top 7 students in the country on the university entrance exams).
Another turning point: Saying yes to going to MIT – which meant leaving my mom, my brother, and my sister who all depended on me in so many ways.
Another turning point: Moving to Washington Dc to help my deaf brother as he starts his own journey going to Gallaudet University- a decision that landed me at NASA working on cutting edge research on earth observations and solutions. How cool!
Another turning point: Saying yes to a British company wanting to setup an office in the US, and doing that by myself in the Aviation domain – a new domain for me, yet within 3 years, working on winning international awards and becoming profitable and recognized!
Another turning point: Resigning from an amazing job at Northrop Grumman to take on the challenge of leading the Open Geospatial Consortium – the largest consortium of geospatial tech organizations; and launching a major modernization initiative that transformed the organization and landed me the Women in Tech leadership award in the non profit category.
And last but not least for sure: Leaving OGC to start a brand new research institute to accelerate geospatial tech and innovation – a dream come true as the institute is part of a whole economic development strategy in St. Louis Missouri, and is funded via a legacy philanthropic gift from Andy Taylor, Chairman of Enterprise Rental Cars.
Tell us about your goals, interests, and role models.
Professionally and as a human being, I want us to start using the technology to create a sustainable future for our kids. I want us to stop dying from natural disasters like floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, and wildfires anywhere in the world! I KNOW we have the tech and the know-how, we just need to work better together to accelerate getting the solutions and the impact AT SCALE not as one-offs.
I’m fascinated by the recent advances in 3D, digital twins, and the metaverse, the intersection of the real and the virtual world and how we can use that to help the public and decision makers become more aware of critical issues affecting their immediate surroundings.
As a hobby, I love dancing and I have been teaching jazzercise for 20 years. It’s a great way to meet amazing inspiring women in all paths of life! I think music and dance have this amazing magic of uniting us even if we don’t speak the same language and even if we are not feeling well!
In terms of role models, I’ve always been fascinated by Bill Gates (met him once at a UN event!!). What he’s done on the tech front but more importantly on the good front. It’s truly inspiring.
Everyone has their own set of challenges when starting an entrepreneurial journey. Still, the most essential part for others to learn is how you deal with those. Would you like to share with us your challenges and your coping mechanisms?
There are indeed many challenges in the entrepreneurial journey. My lesson learned is to focus on people! Tech issues, money issues, market issues can be figured out IF and only IF you are working with the right people in the right seats, and IF and only IF you are all invested and genuine.
So when dealing with people’s challenges, I often refer to “ripping the bandaid off”. If someone is not contributing on your team, deal with it quickly. It’s better for the company and it’s better for the individual.
When dealing with juggling many priorities, use a system – I use the Entrepreneur Operating System (EOS) as it helps me and my team get organized, be transparent, be measured, and FOCUSED!
When dealing with stress – well that’s why I dance 🙂 Jazzercise takes my mind off of things, and exercises my brains in different ways. Always helps, I promise!
And for the biggest challenge of all, the juggling between being an entrepreneur and being a mom, I’ve learned to drop the guilt. I can only do my best. I’ve learned that it’s not about perfection, it’s about being there, and doing my best. I share a lot of my work with my kids and I do a lot of my calls while shuttling them. I look at it as a win-win. It’s not easy but it’s doable 🙂
What impact do you feel you have been able to create with your work so far and how would you want to grow in the next few years?
I’m very proud of my work so far! My work in my aviation startup has significantly contributed to the modernization of how aeronautical, flight, and weather information management is done! I am extremely proud of the fact that the standards that I have worked on with the global community of experts are listed as part of the United Nations International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) guidelines. That is huge!
I’m very proud of my leadership of the Open Geospatial Consortium. During my tenure, we not only grew the organization but more importantly we have pivoted its standards to be more inline with general IT (which means any developer not only geospatial techs can use the tech). We have pivoted to cloud-native geospatial which is making it even more accessible for people to use the data. In short, my work has contributed to geospatial and location information to be more FAIR – Findable Accessible Interoperable and Reusable.
I’m also very proud of how we got the community to work together on disaster and climate resilience interoperability projects. The impact of those projects is trickling all over the world in the form of solutions and products that are used by industry and governments at all levels to help save lives!
For the next few years, I’d like to grow our climate resilience- that’s why I’m launching a collaborative research initiative on global food security at the Taylor Geospatial Institute. I am also investing in growing GeoAI. Think about asking any question about the earth, including flood risk, supply chain delays, disease spread, and more! Generative AI can totally transform our field and I would like to support if not lead that transformation!
Would you like to share with our young budding women entrepreneurs the change you would like to see in the world if given an opportunity?
I would like to see a world without wars to be honest! We are spending so much resources to kill other people – and for someone who grew up during the war, that pains me a lot! I’d like to see a sustainable Earth as part of our future. In both of these cases, I think we need a bigger and more vocal representation of women! I think we can drive collaboration at scale, we can approach problems with more empathy, and we need to be at the table(s)!
Women are a growing force in the workplaces worldwide, standing shoulder to shoulder with their male counterparts. There are cracks in glass ceilings everywhere, with many women breaking through to carve out a space right at the top of the pyramid. What are your thoughts about women’s leadership today?
It’s hard. It’s getting better with more awareness and support, but it’s still hard in certain fields like Tech. We are still not part of the old boys club which still runs strong in many professions; and that’s why connecting with amazing women worldwide is so amazing to me. Our network is our strength, and is what will get us to crack more glass ceilings in the future!
With your grit and determination, you are making a considerable impact, breaking through, and serving as role models for many budding entrepreneurs. What would you want to say to our young women leaders/audience reading this?
I will say to young women leaders what I keep reminding myself of: TRUST YOUR INSTINCT. Don’t doubt yourself. Do your homework and then go for the opportunity. Jump! What’s the worst that can happen? And my favorite, good work NEVER goes to waste. Sometimes you pour your heart and soul into something that doesn’t work. Don’t despair. That experience WILL be useful in other ways. That experience becomes a permanent part of you. It makes you even more unique! Cherish it. Create your own story and be proud of it. We are here to support you 🙂