Samer Said Khoury is Chairman of Consolidated Contractors Company, a multi-billion engineering group and one of the largest construction companies in the Middle East. He is of Palestinian descent from the area of Safad in the Galilee, but was born in Lebanon. He holds a BSc in Civil Engineering from California State University in Chico and an MBA from the University of Southern California. Samer credits his first job on a construction site for teaching him valuable life lessons; it was the delicate balance of safety and efficiency that taught him life is an act of harmony where you must weigh the pros and cons of each decision. Today, Samer is at the helm of CCC which is a large conglomerate with a broad range of activities ranging from its conventional engineering and construction role to the more complex role of an oil and gas and power developer. According to the annual Engineering News Record (ENR) surveys, CCC ranks continuously among the top 20 Largest International Contractors and is first in the Middle East region. Samer is highly involved in business, social and educational activities in the US, the Middle East, and Europe focusing on Engineering Innovation, Sustainability, Economic Collaborative Development, Peace and Conflict Resolution Dialogues, Youth Empowerment, Knowledge Societies, and Social Enterprise Philanthropies. Moreover, he believes that with privilege and capacity comes the duty to help other human beings. He is a member of the Arab Business Council, the World Economic Forum in Geneva, the Pearl Initiative in the UAE, and is co-chair of the Aspen Institute’s Middle East Strategy Group.