Ron Ciccone – Founding Advisory Board Member

Ron Ciccone was Managing Director of Turner Broadcasting Middle East/Africa for 25 years. He is a distinguished diplomat of the media industry, introducing CNN to heads of government from Tunisia to Tehran. During the first Gulf War he assembled a family of CNN affiliates throughout the region and the news channel effectively replaced state controlled media as the channel of choice. He went on to develop the CNN Arabic service and CNN Turk. A master trouble shooter and negotiator, he nurtured the fledging cable systems in Israel and was the first media representative to sign a broadcast agreement with post-revolutionary Iran. Ron currently divides his time between London and Dubai, where he serves on the board of Translux Holdings and The Arabian Gulf Fund.

EXECUTIVE TEAM

Farzana Baduel – Managing Director

Farzana has a background as an entrepreneur. She is a natural ‘people’s person’ and has put her skills and contacts to use by fundraising for the Conservative Party and she was Vice Chair of Conservative Business Relations. She currently sits on a number of Charity committees including Soham For Kids, Women2Win, Children’s Trust & Seva Mandir. Previous committee appointments include the Institute of Directors (IOD London) and FSB. She is also currently on the Advisory Board of Friends of Barisan Nasional UK(FBN UK.) Initiated in 2011 by the Prime Minister of Malaysia, the aim of the FBN UK is to enhance private sector bilateral trade relations between Malaysia and Britain as well as to promote and develop investment opportunities between the two countries. She is the Editor at Large for Epicurean Life Magazine, a luxury lifestyle magazine and Contributing Editor for Bond Magazine. Additionally, Farzana is the Expert Advisor to Sotheby’s Global Partnership.

Maryana Greenberg –  Business Development

Maryana’s early passion for art and design carried through into her education and she pursued her interest in fashion and graduated from FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology,) in New York.  She is the Art Editor for Epicurean Life Magazine in addition to being a Contributing Editor to a number of luxury publications in the UK and Russia.  She is an avid art collector with a particular focus on Russian Art and from the CIS countries.  Maryana has helped launch a number of Charitable Foundations in both London and Russia.

Samyra Rashid – Head of Media Relations

Samyra Rashid gained a post-graduate degree from the LSE before starting her early career in journalism, both in international print publications and TV, including an award-winning documentary for the BBC. She spent a large part of her career thereafter building multiple businesses in fashion and interior design in India, Pakistan and Thailand, and handling all the PR for these across print, digital and broadcast media, leading to an eventual progression to a career in PR.

Kelly Adams – Head of Digital Relations

Kelly has previous experience in Advertising and Digital marketing agencies in South Africa and London. She has completed a Post-Graduate Certificate in Digital Marketing in addition to her BA Honours Degree in Journalism and Brand Leadership. Kelly specialises in Social Media and Digital Relations for Curzon PR

Deepaman Prabhakar – Office Manager

 Deepaman is a highly qualified tax and financial advisor, with wide ranging experience across a diverse range of industries. He has specialised in working with small and medium–sized businesses. He is a qualified Chartered Management Accountant, and is a member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA,) UK.  Deepaman is in charge of  Office Management for Curzon PR.