Board Members
NY Arabic Orchestra
Mohannad Aama
CFP®, FRM – Chairman
Mohannad Aama is a Finance professional with nearly 20 years of professional experience. He has been a Managing Director and senior Portfolio Manager at Beam Capital Management, a New York-based registered investment management and advisory firm that caters to individual and institutional investors.
More recently, he assumed a senior role at Rutgers University as Managing Director of Professional Programs where he helps oversee graduate MS degree programs in Quantitative Finance, Quantitative Risk Management, and Data Science.
Mohannad is a former Board member of ABANA – the preeminent US organization for finance professionals and institutions with interest in the Middle East and North Africa, where he served as a member of its Executive Committee as well as Treasurer, Chair of Communications and Chair of Programs. He is also a former Board member and Treasurer at the Arab American Family Support Center.
He earned a B.A. in Economics from Brooklyn College in New York City and an MBA in Finance and Accounting from the Simon Graduate School of Business at the University of Rochester in New York State. He also holds the CFP® certification given by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards as well as the designation of Financial Risk Manager (FRM) given by the Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP). He has been an invited speaker at numerous asset management and investment conferences and has appeared, or have been quoted, in BBC, Bloomberg, Reuters, NY Times, The Guardian, PBS, France24, Al Arabiya, CNBC Arabia, LBC, Alhurra, Fortune, CNN Money, Nikkei, Radio Monte Carlo and other TV and print media outlets located in North America, the Middle East, Europe and Australia.
Liana Hawes
Secretary
Liana Hawes is a communications professional with 20+ years of experience as a public relations practitioner in the areas of media, technology, arts & culture. As Vice President at Lumina Communications, a strategic communications firm in Manhattan, Liana works on public relations programs that build brand equity and market share for second stage companies, start-ups, non-profit organizations, and global corporations. Her outreach and writing have been instrumental in advancing business and organizational development, securing funding rounds, increasing company valuations, and landing grants and sponsorships. Liana has been at the helm of PR campaigns for the New York City Williamsburg Bridge Centennial, The Center for Traditional Music & Dance, Brooklyn Arts Council’s Maqam Festival, the New York Village Halloween Parade, the Atlantic Antic, and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. She has successfully managed and booked world music and jazz ensembles. Liana attended New York University Graduate School of Education and she did her undergraduate work at Emerson College in Boston.
Hanna Hanna
Treasurer
Hanna Hanna is a Lebanese American with over 25 years of experience in property management and construction. He is founder and co-owner of NH Home Improvement Inc., a construction company that specializes in home building and renovation,licensed in NY and NJ.
Hanna is founder of Magick Productions Group, a company that has produced several off-Broadway shows and recordings in dance, R&B, classical Arabic and children’s music and which offers instructional dance DVDs. In 2007, after leading successful dance tours to Cairo, Hanna and his wife Jehan co-founded Bellydance America, a leading U.S.importer of dance costumes and musical instruments. The popularity of this venture led to the first Middle Eastern retail store in Manhattan and now includes rehearsal studios, performances, and diverse offering of dance and music instruction.
In 2014, Hanna co-founded the NYCairo Raqs Festival, a successful one-of-a-kind dance festival in that attracts dancers and dance enthusiasts from over 20 countries to the Northeast
Hanna is a proud member of the New York Arabic Orchestra, lending his voice to the choir and his acumen to the Board of Directors where he is a key player on a team that s working to revive and preserve classical Arabic music.
