Dr. Narimane is the Founder and the CEO of the Center of Learning Innovations and Customized Knowledge Solutions (CLICKS); an organization established in 2012 to support the advancement of higher education sector in the Arab Region and beyond via offering capacity building opportunities, training, consulting, mentoring and coaching. To date the Center, has trained over 11,000 members of the Higher Education Community from 32 countries including members of Governing Boards and those leading universities such as Presidents and Vice Presidents as well as faculty members and staff working in the core areas supported by the center.
Previously she was the Assistant Chancellor for Learning and Academic Development (Provost) at the Hamdan Bin Mohammed Smart University in Dubai, UAE where she has established and led the academic, research and eLearning vision of the first online University to be recognized and accredited by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research in the UAE.
She has assumed several other leadership roles including serving as a Dean for Students Affairs, a Dean for Learning and Teaching and a Director of e-Learning.
Drawing on more than 20 years of experience Dr. Hadj-Hamou expertise and professional background span areas such as technology integration and e-learning in higher education; teaching and learning, quality assurance and accreditation, strategy formulation and governance.
Dr. Hadj-Hamou has been a driving force in the promotion of online education and blended learning in the Region by leading many pioneering projects and initiatives since 2003. During the pandemic she has been instrumental working with ministries, universities’ associations and higher education institutions to develop capacity among various stakeholders to transition from emergency remote teaching to more meaningful online learning experiences. She has trained over 3000 academics and academic administrators on a range of topics including policy and QA for online, designing for online learning, student assessment in online learning,
engaging students and building learning communities, etc. She was also involved in reviewing the Saudi eLearning standards for accreditation.
Dr Narimane was also the Founder and was the first elected President of the Middle East eLearning Association (MEeA) in 2009, led the establishment of the MENA Association of University Presidents and chairs the MENA Higher Education Leadership Forum since 2013. She has also launched global awards of excellence in higher education and many other initiatives to promote the ongoing dialogue among higher education leaders and decision makers.
Over the years she has delivered more than 120 keynote addresses and led numerous roundtables and panel discussions. She has also been active in publishing articles, book chapters, case studies, and was the founder and editor of the International Journal of Excellence in eLearning for several years.
Dr. Narimane consulted for various universities and colleges across the region in areas related to strategic planning, organizational re-design, quality assurance, program assessment, academic advising, teaching and learning, etc. She has also delivered more than 200 workshops and webinars over the last 10 years and is a highly sougt faciltator and consultant.
In addition, Dr. Hadj-Hamou worked with multiple IGOs and NGOs such as UNESCO, the European Training Foundation and universities’ associations (ArAU, AUF, AAU) and serves as an external reviewer for different accreditation agencies across the region and has chaired multiple programs and institutional reviews.
Dr. Hadj-Hamou was listed among the 200 most influential Arab Women by Forbes Magazine in 2014; have received the Arab Women Award for Education in 2016 and the Influential Education Leaders Award at the University of Cambridge in 2017.