Dr. Heba Aguib joined the BMW Foundation Herbert Quandt in May 2019 as Chief Executive of the RESPOND accelerator program and has been appointed Member of the Board, effective August 1, 2023. Heba Aguib combines a career in health tech and R&D with a deep understanding of sustainable innovation and impact financing. A member of the BMW Foundation Responsible Leaders Network since 2017, she believes that collaboration and solution-driven innovation play a crucial role in advancing the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN 2030 Agenda.
Since 2021, Heba Aguib has been responsible as Chief Executive for the startup accelerator program RESPOND, the Sustainable Finance and Impact Investing work areas of the BMW Foundation as well as its overall strategy. Prior to that, she co-founded the Aswan Heart Research Centre of the Magdi Yacoub Heart Foundation in Egypt, the country where she was raised.
As head of its Biomedical Engineering and Innovation Laboratory and Honorary Fellow at Imperial College London, she led multidisciplinary projects for developing solutions for early diagnosis and prediction modelling in cardiovascular disease. In 2011 she joined TU Berlin as Deputy Managing Director to help establish the first satellite campus of a German public university in the MENA Region and Africa. In this role, she contributed to cross-sector projects in the fields of urban development, renewable energy, water management, and vocational education.
Due to her multifaceted career and thorough understanding of cultural differences, Heba Aguib is a champion of interconnectedness, inclusivity, and a new leadership paradigm. She is convinced that it is now a matter of implementing social and ecological innovations to give the Sustainable Transformation a boost. To achieve this momentum and speed, it is essential that business, politics and civil society work together effectively to make solutions for a more just and sustainable society a reality.
Heba Aguib lives with her husband and son in the heart of Munich.