Zakaa Farhat is a strategic HR leader who has worked in emerging markets across the Middle East, Africa, Turkey and Russia, in addition to CIS, and Central Eastern European countries.

Currently, Zakaa is Senior Human Resources Director– Emerging Markets for Johnson and Johnson, where she leads the HR function across all sectors: medical devices, pharmaceuticals and consumer.

Prior to her 2013 appointment at Johnson & Johnson, Zakaa held the position of Regional HR Director for GE Healthcare ME. She held this position in addition to her responsibilities as the firm’s HR Simplification and Change Leader, under which she pioneered transformational HR projects across emgering markets.

Before GE, Zakaa was the Head of HR for the MENA region at the IMF & United Nations Developement Program and, prior to that, she gained extensive functional HR experience as Talent Acquisition Leader, C&B Lead, and ER.

Zakaa holds an MBA and a Bachelor of Business Administration from the American University of Beirut. In addition, she has a diploma in International HR Studies from Cornell University; is a Six Sigma Black Belt and a certified trainer in the Change Acceleration Process.