Our board members and mentors

Soraya Gadelrab is a knowledgeable leader in the exhibition & events industry who specialises in navigating the food, drink & hospitality industries. With 14 years experience of running varied events for Montgomery Group, the UK's market leading specialist exhibition organiser in the food, drink & hospitality sectors, Soraya's experience is incredibly comprehensive. She is familiar with running large mature events such as IFE and HRC, specialist niche events such as Speciality & Fine Food Fair which she also geo-cloned to launch a sister show in Singapore, has launched events including Speciality Chocolate Fair, curated and hosted the monthly Food & Drink Innovation Network conferences and consulted on a USAID funded programme to launch Belgrade Food Show in Serbia. She is known for networking with ease, identifying opportunities and being an incredibly effective project manager. She also enjoys hosting and presenting at live events and in the digital world. Soraya has an extensive knowledge of the food & drink industry as well as the hospitality sector and has been invited on numerous occasions to judge some of the most prestigious awards in the sector; Great Taste Awards, Quality Food Awards, Academy of Chocolate Awards and World Food Innovation Awards. She is also an ambassador for the food waste charity City Harvest and has spoken on numerous podcasts and webinars about the big issues in the industry. Soraya is passionate about driving forward the exhibitions and events sector and is incredibly well networked. She thrives on developing the next generation of leaders in the industry and encouraging others to join this incredible sector through regular talks at universities. She sits on the AEO Development Board, is Vice Chair of the AEO Technology Group, is President of Women in Exhibitions Network UK and regularly mentors more junior members of the industry. She has also spoken at and hosted panel discussions about the future of our industry at the AEO Conference and at International Confex.