Meet the team

Our fearless leader is so much more than just your friendly neighbourhood Qatari! As CEO, our very own Mr. Q has been an architect of the community since founding I Love Qatar in 2008. One of Qatar’s most forward-thinking young entrepreneurs, Khalifa is the face of the ILQ brand and changing the world through community outreach is his passion.

Leena is a Korean who truly loves Qatar! A super independent soul, she left her family at the age of 13 to live and study in both Canada and Switzerland. Leena is a tremendous foodie and loves coffee. She assists Mr.Q’s busy schedule and looks after administration. She also supports the entire team with a great heart and a lovely smile!

Writing is her true passion - her way to create and explore new vistas in the business world, social sphere, technology and entertainment. She always aspires to create top quality content for every niche, writes on any subject, and has the enthusiasm, determination and above all experience to ensure that she makes a success of it. Her hobbies include painting, photography, baking and travelling this wonderful world of ours!

Marson has already been to 10 record countries as a solo traveler and it's his mission to visit every continent in the world before reaching the age of 30! His articles are mostly focused on community, food, technology, business, entertainment, and of course—globetrotting! When not writing, Marson can be found on set making his own films!

Sarah is one of our Content Producers. She first came to Qatar in 2010 from Germany and joined the ILQ team in 2014. Sarah loves to write and is passionate about art, anthropology and macarons. The human being is always central to Sarah’s stories. She aims to draw attention to intersectional figures of empowerment and help amplify their voices.

Mother of two boys and alumna from City, University of London, she has years of experience weaving content through the fabric of storytelling for advertising agencies, blogs and community websites. She is an avid reader and has a keen interest in photography. She has been in Qatar for nine years and has many stories to tell.

Darren is our Multimedia Producer. A videographer extraordinaire, if it has to do with graphics, photography, or video, he’s there on the ground to script, shoot, and edit. Hailing from the Philippines, Darren has been living in Qatar since 2010. He loves learning about different cultures and enjoys Qatar’s diversity.

Valeria is our Senior Videographer. She’s a curious mind, an occasional adrenaline junkie and, coincidentally, an artist who happens to be using video equipment. She spends most of her time looking for ways to weave all her passions together, and editing these same passions into engaging, thought-provoking content. She’s a graduate of Northwestern University in Qatar.

Rafael Manuel, Jr. is our Senior Videographer/Animator. His passion for the subject was sparked in Taiwan, creating short videos and graphics. He then started his own multimedia business in the Philippines in 2000, covering weddings, conference events and creating music videos. He moved to Qatar in 2009, working on a wide array of various projects in both social and mainstream media, work for corporate clients, and staging live shows.

Zhan is our Head of Business Development. He’s been involved in many projects, business ventures, and events since 2006. Always supportive, he’s always glad to initiate new business ideas, partnerships, and collaborations. He loves art, music, and playing the guitar.

Ibrahim is an excellent addition to our team, bringing another dimension of professionalism to sales and marketing. His positive personality and friendly smile bring energy and optimism into any given situation. His creativity is also expressed through his hobbies including drawing and graphic art.

Abdullah is our amazing Administrative Assistant at ILQ. He helps keep our good ship running. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science and loves technology, cars, and playing with both. We ask him way too many tech support questions.

Anri is our Social and Events Manager and she’s here to say ‘Salam’ and ‘Konnichiwa’ to all our ILQers! She comes all the way from Japan (yes, she’s an adventurer!), and has probably been with ILQ the longest. She shares Qatari news and events with our followers, and it’s her goal to make ILQ a part of your life every day so we can all explore Qatar together.

Charlie is our fearless Mascot. He is an independent boy who likes to be alone. He loves height and his favourite food is chicken. Born in February 2016.

Cookie is our sweet and lovely Mascot. She likes to be cuddled and carried by everyone. She loves to run and her favourite food is everything. Everything! She was born in December 2016.

Hamad, aka ‘The Qatari Guy’, is our QTip co-host extraordinaire and all-round creative collaborator. He may just be the funniest guy in Qatar, and we’re proud to call him one of the ILQ family. Through his stand-up comedy he’s uniting our community, one joke at a time!

Aisha is one of our QTips co-hosts and amazing all-rounder when it comes to offering our viewers insights into Qatari culture from a female perspective! An art student at VCUQatar, Aisha loves to draw, paint, sing and enjoy music – she LOVES Coldplay! She also loves cats, video games, and watermelons in completely random order!

Kim is a Food Editor, the host of our new online food show, and the name behind Mama Baba Ganoush. With a background in media and experience from London to The Bahamas, food has always been a passion for Kim, a$ with some culinary training she’s now dishing up delicious stories on her favourite subject – and the people who create it!