Lubna Samara is CEO and founder of HigherWill, a leadership advisor, keynote speaker, author, and independent researcher specialising in visionary leadership and spiritual intelligence

She partners with organisations to develop strategic vision and foresight, and qualities that transform organisations into high-performing communities. She believes exceptional leaders are those who invest time in developing clear vision and are values-led – qualities that people trust and follow most.

Trained as a mathematician, Lubna worked in the petroleum industry before moving into project finance and investment banking. After experiencing a profound personal awakening and calling to serve, she spent many years immersed in contemplative practices – T'ai Chi, meditation, and energy healing – and exploring the psychology of what holds us back and the deeper spiritual questions that drive our search for meaning. Today, she weaves together this rich experience to inspire new perspectives and drive transformative change.

Her research paper in consciousness science, Consciousness State Transitions (CST), has implications for leadership, wellbeing, and ethics in AI and was described by a neuroscientist as “an operating system that runs who we are” that has “opened a new dimension” in understanding how thoughts, emotions, and decision-making emerge.