May Barber

Award-Winning LEED Green Associate Architect and Brand Management Consultant focused on building brands with purpose. May is the Creative Director of Ayed&Barber (A&B Advisory).

May advises companies on redefining their purpose and embracing a sustainability strategy using impactful creative mediums.

May also works with a diverse range of clients (corporates, startups, nonprofit, government) on creative concepts, storytelling and brand strategy by combining a creative edge with a business backbone. Her custom-designed Masterclass on ‘Sustainability in Design’ was tailored to Misk Art Foundation in Saudi Arabia to help participants (Architecture, Fashion, Product) apply sustainability concepts into a real-case/project.

May has a background in Luxury, Art and Fashion. She is the Founder of The Cartel, a platform dedicated to curating emerging contemporary designers, named by Financial Times as one of the world’s best Fashion concepts, with a focus on
Middle East’s first Wearable Tech/Solo Exhibition of Iris Van Herpen (2014) and A Second Skin Exhibition in Sorbonne Abu Dhabi (2016).

With a background in Architecture, May is the winner of the Cityscape Architect of the Year Award (2008) and BP Innovative Design Award (2009) with her project in Social Architecture: Labor Housing: A Modern Typology.
May also serves as a Capstone/Thesis Advisor to EMBA 2022 Cohort Participants at HEC Paris, Guest Lecturer and Mentor at the American University of Sharjah on topics of Sustainability and Marketing. She is a columnist in Arab News and contributes frequently to various local and regional media on topics of Sustainability and Purpose-driven Projects.

May holds an Executive Certificate in Leading Sustainable Operations from Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, Executive MBA from HEC Paris, Executive Certificate in Luxury Brand Management (Paris/Shanghai) from HEC Paris as well as a Bachelor’s Degree in Architecture from the American University in Sharjah.