H.E. Maqsoud Kruse has served as the executive director of the Abu Dhabi-based Hedayah since its establishment in December 2012. Prior to joining Hedayah, Kruse served as the head of Planning Section and later as the psychological affairs advisor at Global Aerospace Logistics, a subsidiary of the Emirates Advanced Investments Group. Kruse received a master’s in organizational psychology from the University of Melbourne in Australia. He also holds a bachelor’s in psychology from the United Arab Emirates University. His paper “Countering Violent Extremism Strategies in the Muslim World” appeared in “The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science” as part of the November 2016 issue on “The Middle East and Regional Transition, Terrorism, and Countering Violent Extremism: What the Next President Will Face.”