Vilma Jurkute is the director of Alserkal. She has spent the last decade developing creative industries across New York, Chicago, London and Dubai. Jurkute joined Alserkal in 2011 and has been instrumental in its evolution; she was responsible for overseeing Alserkal Avenue’s physical expansion in 2015 as well as the inauguration of Concrete in 2017. Jurkute has been the driving force behind Alserkal’s nonprofit activities in the arts, which were formalized under the Alserkal Arts Foundation in 2019, affirming the organization’s commitment to the development of arts and culture in the region. She serves on the advisory boards of the Global Cultural Districts Network and the Jean-Paul Najar Foundation. Jurkute is currently pursuing an executive MSc in sustainable urban development at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.