Naif Al-Mutawa

Naif Al-Mutawa is the founder and CEO of Teshkeel Media Group, a Kuwait based company that has a primary focus on creating superhero characters for Muslim children and young adults. The intent is to create a popular culture consistent with Islamic traditions. His creation, ‘The 99’, has received widespread international media coverage, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and The Guardian.

A PhD in clinical psychology from Long Island University, Al-Mutawa completed his Masters in Business Administration and his Masters in Organizational Psychology from Columbia University. He earned his undergraduate degree from Tufts University, where he triple majored in clinical psychology, English literature and history.

Dr. Al-Mutawa has had extensive clinical experience working with former prisoners of war in Kuwait as well as at the Survivors of Political Torture unit of Bellevue Hospital in New York. His direct contact with the horrors of prisons in the third world and with people tortured because of their religious and political beliefs, led to his writing a timeless children’s tale that won a UNESCO prize for literature in the service of tolerance.