Shahira Marei
Board Member
Founder of Dirty Cookie | Conscious Leadership Speaker
Shahira Marei is the founder of Dirty Cookie, the nationally recognized gourmet dessert brand that reinvented the cookie with its signature Cookie Shot, an edible chocolate-lined cookie cup that transformed dessert into an experience. A former Boeing aerospace project manager, she left corporate America in 2015 to pursue her entrepreneurial vision and has since grown Dirty Cookie into an internationally recognized brand serving Fortune 500 companies, major retailers, and consumers around the world.
Under Shahira’s leadership, Dirty Cookie has expanded internationally with five locations in Egypt, with plans to franchise throughout the Middle East. The company has partnered with globally recognized brands including Google, Netflix, Disney, Pixar, Universal Studios, Madison Square Garden, and many other leading organizations to create memorable dessert experiences and branded activations.
Shahira and Dirty Cookie have been featured on ABC’s Shark Tank, Good Morning America, The Today Show, Food Network, QVC, and numerous national media outlets. She was recognized as one of Forbes’ Next 1000 Entrepreneurs, honoring the country’s most promising business leaders redefining the future of entrepreneurship.
Beyond her work as an entrepreneur, Shahira is an active member of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO), an alumna of Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses, and a member of the Tory Burch Foundation Fellows community, where she continues to collaborate with and mentor fellow entrepreneurs.
Inspired by her childhood in Egypt, Shahira founded Dirty Cookie with a mission that extends beyond dessert: creating opportunities that change lives. Through the company’s Shot for Education initiative, Dirty Cookie supports education-focused nonprofits, reflecting her belief that the best way to help people is by creating opportunity.
Today, Shahira focuses on vision, innovation, storytelling, global expansion, and purpose-driven leadership.