Government
H.E. Sheikha Lubna bint Khalid bin Sultan Al Qasimi
Minister of Foreign Trade
Emirati, 52-years-old
She is not only a princess of Sharjah and part of the ruling family, but also the U.A.E.’s Minister of Foreign Trade since 2004 (previously Minister of Economic and Planning). She is the first woman to hold a ministerial post in the U.A.E. Her background is actually in IT and after getting her degree in computer science from California State University, she became senior manager of Dubai Ports Authority’s Information Systems department, developing their software. She held this position for more than 7 years – Al Qasimi has been working in information technology management in the region for over 15 years. She then established Tejari.net in 2000, an e-commerce technology firm, also employed for governmental use.
Government
Lama Sulaiman
Deputy chairwoman of Jeddah Chamber of Commerce
Saudi Arabian, 44-years-old
In December 2009, Lama Sulaiman became the first woman in Saudi history to become deputy chairman of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce. Just a week before being elected to the JCC, she learned that she had prevailed in her struggle against breast cancer, which she had treated with alternative medicine. Sulaiman first studied biochemistry in Saudi Arabia before attaining a PhD in nutrition from King’s College in London. She is also board member of the National Institute of Health Services, the National Home Health Care Foundation, and head of the delegation representing the Saudi Arabian private sector at the International Labour Organization.
Banking & Finance
Hynd Bouhia
Director General of Casablanca Stock Exchange
Moroccan, 38-years-old
After eight years of working at the World Bank, focusing on economic development, and as a water and environmental economist in the Middle East and North Africa region, Hynd Bouhia was handpicked by Moroccan Prime Minister Driss Jettou in 2008 to run the Casablanca stock exchange. This Harvard graduate of engineering, who obtained her PhD in Operations Research and M.A in International Economics from John Hopkins, became the prime minister’s economic advisor in 2004, charge of attracting foreign investment. One of her best accomplishments was securing an American 700 million USD grant to support private enterprises. Today she oversees 77 listed securities with a total market capitalisation of about 66.3 billion USD.
Banking & Finance
Soha Nashaat
Managing Director of Barclays Wealth Middle East
Egyptian/Syrian, 44-years-old
Crowned ‘Woman Banker of the Year’ in 2007 by the Middle East Excellence Award Institute, Soha Nashaat began her career in 1991 as a product manager at Merrill Lynch New York after obtaining her MBA. She then moved to their Argentinian branch in 1997, becoming marketing and sales manager. Nashaat was asked to relocate once again in 2000 to assume leadership for the Middle East department, headquartered in London. And since 2006, she has been heading the Middle East Wealth division for Barclays Bank in Dubai, a leading global wealth manager. Much of her work involves consulting some of the region’s wealthiest individuals on their financial strategies. Soha Nashaat is soon to move to the Senior Advisor position.
Banking & Finance
Nahed Taher
CEO Gulf One Investment Bank
Saudi, 44-years-old
Nahed Taher turned down a high-profile job at the International Monetary Fund to return home, where as a senior economist in Saudi Arabia’s National Commercial Bank, she was the only woman among 4,000 men in the workforce. Before she left, she made sure an additional 50 women were hired. By 2001, Taher had attained her MSc and PhD in Economics from the Lancaster University Management School in the U.K. In 2005, she became the first woman to head the Saudi bank, Gulf One Investment bank, which she cofounded and is currently chairperson. Gulf One represents the first independent investment bank in the region and its financial products and services are specialised in infrastructure investments.
Banking & Finance
Lubna Olayan
CEO of Olayan Financing Company (OFC)
Saudi Arabian, 56-years-old
Lubna Olayan is the doyenne of influential Arab businesswomen. She was the first Saudi woman to give a keynote address at the Jeddah Economic Forum, also co-chairing the 2005 World Economic Forum in Davos. Her family, which controls the conglomerate the Olayan Group, is one of the largest investors in the regional equity markets, with a fortune above 12 billion USD. She joined the company in 1983, when very few women were encouraged to enter the workplace. Olayan also worked for Morgan Guaranty in New York as a financial analyst from 1979 to 1981. As CEO of Olayan Financing, Olayan Group’s holding company, Lubna Olayan oversees 40 companies engaged in product manufacturing and distribution with leading multinationals.
Media
Nashwa Al Ruwaini
CEO of Pyramedia Ltd.
Egyptian, 40-years-old
Nowadays nicknamed the Oprah of the Arab world, Nashwa Al Ruwaini started out as the youngest news anchor for Qatar TV when she was just 16. She then moved on to work with MBC in London for several years, launching landmark television shows, many of which dealt with controversial issues surrounding the Middle East. She later moved to Cairo to head MBC's Cairo office before ultimately establishing her own production company, Pyramedia in 1998 - now one of the largest and most successful in the region. Besides this, she’s an executive director of Abu Dhabi’s Middle East International Film Festival, she presents her self-titled talk show on Dubai TV, 'Nashwa’, and manages her own charity, Nashwa Foundation.
Architecture
Zaha Hadid
Architect
Iraqi, 51-years-old
As the first female recipient of the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2004, Zaha Hadid is one of the biggest names in the architectural industry. After her degree in mathematics from the American University of Beirut, she studied at the Architectural Association, later working with her teacher Rem Koolhaas at the Office of Metropolitan architecture. Her work is so distinctive that she was honoured a retrospective at New York’s Guggenheim Museum in 2006. Her most widely recognised projects include the National Museum of 21st Century Arts in Rome and the Guangzhou Opera House. She was recently commissioned by the Iraqi government to work on a new building for the Central Bank, which will be her first initiative in her native country.
Sports
Alaa Kutkut
Taekwondo champion
Jordanian, 27-years-old
Jordanian Alaa Kutkut is a taekwondo champion who has represented her country worldwide. At only 14 years old, she became the recipient of a silver medal at the 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok, Thailand. In 1999, she earned the gold medal at the 9th Pan Arab Games in Amman and another silver medal seven years later at the Doha Asia Games, as she was completing her studies to become a doctor. She has also participated in the Canada World Championships and the Sydney Olympics. In 2006, she was awarded the Black Iris Sportswoman of the Year award. Bronze medals followed in the Hong Kong World championships and the Arab Youth championship. Aside from sports, this young woman is also working on her doctorate in medicine.
Counselling
Wedad Lootah
Marriage counsellor
Emirati, 47-years-old
Wedad Lootah works as the only female marriage counsellor in the Family Guidance division of the Dubai Courthouse. She has been working there since it was opened in 2001 and her book ‘Top Secret: Sexual Guidance for Married Couples’, published in 2009, spurned a lot of controversy in the Islamic world, not to mention death threats. Yet the book was published with the approval of Dubai’s Mufti and liberal Muslims praised the book as the first sex guidebook ever to be published in the United Arab Emirates, revealing the need for more sex education in schools. Not only that, it sold over 17,000 copies. Don’t be fooled however; Lootah studied Islamic jurisprudence and wears a full-length niqab. She is now planning pamphlets for children as sex educational tools.
