Dr. Ayesha Bin Ali Al Sayyar
Arshia Yadav
Ruqya Khan
Tena Pick
Faten Halabi
Edurne Gil De San Vicente
Dr. Ayesha Bin Ali Al Sayyar
In 1968, three years before the information of the Union of the seven Emirates, Dr. Ayesha Bin Ali Al-Sayyar became the first UAE female citizen to acquire a university degree. To accomplish this feat, she had to travel abroad airplanes run by the protecting British authorities, as there were no formal airports in the UAE and no regular flights. In 1973, she became the first UAE citizen to hold a Master’s degree. Then in 1983, she became the first UAE citizen holding a PHD degree. Also in 1973, she became one of a handful of UAE leading youths who found the Ministry of Education. She also started the program of social service in MOE, and the program for Special Needs students. She started and supervised a program for the identification, support, and rehabilitation of special needs students in the whole country. Dr. Al-Sayyar represented the UAE in many global conferences; among them is a conference in Mexico in 1975 where Dr. Al-Sayyar presented the findings of a study she had prepared about women’s good standing in the UAE; another conference was help in Copenhagen in 1980 where Dr. Al-Sayyar presented again a paper on the progression of women in UAE society. She also attended a conference in Beijing in 1995. Dr. Al-Sayyar also represented the UAE in UNESCO conference for more than 25 years. She also participated in founding the Umm al-Moomineen Lady society in Ajman. And in 1975, she became one of the founders of the UAE General Women’s Union. She also participated in writing the statutes for the Zayed Bin Sultan al-Nahyan Charitable and Humanitarian Foundation. She also founded the Social Security Fund in the M.E. In 1996, Dr. Al-Sayyar wrote the statuses for the Higher Council for Children in Sharjah. Dr. Al Sayyar founded and organized the Convention of Arab Children in Sharjah. This biannual convention hosts two children from each Arab country for a week in Sharjah. The event brings cultural, scientific, sporting, and artistic activities. Charitable work by Dr. Al Sayyar:• Donation in the value of one million dirhams for students in need of financial assistance attending the American University of Sharjah. • Donations to Sharjah City for Humanitarian University Service since its founding. • Donations to Rashid’s Center for the Care of People with Special Needs. • Donations to UAE Red Crescent Association. • Donations to the Palestinian people through different events. • Donations to the Mariah Group for the Care Orphaned Girls in the city of Tyre in Lebanon. • Donation to Hospital 57357 in Cairo, which is dedicated for the free treatment of children with cancer. • Donations to the Magdy Yacoub Center for the free treatment of children with heart problems. • Donations to the Misr El-Kheir in Egypt.Arshia Yadav
Arshia started her professional life at ABN Amro bank within the investment advisory team in Dubai and Amsterdam. She subsequently transitioned into the healthcare sector doing advisory and business development work. Her experience ranged from working in a leading Indian digital healthcare startup, 1mg, as a business development manager to working for Falcon and Associates, (Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s private consulting firm) wherein she was recruited to build Dubai 100, Middle East’s first digital health pre-accelerator. She has also been working on Heroes of Cancer. It aims to help cancer patients, caregivers and survivors navigate through their lives and the healthcare system better by connecting them with resources, doctors and others who have battled cancer. In parallel, she has been the Middle East ambassador for Hello Tomorrow for over three years. Hello Tomorrow is a French non-profit organization focused on creating global science and tech innovation hubs and connecting promising startups to relevant industry leadersRuqya Khan
Meet Ruqya Khan, a wordsmith who is also a Master Practitioner of NLP, Hypnosis and Time Line Therapy®. She started her career as a freelance writer more than 15 years ago. Between then and now she has interviewed more than 3000 people from different walks of life. Her articles have covered the views and stories of many – right from celebrities to business owners to the office help! Her journey in the media industry gave her many roles to play. She has been the editor of two magazines, Emirates Parent Plus and Young & Trendy. She has done PR work for Dubai Shopping Festival, Dubai Summer Surprises and Global Village. She had written scripts for TV shows and even managed content for the marketing and communications department at Knowledge and Human Development Authority in Dubai. Though a graduate in microbiology and genetics she took to journalism with confidence. Passion to express, complete trust in self and gratitude are her strengths. Her blog on Facebook, RK rites is a favourite stopover for a quick bite of soul food – in just one line she creates room for so much mind chatter.When most women hang away their boots RK decided to wear her shoes. She is driven by the awareness that though her life is simple and her achievements still growing – each day she is an example to her children and the many who see her as she is.When the why is strong, the how will follow…that is her message to the world…and that is exactly why she is a part of ALL.Tena Pick
Tena is a Social impact consultant passionate about women empowerment, community development and social impact measurement. She is based in Dubai with extensive experience in the Middle East, Caribbean, and South and Southeast Asia. She is a Co-founder and CEO of The Sustainability Platform, a social impact consultancy dedicated to integrating social business principles into core business operations. TSP clients include non-for profit organizations, social enterprises and CSR departments. Tena is also the Head of Social Impact for C3-Consult and Coach for a Cause and Director of Consultancy at VentureFin. VentureFin is an innovative crowdinvesting platform bringing together global high-impact businesses and investors from the Middle East. Tena is also Mentorship Committee Member at e7-Promise of a Generation initiative and has mentored startups from Gaza, Middle East, India and Europe. Tena is a regular speaker at social business conferences around the world and a contributor to Training Magazine Middle East and Entrepreneur ME. As a mentor, she has worked with startups from the Caribbean, Gaza and the Middle East. She focuses on female-run enterprises, innovation and disruption and social responsibility. She holds a Master of Social Entrepreneurship from Hult International Business School and a Bachelor’s Degree in Entrepreneurial Economics from VERN University of Applied Science.Faten Halabi
Throughout her career Faten has lived in four different countries in different parts of this world, she made out of each place a home and gained various experiences that nourished her on personal levels; Faten is an entrepreneur and a career woman. Back in her home country Beiurt, Lebanon Faten started her career as an optimistic woman in the labor force, her first experience was in the banking industry. Soon after that she moved to Canada to run a family business and continue her education. Three years later, Faten moved to Bahrain where she held some executive jobs as well as accomplished few business ventures. She spent 10 fruitful years in Bahrain, then moved to Jakarta and worked as a business consultant. In Jakarta she was a social activist where she served as an active member in some charity organizations. Currently she works as a Regional Sales Leader at Avaya based in Dubai, UAE. A single mum of two children, with a mission to make this world a better place, Faten was always passionate about women’s rights and empowering women; she was an active member in the child and women welfare association in Bahrain and volunteered in the “fighting violence against women organization”.Edurne Gil De San Vicente
Edurne is a Sustainability Professional with 12+ years of experience across private, non-for-profit, and public sectors. As a keen advocate of sustainable practices and responsible consumerism, she considers herself a change enabler, who is most fulfilled when sharing insights and creating impact. While working for leading environmental NGOs in Europe, and in partnership with local and national authorities, Edurne has engaged in policy-making, lobbying to the EU Parliament representing the views of the European Environmental Bureau, awareness raising and grass-roots campaigns on areas related to Sustainable Consumption and Production, waste management, water preservation, climate change and health (Health and Environment Alliance). Today Edurne is based in Dubai, where she's the founding partner at Open Doors Consulting and collaborates with local environmental NGOs. She focuses on the retail sector, influencing a shift toward more sustainable industry practices and products. Edurne also likes to reach to a larger audience, touch people’s lives. Through opinion notes in magazines and contributing to newspaper articles, she keeps spreading the seeds to inspire others. Her most recent publications appeared in Retail People Magazine, and Green Building Magazine. Edurne is often invited as a speaker to different local events and international conferences, such as Future Interiors Qatar 2015, and Kuwait CSR Summit 2016. Holding a BSc in BioChemical Engineering and a Masters in Environmental Management by the ULB in Belgium, Edurne is also a certified CSR Professional by IEMA.