Lighting the way

In the Gulf the UAE is clearly taking the lead, with two female ministers, nine female members of the Federal National Council and a large number of women in leading positions in government departments, ministries and the private sector. Women today represent 22.4% of the total UAE labour force – 66% of government jobs are held by women, 30% of which are decision-making posts – and the trend is certain to continue.

The percentage of girls enrolled in higher education has grown to a staggering 77%, and the numbers of women with Masters degrees and PhDs is on the increase.

A further phenomenon is that women are increasingly breaking into traditionally male-dominated industries, holding leadership positions in fields such as IT, banking and property development, often at a very young age.

Rula Abu Daher does not only oversee the technical division of a leading telecom operator – she is the Chief Technical Officer of Lebanese telecom operator MTC Touch – she is also what you could call something of a war hero.

During last summer’s Israeli bombardment of the Lebanese infrastructure Abu Daher and her team went to the destroyed infrastructure sites to repair them with provisionary tools in minimum time.

“A huge part of Lebanon’s GSM network was completely down. We thought that one phone call can save a life, and this belief pushed us to act as fast as possible. Me and my team rushed to the sites, it was crazy, the Israeli planes were on top of us and we could hear the sounds of the bombings,” she recalls.

Abu Daher and the team then came up with creative ideas to temporarily restore the network. “The microwave hub in the north of the country was destroyed, which shut done a quarter of the entire GSM network. We installed tools like portable micro-cell ports that could carry connection again,” she says.

And her success story only starts there – Abu Daher is one of the few women worldwide to hold the position of Chief Technical Officer. She has however come a long way to prove herself.

A graduate from the American University of Beirut with a bachelor degree in Computer, Communication, and Electrical Engineering, she was in her prior positions Radio Planning Senior Engineer at Libancell before joining MTC Touch where she first led the Radio and Transmission Planning department, and one year later, in 2005, she was appointed as Chief Technical Officer.

“The way this company and Lebanon works is that we need to be flexible and fast. In the time when Prime Minister Rafic Hariri was assassinated there were demonstrations almost every day, and they were often announced only one day in advance. In order to be efficient we needed to upgrade the network upon demand, whenever and wherever it was needed. That’s why MTC Touch believes in hiring young, innovative talent who can work under special conditions,” she explains.

Abu Daher was one of seven girls in her engineering class, as opposed to 35 boys. “It was a challenge for me to study something that was unconventional for women. My father raised me like this, he always made me believe I could do anything a man can do,” she says.

She believes that women have to overcome barriers not only in the Middle East but world wide when trying to reach top positions. “In the whole world there are certain stereotypes of women and their capabilities. In the telecom sector there are only 3% females in senior positions world wide – virtually nothing. I was always keen on fighting this henomena.”

She says that although we do live in a male-dominated world, women should challenge and prove themselves. “Women need to put in more effort, and you most never give up,” she says.

She is today a mother of two girls, five and three years old. “I will certainly try to give them this confidence too, so they won’t feel restricted when they grow up,” she explains.

So how does she manage to combine parenthood with her demanding carrier? “It definitely is a challenge. I do believe that kids need their mother more than their father, so I try to spend as much time as possible with them. I have fortunately a very supportive family, which of course helps a lot. When I spend time with my girls I try to spend quality time with them, we arrange activities such as horseback riding and swimming, which they really enjoy,” she states.

After last year’s war she took a week-long holiday with her husband and her children. “This was wonderful, and I really needed it,” she says.

In order to be successful “you should achieve the goals you set for yourself. If you are able to do this, you are successful. Our company’s slogan is that the sky is not the limit, and I truly believe that, if you put all your effort and you work really hard, you can reach beyond the sky,” she says.

Another female high-flier in the IT industry, Turkish-born Aysegul Ildeniz, Regional Director for the Middle East, Turkey and Africa of computer giant Intel, is a dedicated campaigner for more females in the IT industry. During her career at Intel she launched the ‘Women & IT day’ initiative, which includes workshops, training and a personal career development plan. “Last time we introduced three successful female entrepreneurs who made a fortune designing websites,” she says.

Women make up more than 50% of the world population, and, as a result, they make more purchase decisions than men, she argues. “Businesses today need to understand what women want. In the future there will be more and more women sitting on directors’ boards,” she believes.

Ildeniz herself is the only women to be a member of the executive boards of the Turkey Informatics Association. She has also been awarded by a Turkish national daily newspaper as ‘Most Successful Businesswoman in Turkey’ in 2005 and as ‘Most Successful Businesswoman in the IT sector’ in 2003.

“My advice to women is to be very bold, to assert themselves, and to pursue the right education. It is important to believe that you are as good as anyone else,” she says.

Ildeniz graduated with a Master of Arts in electronic communications from San Francisco State University. “I did my masters in San Francisco during the internet boom. I worked there in various Internet companies, and then switched to IT,” she says.

She admits that there are probably more opportunities for women to be successful in the US. “What we need in the region is a mind shift. In the Middle East many women still face mental barriers, they do not understand that they can succeed the same way men do,” she says.

The entire sector is still very male-dominated world wide – a fact that Ildeniz would like to change. “I tend to think that women have bigger advantages in the IT sector that in traditional ones. The entire industry is changing so fast, if you are flexible enough to stay on top of the game you have good chances to succeed, since it is a young industry with virtually no hierarchy,” she says. “As long as you can prove yourself your gender or race does not matter,’ she adds.

In Dubai the participation of women in the IT business is clearly above average, according to Ildeniz. “There is a huge diversity level in the Middle East. Countries like the UAE or Saudi Arabia have parts of the population who are very sophisticated in their IT usage, whereas other parts have no access at all. Usage of the internet in developed countries is around 50%, in the UAE around 20%, in Turkey around 15% and places like Egypt and Morocco and Lebanon stand at around 10%, so we try to increase the overall usage,” she says. “I have many very successful female colleagues in the Middle East, for example we have a female marketing manager in Egypt, and a female distribution manager in Algeria,” she says. “Women can use IT for the most wonderful things, and they do,” she resumes.

In the UAE, today’s businesswomen surprise not only with their achievements and success, but also with their young age.

Twenty-seven year old Nadia Zaal, a UAE national, is probably the youngest CEO in Dubai. Heading the premium real estate development company Al Baradi, her day rarely ends before midnight.

“I have no balance in my life, I certainly don’t have much of a social life and it would not be possible to combine my career with a family with my current workload,” she admits openly. “In a few years, when my management team get used to my style, I will probably be able to delegate more so I can step back a little,” she says.

Considering her young age and exceptional career, she is definitely right to dedicate a few more years to her professional life. Zaal, an remarkably beautiful young woman dressed unconventionally in smart Western business clothes, is a government and economics graduate from the London school of Economics (LSE), with a postgraduate diploma in property investment. She finished her first internship at the age of 14 years with the Dubai Economic Department for Research and Planning. “It was when Dubai developed its first five year strategy plan,” she recalls. “I was always interested in economics, so it was only natural that I pursued a career in this field,” she adds.

Did she face any resistance when studying as a young Emirati woman abroad? “My father was always very supportive of my career and my independence. So I didn’t face any obstacles from my direct family, but some extended relatives and the wider Dubai community were not really approving,” she confides.

She reasons that it did help that the LSE is a very prestigious school that offers an education she could not receive in Dubai. “If they had a branch in the UAE I am sure my father would not have allowed me to go, but since this specific school is based only in London he approved,” she says. Being accepted at the university it also helped her to be a female UAE national, she believes.

After her graduation she participated in some internship programs in the UK, but always knew that she wanted to come back to the UAE. She started working as head of project and structured finance for the privatisation directorate in Abu Dhabi, where she oversaw all investor and banking matters, negotiated with debt providers and assisted in strategic road shows. “It was a very interesting working experience, and although I was in Abu Dhabi I met lawyers and financial planners in London and New York at least once a month,” she recalls.

Considered by some as one of the region’s most dynamic and progressive business and financial minds, she is certainly a role model for many young Arab women. “Especially today both political and business leaders strongly support female participation in the workforce. The difficulties women face are often not external, but internal. Even when you grow up in a liberal family you often still have self-doubt, so look within yourself and work on these barriers,” she recommends. “Eventually our inner beliefs will manifest in our lives.”

In her current position she is keen to make the company “the leading real estate developer in the premium sector.” She does not fear a decline or collapse of the local property market. “As you can see in other markets worldwide, the high-end segment always survives market corrections, so I am not concerned about this,” she says.

“In general I don’t believe that a bubble is likely to burst, even firms like Halliburton are moving their global headquarters to Dubai, which clearly shows that the success-story Dubai is still on the rise,” she says.

Zaal supervises a multi-national team of young professionals. “When I hire employees I try to see if they are enthusiastic, and understand the vision of the company. Particularly in our field the emotional component and passion is important,” she says.

Her colleague Maisoon Thani, general manager, real estate, residential city, Dubai World Central, (DWC), agrees with her. “Especially when working in real estate one needs to be sincere and honest in order for people to have trust in the project. If people don’t trust you, you will lose business,” she explains.

And Thani should know what she is talking about – she had worked for six years with Emaar before starting her position with DWC, the government-owned project that consists of different cities around the new Dubai World Central International Airport (JXB) in Jebel Ali, including residential, commercial and logistic components. The DWC Residential City is estimated to accommodate some 250,000 people upon completion. It will incorporate hotels, schools, shopping centres and other facilities to create an independent community.

“Working with Emaar I gained all the experience I needed to work in this industry,” she says. Thani, a petite, pretty woman in her thirties, is dressed in the traditional Abaya.

When asked which obstacles Emirati women in leadership positions face she looks surprised. “Women in Dubai are hard working and don’t mind working long hours, which puts them on a par with men,” she says.

“Statistics show that the number of women employed in the private sector is much higher than that of men, and therefore they face the challenges pretty boldly,” she adds firmly. She believes that women today are treated truly equally in the local job market. “In Dubai nothing is difficult for women anymore. The employers hire according to individual qualification and experience,” she says.

She dismisses claims that most women in senior positions come from the elite of the country. “I really don’t think so. If you work hard in Dubai, you will get to the top,” she argues. Young women that want to be successful should however be aware that “nothing comes easily. If you want success, you need to be patient and transparent in your approach,” she says.

“DWC is state-owned, but it is run like a private venture considering that JXB will one day be the world’s largest airport. We all need to work very hard,” she says.

She adds that within the next few years Dubai needs a further 480,000 residential real estate units. “The demand for real estate is still on the rise,” she says.

Thani has a higher diploma from the Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT) from the Dubai Women’s College.

“When I was a young girl I dreamt of becoming a dentist. I wanted to pursue a medical career, and I had heard that for dentistry you only need to study three or four years,” she says, “But once I started college my perception changed and I studied business administration. Now I am in the real estate field, which is again different from my degree, but through Emaar I was introduced to this industry. As challenging as it can be at times, I never looked back,” she adds.

And with the Middle East being one of the fastest emerging economies world wide, women like Abu Daher, Ildeniz, Zaal and Thani have certainly many opportunities to look forward to.

From Oprah to Harpo

Born in a small town in Mississippi in 1954 and raised in Nashville, Tennessee, Oprah began her career in broadcasting at age 17 at the local radio station “WVOL”. By 19, she was anchoring the news at “WTFV-TV”, being both the first African-American woman and the youngest person ever to do so.

In 1984, Oprah relocated to Chicago to host “AM Chicago”. Within just one month, it became the number one local talk show, and within a year it was renamed “The Oprah Winfrey Show”.

Not content to work for someone else, Oprah founded her own production facility, Harpo Studios (“Oprah” spelled backwards) in 1988, which today employs around 250 full-time people in television and film production, magazine publishing, and online media. She is also co-founder of Oxygen Media, which operates the Oxygen Network, a cable network for women reaching more than 54 million viewers.

She also entered the movie industry, when in 1985 she gave a breakout performance as “Sofia” in Stephen Spielberg’s “The Color Purple”, which gained Golden Globe and Oscar nominations. She has also acted in several made-for-TV movies. In 1990, she founded Harpo Films to work on projects based on contemporary and classic literature, such as 1998’s “Beloved”, based on Toni Morrison’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel and co-starring Oprah and Danny Glover.

In 2000, in partnership with Hearst Magazines, Oprah launched “O, The Oprah Magazine”, a monthly magazine that has become one of today’s top women’s lifestyle publications. It now has a circulation of more than two million monthly readers and Fortune magazine called it “the most successful startup ever in the industry”. This move was followed by the launch of “O at Home”, a seasonal home design magazine’s a billionaire- the first black woman to achieve this – with a long list of business accomplishments and awards, Oprah told Fortune Magazine, “I don’t think of myself as a businesswoman. The only time I think about being a businesswoman is now, while I’m talking to you. There’s this part of me that’s afraid of what will happen if I believe it all.” She’s turned down invitations to join the corporate boards of AT&T, Ralph Lauren, and Intel. But by most people’s accounts, she’s the most powerful woman in the entertainment industry.

Laila Suhail

Laila Suhail, Director of the Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF) Board of Directors and the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of the DSF, was last year accredited with the highest targeted sponsorship revenues, and with catapulting the DSF brand to a higher level.

She is involved in the day-to-day managing, planning and execution of the DSF office activities, especially troubleshooting during the mammoth events, while also ensuring effective communication with sponsors/private sector during the DSF. As CMO she manages the marketing, communication, corporate alliance and the Media and PR Departments.

To her credit goes the management of the main DSF awards including the ‘Ideal Arab Mother and Family’ Awards, ‘Journalism and Innovation’ Awards and also the handling of the “Ahlan Dubai” call centre and
www.mydsf.ae

, the official DSF website. She is also responsible for the setting up of a media centre in the DSF office.

Brains and beauty

Anita Roddick is the founder of The Body Shop, one of the world’s most successful retailers of cosmetics and related products. She is also known as one of the most outspoken social activists in the business world.

Born Anita Perella in 1942 in Littlehampton, England, she was the third of four children and grew up working in her parents’ café, to which she attributes her intense work ethic.

Anita held several jobs and saved money for her travels to Tahiti, New Hebrides, New Caledonia, Australia and South Africa.

She stayed and went to school in South Africa until she was expelled there as well after going to a jazz club on a black night, which violated apartheid laws.

When Roddick gave started the Body Shop she created cosmetics out of every ingredient that she kept stored in her garage.

She opened her first shop in Brighton, England, with a range of only fifteen products. Her products contained ingredients that women used in cleansing rituals that she had witnessed in her travels. With its strong environmental flare and increasing popular demand for the products, customers wanted to sell the products, and in 1984 the company went public and spread franchises all over England.

Today The Body Shop has over 1,980 stores and more than 77 million customers in 50 different markets, serving customers in over 25 different languages. Its success has put Roddick’s net-worth at more than U$200m.

“Success is simply a matter of finding and surrounding ourselves with those open-minded and clever souls who can take our insanity and put it to good use,” she says.

The finance guru

Suze Orman is a financial advisor, writer and TV personality. She has won two Daytime Emmy Awards in 2004 and 2006 for her TV programmes “The Laws of Money”, “The Lessons of Life”, The Money Show for the Young” and “Fabulous, & Broke”. Her famous catch phrases are “Self-worth equals net worth,” “People first, then money, then things,” and “Truth creates money. Lies destroy it.”

She was born Susan Orman 1951 in Chicago to Russian immigrants. Orman holds a BA in social work from the University of Illinois. In 1973, she and some friends moved to Berkley, California, where she became a waitress at a local bakery until 1980.

From 1980-1983, she was trained by and worked as an Account Executive at Merill Lynch, and from 1983-87 she was Vice President of Investments for Prudential Bache Securities. In 1987, Orman founded her own business, the “Suze Orman Financial Group”, which she directed from 1987-1997.

She has now become a media personality and can be seen on many popular US television programmes, including the “Oprah Winfrey Show” and “Larry King Live”, and has started her own programme “The Suze Orman Show”. Apart from appearing on numerous shows Suze Orman has also published several best-selling financial books, such as “The Laws of Money”, “The Road to Wealth”, “The Courage to Be Rich”, and “You’ve Earned It, Don’t Lose It.”

She also hosts a weekend financial planning show for the CNBC called “The Suze Orman Show”.

Amna Saif Al Mansouri

Amna Saif Al Mansouri is the Vice President of the human resources department at Royal Jet – the Abu Dhabi-based private jet leasing company.

Mansouri’s career spans 10 years, most of this time spent at Abu Dhabi Department of Civil Aviation fulfilling many different positions, such as manager integrated management system department & project leader for major projects assigned by Sheikh Ahmed bin Saif Al Nahyan, Chairman of Abu Dhabi Department of Civil Aviation Department.

Prior to joining Royal Jet, Mansouri was environment coordinator in the integrated management department of the Abu Dhabi Department of Civil Aviation – the authority for all civil airports in the emirate of Abu Dhabi (Abu Dhabi & Al Ain International Airports).

Before joining the integrated management department, Mansouri was a marketing supervisor at the commercial development and marketing department.

She holds a High Diploma in Business Administration (Office Administration) from the Higher Colleges of Technology and also has a Certificate in Personnel Practices from CIPD-UK.

Domestic goddess

Martha Stewart is a business magnate, author, editor and homemaking advocate. She is also a former stockbroker and fashion model. Over the last two decades Stewart has held a prominent position in the American publishing industry as the author of several books, hundreds of articles on the domestic arts, editor of a national homekeeping magazine, host for two popular daytime television programmes and commercial spokeswoman for the US department store chain K-Mart.

Stewart is also the major stock holder of the New York Stock Exchange listed company “Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia” that she founded in 1999.

Martha Stewart was born 1941 in New Jersey to middle-class Polish immigrants. Her mother taught her how to cook and sew. Her father had a passion for gardening, and passed on much of his knowledge and expertise to his daughter.

In 2002, she was accused of insider trading and other crimes relating to statements that she made to investigators, and in 2004 she was sentenced to prison, fined, and barred from serving on a public company Board of Directors, and from serving in certain executive capacities for five years. Since her release from prison in March 2005, Stewart has been focused on reviving the fortunes of her businesses, which had suffered due to media coverage of the scandal, her conviction and incarceration, and the resulting volatile price of her company’s stock. Stewart rapidly regained her former prominence as a homemaking expert, and she currently hosts the US TV show “Martha”, as well as appearing on other television shows. She is once again involved with her company’s magazine “Martha Stewart Living”, and she has published a new book on starting a business, her merchandising activities are expanding, all causing the price of her company’s stock to recover significantly.

Hala Badri

Hala Badri, Vice President of corporate communications, du, is a two times winner of the Sheikh Rashid Awards for Scientific Excellence. She won her first Sheikh Rashid Award for scientific excellence and outstanding academic achievement in GCSE (High School Category) in November 1992, followed 11 years later with her second award for scientific excellence and outstanding academic achievement in obtaining the executive MBA, managing e-business.

In 1997 she graduated from Dubai Women’s College with a Higher Diploma in Communication Technology and Journalism/Graphic Design.

Prior to her position with du, Badri worked as corporate communications manager – group brand management department for the Emirates National Oil Company (Enoc).

While with Enoc she was responsible for the management of the group’s inaugurations both locally and internationally, and managed major events for the Enoc Group such as its participation in the Dubai Air Show.

She also handled sponsorship, exhibition and conference management; corporate communications, website development and had guardianship of the Enoc brands and identities – a job Badri has now taken on for Eitc.

Badri is also enrolled at Cranfield University in cooperation with Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Leadership Development Programme, where she is studying for a Master of Science in Strategic Leadership. She will graduate in 2008.

Estee’s fortune

Estee Lauder, founder of the cosmetic giant Estee Lauder, was the only woman on Times magazine’s 1998 list of the 20 most influential business geniuses of the 20th century. According to her son Leonard Lauder she always thought she “was growing a nice little business.” This little business today controls some 40% of the US cosmetics market, and sells in more than 120 countries.

Born in 1906 as Josephine Esther Mentzer as daughter of Hungarian immigrants, she lived above her father’s hardware store in Queens in New York City. She started her enterprise by selling skin creams invented by her uncle, a chemist, in beauty shops, beach clubs and resorts.

She then pursued the bosses of New York City department stores until she got some counter space at the famous department store “Saks Fifth Avenue” in 1948, where she was quick to utilize a very unique personal selling approach.

Even after 40 years in business, Estée Lauder would attend every launch of a new cosmetics counter or shop, travelling to places like Moscow and other East European cities. Every Saturday she would go to her grandson’s “Origins” store in Manhattan’s trendy Soho district and say, “Let me teach you how to sell.” Only her declining health in her later years halted those visits.

Estée Lauder loved to “entertain”, such as giving large dinner parties. She enjoyed “beautiful people”, such as celebrities and the rich and famous crowd of New York. “She liked to think about beauty and was determined to give women the opportunity to feel beautiful,” according to her son.

Lauder died in her Manhattan residence in 2004 at the age of 97. She was also the recipient of the “Presidential Medal of Freedom.”