You are currently reading Issue 22: Dubai Special, January 2015
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Connecting women and opportunity

Womanthology is a digital magazine and professional community powered by female energy and ingenuity.

Connecting women and opportunity

Womanthology is a digital magazine and professional community powered by female energy and ingenuity.

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Supporting business without barriers for women in Dubai and the UAE – Nadine Halabi, Business Development Manager of the Dubai Business Women Council

Nadine Halabi

Nadine Halabi is the Business Development Manager of the Dubai Business Women Council, who first joined in August 2011 and has since then been managing the operations of its council, coordinating its high profile board members, stakeholders and members in line with the organisation’s values, vision and mission as set out by its President, H.E Raja Al Gurg. Following completion of her studies at the American University of Beirut, Nadine began her career with a position teaching English literature to high school students in a private school in Dubai. In 2007, Nadine joined Microsoft Bahrain as an Office Manager where she ensured adherence to Microsoft’s Global Brand compliances, assisted the Marketing and Communications divisions with their corporate communications requirements and managed various administrative duties before eventually moving back to Dubai and joining the DBWC.

Nadine Halabi
Nadine Halabi

“…Women hold 66% of public sector posts in the UAE and 30% of senior decision-making positions in the government sector. Emirati women occupy high-profile positions in all sectors of society, including the judiciary, prosecution services, diplomatic corps, police force, military forces, business and finance. With these numbers, I find it difficult to agree that women in general face any challenges here in the UAE…”

Nadine, please can you tell us about your career to date and how you ended up in Dubai?

I was born and raised in Dubai. My Parents moved here in the mid-seventies and it has been our home ever since. I started my career as a teacher of English to high school students for six years. I then moved to Bahrain for about five years with my husband and it was then that I decided to try venturing into the business world.

I worked as an Office Manager for Microsoft Bahrain and then moved into the events and PR sector before moving back to Dubai in early 2011. It wasn’t until I joined the DBWC that I realised that I had finally found the job that suits me well. I have been with the Council ever since and coming to work has been a joy ever since.

Please can you tell us more about the Dubai Business Women Council, its history, leadership structure and objectives?

DBWC, which falls under the umbrella of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, is the official organisation that represents the business women community in Dubai. It was first founded in 2002 by its President, HE Raja Easa Al Gurg with HRH Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein, wife of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, and ruler of Dubai, as its Honorary Chairperson.

The Council consists of seven board members, all of whom are successful and prominent Emirati business women.

The mission of the DBWC encompasses many aspects of the lives of business women both in society and the economy as it is our intent to support Dubai’s business and professional women, who are driven to achieve success on both national and international fronts, to increase their contribution to the economy and the productivity of Dubai and promote and shape economic development across all sectors and areas of the business community.

What sort of organisations and individuals are members and what services do you offer?

Female entrepreneursThe Council opens its doors for membership to local and expatriate business owners and executives in Dubai and throughout the UAE, and its objective is to provide business women in Dubai with the right opportunities to develop and enhance their business enterprises through monthly business oriented workshops and training, as well as access to diverse networking platforms.

Any working women who live in Dubai and within the UAE can join the Council as a member regardless of her industry and job position.

What are the key challenges for female entrepreneurs in the region?

In Dubai and the UAE, I don’t find that entrepreneurs face any challenges. On the contrary, I see that they are well supported.

Thanks to the UAE leadership’s support and admiration towards providing equal opportunities for business women in the UAE , it is phenomenal to see how women from all over the world make it their new home and establish their life long dreams of being a business woman or owning their own.

Women hold 66% of public sector posts in the UAE and 30% of senior decision-making positions in the government sector. Emirati women occupy high-profile positions in all sectors of society, including the judiciary, prosecution services, diplomatic corps, police force, military forces, business and finance. With these numbers, I find it difficult to agree that women in general face any challenges here in the UAE.

How are government objectives in the UAE driving support for women as entrepreneurs from corporates?

As a young nation, the policies of the UAE have ensured that we have taken far greater strides in empowering women and offering opportunities within all levels of society. UAE leadership’s support and commitment towards providing equal opportunities for business women in the UAE is evident in the growing number of SMEs that have women at the helm.

I would like to quote HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai who once said: “It is not strange for a UAE woman to be an ambassador; she who proves herself, merits praise and encouragement.” 

DBWC recently partnered with MasterCard to support the Ro’Ya programme. Please can you tell us more about the work you did to support the programme and its delivery. What were the outcomes?

Ro'YaRo’Ya, which means ‘vision’ in Arabic, has been conceptualised as a result of the partnership between the DBWC and MasterCard and its main aim is to encourage women entrepreneurs to pursue business ventures by providing them with coaching and mentorship and, a select few, with financial assistance.

Under the Ro’Ya initiative, existing and aspiring women entrepreneurs were invited to submit business plans of their proposed ventures through a dedicated microsite on the DBWC website.

Applications were vetted by a panel of judges determined by DBWC and MasterCard who shortlisted entries for the final competition.

Shortlisted contestants were asked to present their ideas to the judges and live audience at a gala event in November 2014 where the top three winners were chosen.

Running concurrently alongside the application process and for a period of eight months, we organised a series of coaching and training sessions to share insights into various aspects of conceptualising and managing a successful business entity.

In total this year, we had 72 applicants for Ro’ya 2014, from which the 3 winners were given cash prizes of US$ 50,000, US$ 30,000 and US$ 20,000.

What other organisations do you partner with?

For Ro’ya 2014, we partnered with multinationals such as MasterCard and Nestle, and SMEs such as Manchester Business School, Innovest ME, CCM Consultancy, GrowME, and Creative Zone. Each of these companies contributed to a session from the total eight workshops that were provided free of charge to the 72 Ro’Ya applicants.

Please can you tell us more about winning Innovest 2014 Passion Award for your work and how it felt?

Nadine Halabi award
Taken by surprise! Nadine receiving her Innovest 2014 Passion Award

It was a big surprise, especially when I was involved in putting together the programme for the night of the Ro’Ya gala dinner, where I was presented with the award. Sami Lahoud [of MasterCard] and I were both hosting the night and had no idea that this was going to happen. I am blessed and honoured to receive such an award. There is nothing greater than being acknowledged with such an accolade…for passion!

What would your advice be to female entrepreneurs who might be considering doing business in Dubai? How can they engage with you and your members?

Dubai is a great place to work in; It is diverse and competitive but nothing is impossible here, especially if you are passionate about it. There is so much one can learn from networking with likeminded business women and if there is one thing I realised about Dubai, it’s the fact that people love to network. The right networking platforms will help pave the way for new business opportunities and developments, partnerships and friendships. I would also advise entrepreneurs to invest in themselves by attending as many business workshops as possible, as they help build and improve their skills, which is pretty much what we offer at the DBWC.

What plans do you have for 2015 at the DBWC?

Nadine HalabiWe will be launching Ro’ya 2015 alongside MasterCard in February 2015 and I am very excited about that.

We will be launching a new website for the DBWC in January 2015 that promises to be more user-friendly and a lot more interactive from a B2B perspective.

We also have a line up of great workshops in the pipeline that will focus on enhancing leadership skills, emotional intelligence, one day business plan simulation courses and many more.

To find out what is coming up, please visit our website on http://dbwc.ae/.

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