UAE, DWE provide Emirati women tools to turn vision into action

. 14 female Emirati leaders graduate from 'disruptive innovation' program. Participants gain insights into creative thinking and innovative behaviour from thought-leaders at Google and Nesta. Leadership program developed in collaboration with renowned Ashridge-Hult International Business School

The UAE and Dubai Women Establishment (DWE) are providing Emirati women with the tools they need to chart their own future and turn vision into action, said Sheikha Manal bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, President of the UAE Gender Balance Council, President of Dubai Women Establishment (DWE) and wife of Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and UAE Minister of Presidential Affairs.
Sheikha Manal, applauding 14 female Emirati participants of Innovative Leaders Programme hosted in collaboration with the Ashridge-Hult International Business School, said: "We are very proud of what these remarkable women have achieved over the past week, and look forward to seeing what they do next."
The programme was developed to help participants transform their leadership approach through experimental and out-of-the-box thinking. The eight-day programme followed an experiential and interactive learning process - learn, disrupt, apply and integrate, through insight sessions, guest speaker presentations, organisational visits, strategic challenge projects, coaching and networking.
The graduation ceremony was attended by Mona Al Marri, Chairperson of the Board of DWE, Sulaiman Al Mazroui, UAE Ambassador to the UK, and Bjorn Bengtsson, President of Ashridge Executive Education Business School.
During the programme, working groups were challenged to develop their ideas on how to increase the number of women voters in Federal National Council elections, by using disruptive innovation to change the perceptions of society around women voters; and how to enhance work-life integration for working women. Each of the topics covered throughout the program supported these two strategic challenge projects. The working groups are set to submit their proposals to DWE by May 23, 2017 which will be evaluated and presented to the relevant UAE leaders.
Al Marri, said: "We want to equip female leaders with the tools and skills to help Dubai and the UAE make the inconceivable conceivable, and the impossible possible. By nurturing a culture of disruptive innovation, our leaders can create a paradigm shift in the way their organisations operate and respond to challenges, now and in the future. I am so proud to congratulate each of our graduates. I am sure that the program's forward-looking approach will help them to achieve extraordinary things."
The graduates include Khawla Almheiri, executive vice president - International Affairs & Corporate Communications at Dewa; Maitha Alshamsi, CEO Human Rights Sector at the Community Development Authority; Nadia Qassim Bastaki, vice-president Medical & Employee Wellbeing Services at Etihad Aviation Group; Alia Alserkal, Senior Director Talent Management and National Development at du; Maryam Alblooshi, Environment Studies Manager at the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA); Fatma Ahli, Assistant Vice President - Group Customer Experience at Emirates NBD; Lamia Abdulaziz Khan, director of Dubai Ladies Club; Alia Altheeb, Director of Dubai Press Club; Khadija Albastaki, Director - Business development at Tecom Group; Kholoud Alshamsi, Head of General Servcies and Head of Operations of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week at Masdar; Asma Almajed, Senior Strategy Manager at Dubai Media Incorporated; Fatima Deemas, Senior Manager - Internal Communications at Dewa; Naama Almalek, Emiratization Specialist at Ministry Of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MOHRE); and Maryam Meshar Al Mheiri, Studies Specialist at the Ministry Of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MOHRE).
During the programme, participants were involved in organisational visits to multinational technology company, Google, and innovation foundation, Nesta. The participants toured the UK Google office and met with the team, gaining insight into how Google operates. Through an interactive session on innovating the Google way with Head of Behavioural Innovation at The Google Digital Academy, Sam Dickinson, the participants also learnt about how creative thinking and innovative behaviours are incorporated into everything the company does, and explored ideas for harnessing disruptive innovation across their own teams and organisations.
The visit to Nesta featured an interactive presentation from the team about what the company does with people, organisations and governments around the world. Participants also benefited from a session led by Brenton Caffin, executive director, Global Innovation Partnerships at Nesta, about how disruptive innovation and exponential thinking is being adopted throughout the company, and can be applied to organisations across the globe. - sandhya@khaleejtimes.com