When Women Win

Isobel Abuhoul left Cambridge for Dubai in 1968 and has been here ever since. In 1975, Isobel set up Al Ittehad Private School and Magrudy's bookshop - both of which are still thriving today. In 2008 Isobel founded the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature, the Arab Worldís largest celebration of the written and spoken word, bringing people of all ages together with authors from across the world to promote education, debate and reading. The festival won the Best Festival title at the Middle East Event Awards in 2013, 2014 and 2015.

In this episode we explored Isobel's "why?", what drove her to establish one enterprise after another. Isobel walked me through some of the challenges she faced and what tools she used to overcome them - the value of her network came up a couple of times. We also discussed how she has managed to keep her enterprises alive 40 years on, in the face of fierce competition - by putting herself in the shoes of a demanding and impatient customer! Finally, Isobel gave us a sneak preview of the upcoming Emirates Lit Fest - I've bought tickets to 6 sessions and I cannot wait to attend!

The 2018 Emirates Literature Festival is running March 1-10. Tickets are available online at emirateslitfest.com, but do hurry up as the sessions are selling out fast. You can also get in touch with and follow Isobel on Twitter @UmmMansour

Maysa Jalbout is the founding CEO of the Abdulla Al Ghurair Foundation for Education - a landmark philanthropic initiative with a budget of $1 billion and an ambitious goal of educating 15,000 youth within 10 years. Forbes recognized her as one of the 100 most powerful businesswomen in the Arab world in 2016 and 2017.

In her capacity as Non-resident Fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington DC, Jalbout's extensive regional and international experience has also allowed her to produce highly visible research and thought leadership strategies in several fields of education.

In this episode we tackled several big questions around education. Everything from whether higher education is necessary, how education is out of step with employment needs, refugee access to education, and the gender gap in science subjects.

Maysa also shared how as CEO of one of the largest education foundations in the world she is transforming education in the region.

If you would like to get in touch with Maysa or learn more about her work, please visit http://www.alghurairfoundation.org/en

Lina Khalifeh has more than 17 years experience practicing martial arts like Taekwondo, Kick-boxing, Kung Fu & Boxing. She is a 3Dan black belt in Taekwondo and has represented Jordan in many international tournaments.

Appalled by violence against women, especially domestic violence, Lina decided to train women in self-defense. She started in her parents' basement, and in 2012 set up her first SheFighter training studio, the Middle East's first self-defense studio to empower women both mentally and physically. Lina is also an international businesswoman and is growing the SheFighter brand globally.

In this episode we discussed how training can make women more confident and better able to defend themselves against violence. Reaction time is critical! Lina also mentioned a couple of specific things to do when faced with an attacker: target the throat or groin. If you want people to help you catch a fleeing culprit, shout "He's a thief!" It was interesting but not surprising to learn that gender discrimination and sexual harassment exist in the word of martial arts - we talked about speaking up "even if your voice is shaking".

We covered the online abuse that Lina and SheFighter are receiving from the patriarchy due to the powerful social impact of her work, and how to react to that bullying. We also talked about her personal ability to switch off from the daily intensity - as an introvert, she prefers to recharge alone through individual sports like swimming or running.

One must point out that self-defense training is relevant to men as well as women, boys as well as girls.

If you would like to get in touch with Lina or learn more about her work, please visit www.shefighter.com or find her on Instagram @shefighter.

A huge thank you to Naseba and the WIL Economic Forum for making this interview possible.

Haben Girma is the first deaf-blind graduate of Harvard Law School. She advocates for equal access to information for people with disabilities, and because of this work she has been honored by President Obama, President Clinton and many others.

In this short episode we talked about her own journey with disability and the support network that has helped her grow and excel in various aspects of life, from advocacy to salsa to surfing. We also discussed the enormous market opportunity that people with disabilities presents: at 1.3B, people with disabilities are the world's largest minority. Imagine the impact if we could include and harness diversity that created solutions for such a vast market. Haben educated me on "situational disability": eg when a mother carrying a child has only one arm available, in that moment she is disabled - so solutions for disabilities can apply far and wide.

We talked about the great technological things happening around communicating with people who are blind and / or deaf, and also got Haben's wish list to improve the experience!

If you would like to get in touch with Haben or learn more about her work, please visit www.habengirma.com or find her on Instagram @habengirma

A huge thanks to Naseba and the Global WIL Economic Forum for making this interview possible.

Ozge Akbulut is a real life Dr. Who – scientist, academic and entrepreneur. A Harvard and MIT engineering graduate, Ozge uses her research and experience to build businesses that solve global problems. For example, as 1 in 8 women globally will get breast cancer - Ozge has built a company called Surgitate that makes breast models to train surgeons in mastectomy. When she realised how much manufacturing cement pollutes the environment, she sought out ways to improve that and create sustainable solutions.

In this episode we talked about being super-nerds, doing scientific research that improves lives and starting a business with the right partners and backers. So if you have a background in science, academia or entrepreneurship - or an interest in solving big global problems and instilling that curiosity in others - this episode is for you!

We also touched on gender parity at Turkey's Sabanci University... About 50% of the material science students are women; and even more impressive is the gender split of the university teaching faculty: 50% female! One of the highest in Europe.

If you would like to get in touch with Ozge or learn more about her work, please visit www.ozgeakbulut.com or find her on Twitter @matist_ozge.

A huge thank you to Naseba for making this interview possible.

Dr. Obama is ​also ​a published author, having released her memoir "And Then Life Happens" in both German and English.

We talked about sustainable economic growth, supporting children holistically from the age of 4 to 25, dispelling the victim mentality and redefining the notion of poverty. We also discussed a strategy for everyday people who want to engage in philanthropy, and touched on Auma's famous brother only a tiny bit.​

​If you would like to learn more about the Sauti Kuu Foundation or make a donation, please go to www.sautikuufoundation.org

A huge thanks to Naseba and the Global WIL Economic Forum for making this interview possible.

If you've ever wondered how billionaires manage their wealth or how a family office operates, this is the show for you!

Ida Beerhalter leads IOME, a Riyadh-based private investment partnership of women principals from the Gulf region. She also serves as member of the Board of Trustees, advisor, and expert with various for-profit and not-for-profit organizations around the globe, including Astia USA, Omnia Strategy UK, Sauti Kuu Foundation Germany & Kenia, and First Light Trust UK. She also manages her own investment portfolio and is a member of Astia Angels. Beerhalter was awarded the TIAW World of Difference Award in 2015.

In this episode we talked about boards and steps you can take to joining one. We also discussed impact investing and supporting women-owned businesses through angel investing.

We also talked about how a "family office" operates.

A huge thank you to Naseba and the Global WIL Economic Forum 2017 for making this interview possible.

Assia deserves an award for the diversity of her life experiences! This show jumps around her life as we extract lessons from her wide array of experiences. We sat down together in Dubai and talked about women on boards, media strategy, growing pains of start-ups, becoming an angel investor and dyslexia. Assia Grazioli-Venier is a media executive, angel investor and advisor to high-growth tech startups and entertainment companies. In 2016, Assia co-founded Muse Capital, an angel investment fund that invests in a wide range of next-generation products from fin-tech to healthcare to entertainment. Assia is also on the board of directors of Italy's legendary Juventus Football Club; she is the first female and youngest board member in the 120-year history of the club.

Today's guest is globally renowned for her parenting humour… The Huffington Post calls it, "Parenting comedy at its finest"!

Kristina Kuzmic is energetic and funny, and has an in-your-face perspective on parenting and on life in general. You may have seen Kristina on your Facebook feed, or on some internet, radio or TV outlet. She has become a YouTube sensation with her "mom-centric" videos about raising children and juggling all of life's challenges. With over 300 million views across media outlets and websites worldwide, Kristina has a voice and personality that has proven to be a hit with audiences everywhere.

We talked about parenting, depression, finding your feet, building a brand and remarrying…

A huge thank you to Naseba and the Global WIL Economic Forum 2017 for making this interview possible.

No personality has just one dimension - or even two. People are fascinating concoctions of multiple experiences... And such is today's guest. Her Royal Highness Princess Tessy of Luxembourg has extensive experience in formal and informal diplomacy. She spent five years in the military, a portion of which was as a peace-keeper in Kosovo. Tessy passionately promotes a number of causes including human rights, women's rights and global health. In January 2017, she received the 'Woman of the Decade Award' from the Women Economic Forum for her work in women empowerment, security and peace.

We discussed the role of the military and that of the United Nations. We explored formal and informal education. We talked about parenting and the value of exposing one's children to diversity at a young age. Finally, HRH Tessy provided some actionable tools for busy people in the world who want to find different ways to give back to society. ​ ​A huge thank you to Naseba and the Global WIL ​Economic Forum 2017 for making this interview possible.