Women of MENA — Spotlights

In this episode of Women of MENA — Spotlights, we feature Maha Jouini, Founder of CHIFAA AI, AI governance expert, and recipient of the 2025/26 She Shapes AI Global Award for Thought Leadership in AI.

Maha’s work sits at the intersection of responsible AI, data sovereignty, gender equity, human rights, and public-interest technology across Africa and the MENA region. From her earlier work with the African Union to her current roles in AI governance and institutional policy, she has built a career focused on making technology more accountable, inclusive, and grounded in the realities of the communities it serves.

At the centre of that work is CHIFAA AI, a survivor-led initiative developing culturally and linguistically grounded AI solutions for women affected by breast and cervical cancer across North Africa.

This episode explores what responsible AI looks like when African, Arab, and Muslim perspectives are not treated as an afterthought, but as essential to how technology is designed and governed.

We discuss decolonizing AI, Safety-by-Design, technology-facilitated gender-based violence, culturally grounded health innovation, and the role of lived experience in shaping better systems.

A conversation about technology, power, representation, and who gets to define the future.

In this spotlight profile, Women of MENA examines the career and executive leadership of Haiam Abdulrahman, MSc, SPHRi, Director of Talent and Performance Management at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center.

Over a 14-year tenure in human capital that began in recruitment, Haiam directs the talent, performance, total rewards, and succession strategies powering a 17,000-person workforce across Riyadh, Jeddah, and Madinah.

Holding a Master’s degree in Business Administration and Hospitals Administration from King Saud University, she designs unified operating models connecting total rewards, succession readiness, and enterprise performance management.

This episode highlights her trajectory advising executive leadership, preparing Board of Directors agendas, and building transparent, evidence-based talent frameworks across Saudi Arabia's healthcare sector.

In this spotlight episode, we profile Angela (Angie) Martin, a senior workforce strategy advisor and transformation leader shaping talent ecosystems across Saudi Arabia.

As an Advisor for Future Workforce in Tabuk, Angela guides international and regional investors in building sustainable, future-ready talent pipelines aligned with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030.

Drawing on extensive leadership across the region—including strategic human capital roles at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre and as founder of consulting firm HR Expressions—she specializes in workforce localization, learning architecture, and organizational change across emerging economic sectors.

In this episode of Women of MENA — Spotlights, we profile Dr. Maqboula Derbazi, an Executive Advisor specializing in global IT vendor governance, contract strategy, and cost optimization.

Holding a D.Phil. in Nanotechnology alongside engineering degrees from Algeria and France, Dr. Derbazi bridges deep technical understanding with commercial acumen. This editorial profile examines her two-decade international career across high-tech, aerospace, and telecom sectors—from engineering instrumentation for NASA projects and leading technical operations at Apple, to directing multi-hundred-million-dollar procurement programs at Bombardier and advising IT executive leadership at BRP.

Join us as we highlight her journey of transforming digital supply chains, navigating complex vendor ecosystems, and driving enterprise value across international markets.

In this episode of Women of MENA — Spotlights, we profile Nawarh Faran, an award-winning healthcare executive and patient safety strategist currently serving as Corporate Executive Director of Quality and Patient Safety at Dr. Sulaiman Al Habib Medical Group. With over two decades of leadership in hospitals and health programs across Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and the UAE, Faran has driven the evolution of healthcare quality from a compliance-focused framework to a performance- and outcomes-driven system.

This profile examines her journey from directing critical care operations—including leading operations for 100 ICU beds—to shaping corporate quality strategy and clinical governance. We highlight her track record in zero-harm benchmarks, such as maintaining Zero Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia (VAP) status in adult ICUs and executing multi-million dollar pressure injury prevention protocols. Recognized as a Global 200 Women Power Leader and recipient of consecutive National Patient Safety Awards, Faran's career showcases the impact of strategic governance and institutional excellence across the region.

In this Women of MENA profile episode, we examine the career of Lamise A. Negm, an Egyptian banking and institutional professional whose trajectory spans commercial banking, government relations, financial regulation and public institutions.

Her career includes more than two decades at Citibank Egypt, where she progressed across banking operations, cash management, product development and government relations, ultimately serving as Vice President. She later spent six years as CSR Advisor to the Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt, followed by two years as CSR Advisor to the Executive Chairman of the Financial Regulatory Authority. Today, she serves as Economic Investment Expert at the Egyptian Intellectual Property Authority (EGIPA).

This episode looks beyond titles to explore the architecture of a career built across some of Egypt's most consequential financial and public institutions. We examine how banking experience became government interface, how regulatory proximity became institutional influence, and what her trajectory reveals about the women operating within the systems shaping Egypt's economy.

This is not an interview. Lamise A. Negm does not appear in this episode. It is an independent Women of MENA editorial profile based on publicly presented professional information.

In this episode: banking, regulation, government relations, institutional influence, economic development and the evolution of women's leadership within the MENA region.

Women of MENA. People. Institutions. Ideas. Impact.

In this spotlight episode, we profile Yasmine Helal, an executive leader, board member, and strategic advisor with over two decades of experience steering digital transformation, banking, and governance.

We trace her career from her pivotal role leading FinTech strategy at the Central Bank of Egypt and serving as CEO of ADI Consumer Finance, to her current board-level contributions at Taly for Digital Payments and her strategic leadership of Athar Consultancy.

Beyond her extensive work in digital payments, consumer finance, and board oversight, Yasmine brings a rare perspective that bridges the structured world of finance and the expressive worlds of art, culture, and design.

Currently serving as a member of Egypt's Ministry of Culture Investment Council, she operates on the foundational belief that true economic development is not solely financial, but is deeply cultural, educational, and human.

This single-narrator profile offers an editorial look at a leader dedicated to building responsible, inclusive, and future-ready financial ecosystems across the region.

This editorial spotlight profiles Captain Intisaar Al Hosni, a commercial pilot and Advanced Air Mobility strategist who made history as the first Omani female BVLOS (Beyond Visual Line of Sight) drone pilot.

From operating passenger and cargo aircraft in remote Australia to directing complex uncrewed endurance flights and leading AAM strategy at ESBAAR, she is actively bridging conventional aviation and the emerging technologies shaping the skies of the Gulf region.

In this episode of Women of MENA — Spotlights, we profile Maram Kokandi, a trailblazing operations and strategy executive who made history as Saudi Arabia’s first female hotel General Manager.

We follow her career journey across major regional and international hotel brands, including her landmark leadership at the Park Inn by Radisson in Jeddah and her operational oversight at premier properties like the JW Marriott Hotel Riyadh and DoubleTree by Hilton.

The episode highlights her commercial expertise, her dedication to local talent development through successful 80% Saudization initiatives, and her historic recognition as the first Saudi and Arab female to win the "Best Hotelier" award at the Worldwide Hospitality Awards.

In this episode of the Women of MENA spotlight, we explore the career and vision of Dr. Husa Alangari, a pivotal figure in Saudi Arabia’s educational and technological transformation.

As the GM and CEO for KSA at Ultimate Learning Academy, a venture-backed regional edtech company, Dr. Alangari is at the forefront of building the "human layer" necessary to sustain the Kingdom’s rapid AI advancements.

We dive into her professional philosophy—the belief that while technology is essential, countries truly run on the people capable of utilizing it.

The episode profiles her extensive impact on Vision 2030, including her leadership in developing Saudi Arabia’s first national AI competency frameworks for educators and learners.

We also discuss her influential roles as a Strategic Advisor at Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University and her work defining national e-learning standards for the Kingdom.

Join us as we profile a leader who is not just implementing technology, but is architecting the talent, leadership, and governance frameworks that turn national ambition into lasting impact.