The Atlantic Council’s empowerME Initiative held a workshop to discuss strategies for empowering more women to reach senior leadership positions in Saudi Arabia and the wider MENA region on Tuesday, June 7th from 11:00 am-12:30 pm ET/6:00-7:30 pm KSA.

This workshop was part of the new WIn (Women Innovators) Fellowship, led by the Atlantic Council’s empowerME Initiative in cooperation with Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business with support from US Embassy Riyadh, PepsiCo, and UPS. The American Chamber of Commerce Saudi Arabia’s Women in Business Committee is the program’s in-person event partner. The yearlong program from March 2022 – March 2023 enables thirty-three Saudi women entrepreneurs to enhance their networks, gain practical knowledge, and develop US-Saudi people to people and business ties that will help them scale their business locally, regionally, and globally.

Opening remarks

Amjad Ahmad
Chairman, empowerME, Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East
Atlantic Council

Keynote welcome remarks

Martina Strong
Charge d’Affaires
US Mission to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Welcome remarks

Dr. Abdullah Al Fozan
Chairman and CEO
KPMG in Saudi Arabia and Levant

Featuring

Rima Al Soraihi
Human Resources Director
PepsiCo

Reem Asaad
Vice President for Middle East and Africa
Cisco

Leanne Caret
Executive Vice President and Senior Advisor
Boeing

Penelope Naas
President for International Public Affairs and Sustainability
UPS

Moderated by

Tamara Pupic
Managing Editor
Entrepreneur Middle East

SPEAKER BIOS

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WIn Fellowship

The Women Innovators (WIn) Fellowship is a program that bridges executive education with policy discussions, and that invests in the best, brightest, and boldest female founders in the MENA region, helping them take their business to the next level while simultaneously creating a pipeline of the region’s rising female business and policy leaders.
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IGNITING Women’s entrepreneurship and innovation in Saudi Arabia

A joint project of the Atlantic Council’s empowerME initiative, the US Mission to Saudi Arabia, the American Chamber of Commerce Saudi Arabia, and Quantum Leaps for US and Saudi entrepreneurs and business leaders

empowerME at the Atlantic Council’s Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East is shaping solutions to empower entrepreneurs, women, and youth and building coalitions of public and private partnerships to drive regional economic integration, prosperity, and job creation.

Learn more