Empowering women: Middle East businesswomen meet UK female leaders

Springboard Consultancy Female Business Leaders UK Study Tour: 4-7 October 2016

Springboard Consultancy, the UK’s leading personal and work development company, and the British Council are bringing a delegation of five female business leaders and training experts from the Middle East to the UK to meet with politicians, policy makers and women’s equality campaigners.

The tour will see the delegation attending meetings with several influential female UK public figures to gain insight, share best practice ideas and highlight the impact of British Council and Springboard Consultancy programmes in the Middle East and North Africa. Meetings include:

• Baroness Anne Jenkin of Kennington, Founder of Women2Win and Gillian Keegan, Director of Women2Win
• Sophie Walker, Founder of the Women’s Equality Party and Chief of Staff Hannah Parker
• Sam Smethers, CEO, Fawcett Society

All members of the delegation are responsible for implementing and delivering Springboard Consultancy’s flagship training course, the Springboard Women’s Development Programme, which builds the confidence, skills and capabilities of women and marginalised communities in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), helping to grow women’s roles and influence in public life and society.

Through their work as Springboard trainers and business leaders, the delegates have been developing the full potential of women in the region – delivering better skills, inspiring confidence and empowering women to change their lives for the better.

To date, 13,000 women in the Middle East have been engaged through the partnership between the British Council and the Springboard Women’s Development Programme, empowering them to make a better life for themselves professionally and personally.

Delegates attending the Female Business Leader’s UK Study Tour, include:

• Nawal Mohammed K. Alotaibi (from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) is Training and Development Department Manager on the National Family Safety Program at Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of National Guard. Nawal is also Secretary General for Arab-SPCAN, an international child protection organisation, and she has provided training to over 300 women.
• Faten Haidar (from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) is an acclaimed life coach and Springboard Trainer in Women’s Development, Planning and Leadership.
• Hana Y. Al Syead (from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) is an experienced economist and Chair of the Steering Committee of the Olayan Women Network (OWN) and a director of Women for Sustainable Growth.
• Arib Ali Al Mandhari (from Oman) is an international relations specialist at the Oman Ministry of Education and was responsible for implementing the Springboard Women’s Development Programme at the Ministry.
• Zuweina Al Mamaary (from Oman) is Assistant Director for Projects at the British Council in Oman, working in Education, Society and Arts. Zuweina manages the Springboard Women’s Development Programme in Oman and has delivered the Programme to 3,350 women across the country.

The Springboard Consultancy Female Business Leaders UK Study Tour is part of the Consultancy’s partnership work with the British Council to help empower women and girls in the Middle East and North Africa. This builds on the British Council’s applied experience on the ground in Africa, The Middle East, Asia and Wider Europe over the past 20 years.

Karen Daly-Gherabi, Managing Director of The Springboard Consultancy, said: “The Springboard Consultancy is committed to working with the British Council to help continue driving women’s empowerment and making a real difference to people’s lives across the Middle East and North Africa.

“By encouraging women to take a holistic approach to self-assessment, and through identifying priorities and setting realistic yet stretching goals, we inspire women to achieve their full potential. With the support of the Springboard network women are able to develop stronger relationships and become the best they can be.’

“On behalf of the Springboard Consultancy I would like to extend a very warm welcome to the Female Business Leaders Middle East delegation and I look forward to leading and facilitating conversations with some of the UK’s most influential politicians, policy makers and women’s equality campaigners.”

David Knox, Director of Society for the British Council in the Middle East and North Africa, said: “The British Council initiated the Springboard programme to help women overcome some of the social, political and psychological barriers they face because of their gender.

“Our five visitors are figureheads for our project and role models for women in the region. We hope through the Springboard project they can use their experience in the UK and with the British Council to inspire other women to have the confidence to use their voice to define their own role in their societies.

“Improving the participation of women in political and social life leads to more stable, diverse and secure societies and makes a lasting difference to countries.”

By 2020, British Council programmes in culture, education and science will have made a difference to the lives of 75 million young people across the Middle East and North Africa.

The programmes are an example of how the British Council uses cultural engagement to support open, stable and inclusive societies in MENA, and how the Council works with women, young people and future leaders, helping them to contribute to, and benefit from, their societies.

About Springboard Consultancy

Springboard Consultancy is the UK's leading personal and work development company.

The Consultancy’s flagship programme, the Springboard Women's Development Programme builds the confidence and capability of women and marginalised communities in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), helping to grow women’s roles and influence in public life and society.

To date, 13,000 women have been engaged through the Springboard Women’s Development Programme, empowering them to make a better life for themselves professionally and personally.

The Springboard Consultancy is part of the Instructus Group.
Instructus is the UK’s largest provider, registration and certification authority for apprenticeships and worked based education. With an established background as not-for- profit education providers in national occupational, standards based, apprentice framework qualifications, the organisation covers 30% of all occupational groups across the country and is committed to future proofing both UK businesses and their workforces.
www.springboardconsultancy.com

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This release was published on openPR.