First Saudi Woman to Head a Bank. Chairman, Saudi British Bank – Lubna Olayan : June 2019

Lubna Suliman Olayan (aka) Lubna Olayan . Business Woman. Business Executive. Philanthropist.

Breaking the Glass ceiling :

Firsts:

  1. The Saudi British Bank (SABB ) and Alawwal (First) Bank have appointed Lubna Olyan as the Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of the merged banks, to become the first Saudi woman to hold this position.
  2. First woman in Saudi history to deliver an opening keynote at a major conference in Saudi Arabia – Jeddah Economic Forum (Jan 2004)

-Chairman – Saudi British Bank and Alawwal Bank – merger / Former CEO – Olayan Financing Company

-On the Board of several Saudi Arabian and International Companies etc…

Awards/Honours :

-One of the Top 100 most influential people of 2005 – Time magazine / Forbes list of Most Powerful Women

-Awarded Cornell Entrepreneur of the Year (2010) etc…

Education :

-MBA : Business Management, Kelly’s School of Business, University of Indiana, USA / Bachelor’s Degree in Agriculture : Cornell University, USA

pix: weforum.org

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Saudi Arabia

Lamia Tazi – CEO – Sothema, Morocco : Jan 2020

Lamia Tazi appointed as the new CEO of the Moroccan pharmaceutical company Sothema.

Other positions:

-Vice President – Moroccan Association of Pharmaceutical Industry (AMIP) / Member of Executive Board – Moroccan Association of Exporters (ASMEX) / Member of Board of Directors – National Agency for Evaluation and Quality Assurance in Higher Education and Scientific Research (ANEAQ)

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pix: biznisafrica.com

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Morocco

LYOUM – Tunisian Fashion Brand – Founders Claire & Sofiane Ben Chaabane : 2011

Founded by the French and Tunisian couple Claire and Sofiane Ben Chaabane. 100% Made in Tunisia. Both for the Tunisian market and International exports.

Ready to wear Mediterranean apparel mixing Arabic and European influences with a touch of Parisian chic.

Two boutiques established in Tunisia – La Marsa and Tunis El Menzah. Plus ‘pop up’ boutiques in Paris and London.

A quarterly magazine launched titled ‘Holma’ covering the Tunisian-Mediterranean lifestyles flavouring the Lyoum brand.

www.lyoum.fr

pix : zeineb Fellah / businessnews.com.tn

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French / Tunisian

Moroccan Bouchra Hajij – Represents Africa on Olympic Committee : 2020

The Association of African National Olympic Olympic Committee (ANOCA) appointed Bouchra Hajij- Moroccan Volleyball Champ to serve as a member of the Olympic Parity Committee, representing the African continent.

Re-elected as a member of the International Olympic Committee on Culture and Sports Olympic Heritage. Additionally Chairs the Committee on Development of Womens Sports in the Arab world.

Hajij is currently serving her second term as President of Royal Moroccan Volleyball Federation.

-First Female President of Royal Moroccan Volley Federation

-First African Woman elected as Board Administration Member of International Federation of Volleyball (October 2016)

twitter.com

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Morocco

Dr Wafaa El-Sadr – Epidemiologist – Global Health Visionary – Director, ICAP , Columbia University, USA.

Dr Wafaa El-Sadr MD, MPH, MPA .

Founder and Director of ICAP at Columbia University. Director – Center for Infectious Disease Epidemiologic Research ‘CIDER’ at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and Professor at Columbia University.

Dr. El-Sadr joined the faculty of Columbia’s College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1988 and become a professor of epidemiology and medicine at the Mailman School of Public Health, of which she is an alumna.

In 2013, she was appointed University Professor, Columbia’s highest academic honor.

She also holds the Dr. Mathilde Krim-amfAR Chair in Global Health, and is the director of the Global Health Initiative at the Mailman School.

Awards & Honours :

-Dr Wafaa El-Sadr received the MacArthur Prize from the MacArthur Foundation (2008)

Rolling Stone magazine named her to its list of “100 People Who Are Changing America” .(2009)

-Named as one of the ” 10: Guiding Science for Humanity” of “Scientific American” (2008)

-Member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Medicine .  

– “Utne Reader” named Wafaa El-Sadr, one of the “50 visionaries who are changing your world. ” (2009)

 
(Photo source: Hugh Siegel – © ICAP at Columbia University)

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American / Egyptian-American

First Saudi Woman To Race Cars in the Kingdom – Reema Juffali : November 2019

Reema Juffali (aka) Reema Al Juffali (or) Reema Al-Juffali.

Saudi Arabia’s first female professional to race cars in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Juffali made her official debut in October 2018. Competed in the F4 championship (UK), MRF Championship (India) and Yas Marina Circuit.

She is one of 3 women in the GCC with professional racing licences.

source: wikipedia.com

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Saudi Arabia

First Somali-American Educator -Qorsho Hassan Wins ‘Minnesota Teacher of the Year Award’ : 2020

Qorsho Hassan is the First Somali-American educator to win the honour of ‘Minnesota Teacher of the Year Award’ 2020.

The award is sponsored by ‘Education Minnesota’ the state’s largest educator union.

Qorsho Hassan teaches 5th grade at the Gideon Pond Elementary School in Burnsville. She was selected out of 134 nominees.

Qorsho Hassan, Minnesota’s 2020 Teacher of the Year, holds her makeshift award in front of the state Capitol Thursday night. The frame will be replaced with an engraved plaque. Credit: Jaida Grey Eagle | Sahan Journal

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American / Somali-American

Record Holder- Most ‘Hotstepper’ Areej Al Hammadi – Emirati Female Footballer : July 2020

Areej Al Hammadi was awarded the Guinness World Record for the most ‘hotstepper’ football control tricks (86) completed in one minute, breaking the previous world record of 56 held in the UK.

Areej Al Hammadi is a footballer and a member of the UAE National Team since 2015.

She is also the Creative Project Manager at Expo 2020 Dubai.

pix : dubaiprnetwork.com

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Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE)

Winners of ‘Short Film Production Grant’ – Sharjah Art Foundation – UAE : July 2020

Sharjah Art Foundation announces winners of Short Film Production Grant.

Filmmakers Nadira Amrani (b. 1993, Manchester, UK), Soha Shukayr (b. 1989, Baljarshi, Saudi Arabia) and Pelin Tan and Anton Vidokle (b. 1974, Hilden, Germany; b. 1965, Moscow, Russia) have been awarded a total of US$ 30,000 to support the creation of the three original short films.

The winning candidates were selected from a pool of more than 500 applicants from over 65 countries,

All three films will be shown at future editions of the Sharjah Film Platform.

Shukayr presenting her film at 3rd edition of Sharjah Film Platform, 4th to 21st November 2020, and Amrani and duo Tan and Vidokle presenting their films at the 2021 edition.

“Sharjah Film Platform was conceived to support filmmakers from all over the region and around the world ” said Hoor Al Qasimi, Director of Sharjah Art Foundation. “

pix: wam.ae

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Sharjah, United Arab Emirates (UAE)

World Record for ‘Spinning 200 Hula Hoops Simultaneously ‘ – Marawa Ibrahim – Somali Australian

Marawa Ibrahim (aka) Marawa The Amazing, has the World record for performing ‘200 Hoops at one time’. Acrobat. Author. Teacher.

She also holds another 12 records. Austraclian champion of records.

Author of the book ‘The Girl Guide’ – helping to empower young women to live changing their bodies.

www.marawatheamazing.com

source: marawantheamazing.com

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Australian. Somali-Australian