DE&I IN THE UAE:
CONVERSATIONS

In our first conversation, we speak with Dr. Linda Smail, Associate Professor at Zayed University, who recently conducted a study about menopausal awareness among women in the UAE.

In our third conversation, we speak with Dr. Lavious Daniels, EdD, FHEA, Assistant Professor at Zayed University, who participated in the Brother to Brother Leadership Program that was aimed to benefit male students of color at University of Central Florida, Orlando, USA.

In our fifth conversation with talk to Dr. Neva H Alexander, the CEO of Nevalliance, a consultancy and training platform that specializes in empowering female business owners.

In our 8th Conversation in our Series DEI in the UAE, we spoke with Saira Sayed, a disability mentor herself and Director Opportunities at ImInclusive, a HR platform that connects People of Determination (PoD) to employment opportunities in the UAE and MENA Region, about the whether the DEI conversation in the UAE is inclusive of People of Determination.

In our 9th Conversation on DEI in the UAE we spoke to Coach and Consultant Natalia Bayurova, founder of Relightenment, a collective of trauma-sensitive practitioners. Natalia talks about her work with InnerMBA and using a trauma-sensitive approach in mindfulness and beyond, to address not only stress and burnout within the workplace but how this can have an impact on DE&I within an organization.

In our eleventh conversation on DEI we talked to Gilda Lasibori, a social entrepreneur and expert consultant in the area of DEI of rural communities in Papua New Guinea.

In our second conversation, we talked with Ms. Jawaher AlShammari from the Women Dubai Establishment (DWE) who participated in the YES! Mentorship Programme organized by Dubai Women Establishment and the Nordic Embassies in the UAE in order to support Emirati women’s professional capabilities and accelerate their career growth.

In our series of conversations our fourth session is with Anouchka Sooriamoorthy-Desvaux de Marigny, PhD, Philosophy Speaker inthechaosworld.com, in which we ask her about her engagement with business leaders and HR managers in the UAE and her impressions of DE&I implementation and impact in the UAE workplace.

Our sixth conversation is with Dr.Tilde Rosmer Assistant Professor at Zayed University who is also a mentor in the YES mentoring program.

The YES mentoring program (Young Emirati Women for Success), a collaborative initiative of Dubai Women Establishment and the Nordic embassies here in the UAE, offers mentorship for Emirati women to guide them through their employment experiences. Some of the key aims of the program are to promote gender equality, help develop employees’ professional skills and support work-life balance.

In our series of conversations on DEI in the UAE, in our seventh conversation we talked to Wemmy de Maaker, Director Mawaheb Art Studio and Community Cafe. Wemmy shares with us her personal journey of working with persons with special needs and especially about setting up Mawaheb a Non-Profit Organisation in Dubai, with the aim of engaging, providing purpose and post-school training opportunities to adults who are people of determination.

In our 10th Conversation on DEI in the UAE, we spoke with Dorte Hesselholt, a Danish lawyer, former business owner and C-suite executive.

Dorte is also the co-founder an informal women networking group based in Dubai, UAE - “Women Who Network”.

Dorte shared her views and vast experience of being a female leader in the professional world. The conversation looked at some key workplace policies and practices that support women participation in the workplace, while also highlighting some of the benefits that flow from nurturing such relationships in the world of work.