Panel Discussion : Leading The Change: Challenges & Opportunities
Fazeela Gopalani
Fazeela Gopalani
A resident of the UAE for more than 15 years, Fazeela has worked with governments and regional accountancy bodies, to drive forward the advancement of the profession across the Middle East. She is an FCCA member with more than two decades of experience in accounting and finance and holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Birmingham and an MBA from the University of Strathclyde. Before moving to the UAE, Fazeela owned and ran an accounting practice in the UK. Fazeela is committed to developing the global accountancy profession and passionately advocates the benefits it brings to both individuals and society as a whole.
Mareva Koulamallah
Mareva Koulamallah
Nadine Chammas
Nadine Chammas
Sherifa Hady
Sherifa Hady
Sherifa brought a wealth of sales, marketing and category experience with her to Aruba having previously held a number of senior positions including one year as Interim Managing Director for HPE in South Africa before accepting the position as Aruba Channel Sales Director for EMEA.
Her 22 year career in HP have included numerous Director and Management positions ranging from distribution director and management roles in the MEMA and CEEMA Regions.
Born in the UK , Sherifa has lived in Dubai for the past 26 years where her career has taken her from strength to strength within the IT industry. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering and Communications from Ain Shams University, Egypt and is married with two children.
Sherifa’ s achievements include the following awards:
- Top 25 2022 Break the ceiling Middle East Most Inspirational Women in Leadership , House of Rose Professional Pte. Ltd
- Star of the Year in Information Technology Award , Tahawultech Middle East 2022
- Women Leadership and Excellence in Technology Award, Arab Women Leadership Summit Middle East 2020
- 2 Channel Champion, Middle East & Africa by the Channel Reseller Middle East magazine 2018
- 1 Channel Champion, Middle East & Africa by the Channel Reseller Middle East magazine 2017
- Woman Executive of the Year’ Middle East Excellence Awards 2016
- ‘Best All Round Woman STEM Executive’ , Middle East & Africa Science Technology Engineering & Mathematics Conference 2015
- ‘IT Woman of the Year’ 5th Middle East Women Achievement awards 2006
- ‘IT Marketing Manager of the Year’ by ITP in 2005
Yara Milbes
Yara Milbes
Prior to joining CEQUENS, she started her career as a business development professional in the leading operator of integrated communications services Orange Jordan. She then continued to take on various leadership roles with global players such as GET Group Holdings, HID Global, and most recently Infobip as the Global Marketing Director.
Yara was featured on the cover of CNME magazine – MENA’s premier business tech publication. She is also a member of the Global CMO council and an active participant in executive roundtables organized by WomenTech Leaders Across MENA and the global executive knowledge hub, the Ortus Club.
Yara holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Information Technology from the University of Jordan, and a Master of Science in Management from Warwick Business School. She is also a fitness fanatic and tech enthusiast.
Panel Discussion : Conversations Around Diversity, Inclusion And Best Practices
Fatima Al Qubaisi
Harvard Law Graduate, Pro-bono lawyer
Fatima Al Qubaisi
Fatima is dually qualified in her home country, and has passed the New York Bar. Her professional experience includes progressing to the Senior Associate level at Abu Dhabi Investment Authority as the first and only Emirati female lawyer on the team, before expanding to a Legal Counsel at Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing. Currently, Fatima serves as a Legal Counsel at one of the biggest banks in the country.
Fatima has participated in prestigious programs such as Government Leadership Programme and the Futureneers program under the Ministry of Possibilities. The first was designed to equip people with the skills needed to become future leaders and the latter is a national platform that brings together young Emirati talents to design ideas and solutions aiming to ehnace the UAE’s readiness for the future.
Fatima’s biggest role model and mentor is H.H. Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, Mother of the Nation, who played a big role in Fatima’s childhood, and who was an active member of her high school, Sheikh Zayed Private Academy. Fatima often says, “Her Highness Mother of the Nation instilled the love of learning within me, and to top it off we share the same name.” Fatima is a lifelong learner – she speaks four languages, including English, French, German, and Arabic.
Fatima’s agility and adaptability made her a role model for people with diverse backgrounds and perspectives. With her acute sense of humor and sharp attention to detail, she uses her online platform and presence to aspire and create a more equal world.
Haidi Nossair
Haidi Nossair
She also engages with organizations to help them shape their workplace strategies to adapt to the world’s changing dynamics. As a member of the regional executive leadership team, she helps define business strategy and scalable programs for the region. She also serves as the regional lead for Dell Technologies’ Social Impact Vision 2030, with a focus on two pillars — Women in Technology and Sustainability — both of which aim to educate audiences on how technology can help drive a positive impact and societal progress.
Leila Serhan
VISA
Leila Serhan
Ms. Serhan most recently led Microsoft’s public sector business across the Gulf region, and previously served as General Manager for its operations across North Africa, East Mediterranean, and Pakistan. She previously held roles spanning country management, finance and marketing and has driven public and private sector digital transformation initiatives in finance, government and education.
Ms. Serhan is a strong advocate for women’s empowerment, founding and currently serving as President for the Women in IT Association in Lebanon.
Nigina Bender
Jabra
Nigina Bender
Currently, Mrs. Bender is serving as the Head of Sales MENA, EAST, EMEA region at Jabra GN in Dubai. In her current role, she has established a new distribution channel for the Middle East and Northeast Africa, resolved logistics and supplies issues, and stabilized the region. She leads Business Development, Sales and Marketing for the Region with a sales growth target of 127%. Despite environmental challenges, Mrs. Bender managed the Marketing and Sales Function through a 12 months turn-around period achieving 165% of business growth with her newly born baby on her hand in FY2020 and continued growth of 170% YoY. Additionally, she has established new strategic alliance relationships and business for the region.
Prior to her current role, Mrs. Bender was the Enterprise Marketing Manager META, SOUTH, EMEA region at Jabra GN in Dubai. In this role, she worked closely with sales stakeholders, increased channel sales by 55%, and expanded new business opportunities by 15% through persuasive marketing strategies & activities. She planned and executed 5 new product launches and 3 MEA & Turkey partner conferences overseas with her first-born twin boys who are her inspiration for new creative ideas.
High points of last year for her region was the opening “Worlds First Hybrid Work Experience Center” in Dubai Design District where Office Furniture Brand BENE comes together with leading technology brands like Microsoft, Jabra, Lenovo Jupiter to offer one complete solution for Hybrid working. This led to the opening of same Hybrid Working Experience Centres across EMEA.
Before joining Jabra GN, Mrs. Bender served as the Head of Global Business Development at Smart Homes LLC in Tajikistan/Dubai. She founded an online, retail and wholesale shop, managed product distribution through the start-up period, and grew the business to 500 K AED revenue annually. She acquired vendors and products for distribution and strategized and planned the sales process, forecasting, pricing, key account management, expenses, profitability, market research, marketing/brand strategy.
Mrs. Bender has also worked as a Regional Business Development Manager in Turkey, Russia, Ukraine, CIS countries, and Iran for EnGenius Networks/SENAO in Taiwan/Dubai. She was the biggest sales producer in UAE office and delivered 15% to 20% growth YoY. She identified and qualified long-term and short-term business opportunities within named accounts, developed, implemented, and executed strategic sales plans for assigned territories.
Mrs. Bender has two bachelor’s degrees: International Relations and Business Administration. She has also completed the Leading GN Way 6-month Leadership course and obtained GTDC (Global Technology Distribution Council) Accreditation.
In addition to her professional experience, Mrs. Bender has also volunteered her time to support cancer children and Children’s Cardiology center. She received a Certificate Of Appreciation from Médecins Sans Frontières, Dubai, UAE. She also is a Board member in couple of Tech companies as well as served as the Chairperson of the Board for the Living Legends Community and worked with Counterpart International and the United Nations Development Program in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.
Sheeba Hasnain
Sheeba Hasnain
She also engages with organizations to help them shape their workplace strategies to adapt to the world’s changing dynamics. As a member of the regional executive leadership team, she helps define business strategy and scalable programs for the region. She also serves as the regional lead for Dell Technologies’ Social Impact Vision 2030, with a focus on two pillars — Women in Technology and Sustainability — both of which aim to educate audiences on how technology can help drive a positive impact and societal progress.
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