April 2018 www.womanthismonth.com PEOPLE | interview 32 How did the idea for the summit come about and why do you feel it is the right time to launch the Women Power Summit in Bahrain? A couple of years ago, I picked up a book called Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg. This book changed my perspective on so many issues and gave me more insight into women’s roles in leadership. It made me notice that the higher you move up the ladder, the more you notice there are fewer women handling senior or C-level roles within an organisation. I started reading qualitative and quantitative research on how women can gain more leadership roles in the workplace, the importance of the impact of this on our society and how a domino effect can be created to include more women in leadership roles. Later, I started investigating and reading reports on the gender gap and I realised that this is a global issue. What interested me more was that these reports mentioned Bahrain ranked quite low in terms of the gender equality gap. So, even by just looking at the map and data, it is very easy to identify and conclude that there are just not enough women in those decision-making roles. I began to ask myself why this is happening while the rest of the world is moving towards a 50-50 quota by 2020, to include 50 per cent female representation across the management board. It’s time that we also become part of that conversation and figure out how to get more women into leadership roles. Of course, you can work with organisations to achieve that, but it’s also imperative to work with women to empower them and prepare them to take on these roles. How long has it taken to organise Women Power Summit? I have been taking mental notes about the summit for a couple of years now, but we are currently six months into its planning stage. We have a task force of 26 committed, diligent and empowered members handling different elements of the summit. Which speaker are you most excited about? And why? At the Women Power Summit, we currently have 95 speakers, moderators and participants lined up who are all very exciting! However, my notable picks are Najla Alshirawi, the CEO of SICO, as well as Noha Nabil, the media influencer, and many other more women who are travelling from all over the world to share their experiences in terms of gender diversity and gender inclusivity. Do you plan on making the Women Power Summit an annual event? Absolutely. Women Power Summit will definitely be an annual occurrence because I am very sure of its powerful impact and influence, and I want that to continue for years to come until we see development and results of our summit’s vision. Currently, the summit is powered by 'Imtiaz for Her' Bahrain’s first female credit financing and credit card which is a product of Bahrain Credit. And we already have sponsors lined up for the next three years. We also have an extensive list of strategic sponsors. Empowering for the Future Wafa Alobaidat, founder of Obai & Hill, explains what inspired her company to launch the Women Power Summit.
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