As our women’s network, NOORA, turns one, we reflect on 9 things it did for members this year – including creating hundreds of new connections
Between the 40 industry leaders who visited and spoke, and the 286 attendees, the NOORA network facilitated some 1,670 connections in the past year.
Women who have a strong inner circle of other women are nearly three times more likely to be promoted than those without that support system (Kellogg School of Management, 2019).
As a new community for talented and ambitious corporate women, we think Aurora50 helps every career woman feel that she always belongs with NOORA.
Again and again, feedback from both our corporate partners and NOORA members is that public speaking is a key skill to be developed.
Aurora50 facilitated speaking opportunities for 19 NOORA members at our own NOORA events and also at partner events:
Another thing we added to NOORA along the way, as a bonus this year: we matched 16 members with appropriate executive-level mentors.
Each mentor-mentee pair meets at least twice, some monthly (based on individual agreements) during the six-month mentoring period, which began in March 2024. They focus on issues of their own choice – from leadership for a new manager to cultural diversity in the workplace
Khadija Arsanova, Sales and Service Manager at The Emirates Group and a NOORA member and mentee, says: “I highly recommend other members dive into the mentorship opportunities. Insights and guidance from experienced professionals can truly make a world of difference.”
And Mamatha Reddy, Senior Specialist – Data Engineer at EGA, also a NOORA member and mentee, adds: “One of the topics which really opened my eyes was the mentoring programme, [which] shapes individual growth and career progression. I have enrolled in this, hoping it will add extra support to my progression.”
NOORA is more than a networking community. We’re all about learning and development too.
Aurora50 invested 840 hours of our time in the workshops we put on to help NOORA members learn new skills over the year…
What Aurora40 felt that the Gulf was lacking was a corporate network that connected talented and ambitious women from different industries together, to share their learnings and experiences across sectors.
We’ve seen over 80 members join in the past year, from 14 companies and 11 corporate partners, of which five are our founding partners: Accenture; EGA (Emirates Global Aluminium); The Emirates Group; ENOC; and TAQA.
Our founding partners are members of the NOORA steering committee, which meets every other month to guide the future direction of the network.
Other corporate members include: ADDC (Abu Dhabi Distribution Company); CBI (Commercial Bank International); Clyde & Co; FAB (First Abu Dhabi Bank); Hadef & Partners; and M42.
In just one year, we have connected the aviation, banking and finance, energy, healthcare, legal, management and manufacturing industries, to share knowledge and best practices.
This we didn’t plan for when we launched, but NOORA members from two of our founding partners – The Emirates Group and EGA – suggested site visits for the whole cohort to their businesses in early 2024.
At Emirates headquarters, next to Dubai airport, NOORA members got a sneak peek of the cabin crew’s own mini-airport and check-in facilities, as well as the Emirates beauty hub, where crew go for health, wellness and beauty support on the ground – from fitness and nutrition to advice on coping with changing time zones and air pressures.
NOORA visitors were also bussed around EGA’s Al Taweelah refinery in Abu Dhabi, the biggest centre in the UAE for aluminium production, to see raw alumina turned into aluminium blocks, sheets and piles, with EGA’s female employees as guides.
The first cohort of NOORA members met up in September and November 2023, then in January, March, May and June 2024 in locations across Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
The highlight of the year had to be the NOORA iftar, held at the palace of HH Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Khalifa Al Nahyan and hosted by Aurora50’s co-founder, HH Sheikha Shamma bint Sultan bin Khalifa Al Nahyan in March.
Inspired by NOORA, one of our founding partners even launched a company-wide gender balance council this year.
In March, to celebrate International Women’s Day, The Emirates Group launched the Group’s own Gender Balance Council to represent all its women employees, create a knowledge-sharing platform and advance the cause of gender balance.
On the council’s agenda are mentorship programmes, professional development workshops, outreach and events that champion women in the workforce.
The NOORA network “was the inspiration” for the council, says its chair, Aseel Moosa, who is Manager of Enterprise Effectiveness for The Emirates Group.
“Having exposure to the founding partners and learning about their Women’s Networks and affinity groups allowed us to reflect on our own journey and bring something back that is bigger than our own personal development,” she says.
“This is just the beginning for us, and I look forward to learning from our partners as we continue on our diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) path.”
By the time women reach management, they’ve often missed out on building social capital with female peers. We hope that NOORA, in its first year, has helped corporate women in the GCC to lead with impact – confidently.
We think this comment from NOORA member Shruti Kapoor, Manager for IT Portfolio Delivery at The Emirates Group, really encapsulates what NOORA is about.
“At NOORA, I discovered like-minded individuals who are also mothers and sisters and daughters and highly accomplished women. It has been great to live, laugh and learn with them.”
And we loved to hear how empowered fellow NOORA member Fawzia Hashemi, Crew Performance Manager at The Emirates Group, has become.
“NOORA made me realise the power of networking, and gain confidence in myself,” she says.
Interested in joining NOORA or know someone perfect for our network?
Applicants must be:
It is important you provide details of your professional background, as we vet each application personally.
If your application is successful, you will receive an email from us within five working days. We look forward to welcoming you to the Aurora50 family.
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