The National: It’s time for UAE women to take their seats in the boardroom

The world is experiencing a ‘Great Reset’, in which diversity will be our greatest strength, writes Aurora50 co-founder Sheikha Shamma bint Sultan bin Khalifa Al Nahyan in The National

While 2020 has been a year of many firsts, she says, including the launch of the Hope probe to Mars, it has also brought with it a unique set of hurdles that the world has never faced before.

The silver lining is that, in these difficult times, we are pushed to rethink and reimagine the world around us,” she writes in The National.

This Great Reset challenges us to “make new connections in order to create a shared future of prosperity, inclusion, and compassion”, she says – and it sees diversity as a source of strength.

“Diversity and inclusion help us build new-found resilience – of the human spirit, of our corporations, of our countries and of the global community of peoples in the post-Covid 19 world,” Sheikha Shamma writes.

As the UAE approaches its Golden Jubilee, she says, the UAE knows how to adapt to the times, with “tolerance, perseverance and the ability not only to adapt but also to leapfrog into the future”.

[Related: Read Sheikha Shamma’s thoughts in full in The National. | Read all of Sheikha Shamma’s opinion pieces for The National]

She also highlighted some areas for change:

• Organisations need to start building a pipeline of women in senior positions.
• A “conscious effort” to create environments that allow for professionals, both male and female, to network.
• Women dismiss their “inner critic” and gain the confidence to seize opportunities and apply for roles.
• Women “give recognition” to their own ambition, drive and hard work, as well as attributing their success to managers or leaders.
• Mentor talent via programmes such as Aurora50’s Manarat network for women on boards

“By empowering women on boards today, we can build resilient organisations that inspire the future female leaders of tomorrow,” she writes.