GCC

The 30% Club GCC is a regional volunteer effort of multi-sector leaders working together towards better representation of women on boards and in senior level positions.  We work in collaboration to accelerate pace of change and support the growth of a healthy pipeline of talented and capable women that are ready to serve in senior positions across various sectors.

We strongly believe that business-led change is the right way forward; and as such, we support women to realize their potential through mentorship, executive education, research, and we also advocate good governance to support women to serve on boards.

The 30% Club GCC chapter was established in 2015.

Please see the events section for further information on the Volunteer and Working Groups Meet & Greet taking place on 20th June 2017.

Closing the Gulf's gender gap - The Arabian Business article which includes contributions from a number of the 30% Club GCC members and outlines how GCC states fell behind in closing the gap between women and men last year, but governments are striving to re-tip the scales.

View from the Top - A research report from Deloitte in association with the 30% Club GCC Chapter, was released at the Arabian Business Women's Forum on 24th May 2016. 

For updates on the 30% Club GCC, please see the latest Newsletters for more information

- 30% Club GCC Newsletter June 2016

- 30% Club GCC Newsletter Autumn 2016

@30PerClub_GCC

Members

  • FOUNDING MEMBER 

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    HE Sheikha Hanadi Al Thani

    Chairwoman & Founder

    Amwal

  • FOUNDING MEMBER 

    HRH Maha bint Mishari bin Abdulaziz AlSaud

    Director

    Al Faisal University

  • FOUNDING MEMBER 

    HRH Sheikha Hessa Al Sabah

    Chairwoman

    Arab Businesswomen Council

  • FOUNDING MEMBER 

    HRH Sheikha Hind bint Salman AlKhalifa

    Director, Bahrain

    Chamber of Commerce & Ind.

  • FOUNDING MEMBER 

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    Sami Al Mufleh

    Founder & CEO

    Hills Group

  • FOUNDING MEMBER 

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    Omar Fahoum

    Chairman & CEO

    Deloitte & Touche (M.E.)

  • FOUNDING MEMBER 

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    Nabil Habayeb

    President & CEO

    GE Middle East

  • FOUNDING MEMBER 

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    Badr Jafar

    CEO of Crescent Enterprises

    & Founder of Pearl Initative

  • FOUNDING MEMBER 

    Lubna Qassim

    General Counsel, Member of UAE Gender Balance Council

    Emirates NBD

  • FOUNDING MEMBER 

    HE Maryam Al Suwaidi

    Deputy CEO

    Securities & Commodities Authority

  • FOUNDING MEMBER 

    Tarek Elmasry

    Managing Director

    McKinsey Middle East

  • FOUNDING MEMBER 

    Abdul Aziz Al-Sowailim

    Chairman

    Ernst & Young Middle East

  • FOUNDING MEMBER 

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    Aisha Al Kharusi

    Chief Marketing Office

    Alizz Islamic Bank, Oman

  • FOUNDING MEMBER 

    Lubna Al Kharusi

    Founder

    Dira Hotels

  • FOUNDING MEMBER 

    Manal Al Abdwani

    Chairperson of Board of Directors

    Muscat Electricity Distribution Company S.A.O.C.

  • FOUNDING MEMBER 

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    Wissam Moukahal

    Executive Chairman

    Macquarie Capital Middle East LLC

  • FOUNDING MEMBER 

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    Hoda Abou-Jamra

    Founding Partner

    TVM Capital Healthcare

  • FOUNDING MEMBER 

    Fathi Ben Grira

    CEO

    MenaCorp

  • FOUNDING MEMBER 

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    Mutlaq Al-Morished

    CEO

    Tasnee

  • FOUNDING MEMBER 

    Khaled Sifri

    CEO

    Emirates Investment Bank

  • FOUNDING MEMBER 

    Hussein Shobokshi

    Board Member

    Shobokshi Development & Trade

  • FOUNDING MEMBER 

    Fadi Ghandour

    Chairman & Managing Partner

    Wamda Capital

  • FOUNDING MEMBER 

    Nadim Najjar

    Managing Director

    Thomson Reuters, MEA

  • FOUNDING MEMBER 

    Talal Al-Zain

    CEO

    JisrCapital

  • FOUNDING MEMBER 

    Stefanos Thomatos

    Regional Head of Sales

    Bloomberg

  • FOUNDING MEMBER 

    Dr. Ashraf Gamaleldin

    CEO

    Hawkamah

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Steering Committee

The 30% Club is run by a Steering Committee that is made up of senior men and women who volunteer their time and skills.

  •  

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    Farah Foustok

    Founder

    Lazard

  •  

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    Jumana Abu-Hannoud

    Co-founder

    SOS Children's Villages International

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    Rana Ghandour Salhab

    Member

    Deloitte

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    Cynthia Corby

    Member

    Deloitte

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    Catherine Beckett

    Member

    Dentons

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    Sadaf Buchanan

    Member

    Dentons

  •  

    Jeehan Balfaqaih

    Member

    Brunswick

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    Heather Salmond

    Member

    Brunswick

  •  

    Dr. Nadia Qassim Bastaki

    Member

    Eithad Airways

  •  

    Fahmi Alghussein

    Member

    Amwal

  •  

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    Hana Al Syead

    Member

    W4SG

  •  

    Reada Al Sarayreh

    Member

    CH2M

  •  

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    Victoria Stead

    Member

    Heidrick & Struggles

  •  

    Nicoletta Papakyprianou

    Member

    Thomson Reuters

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    William Reichert

    Member

    K&L Gates

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Working groups

  • EDUCATION

    Main aims

    This group aims to help identify and develop a pipeline of professional women to increase female participation on GCC boards.

    A partnership with Hawkamah has been developed to encourage both men and women to attend their Director Development Programme. This programme lays the foundation for Board membership. The 30% Club GCC member firms have special places allocated to them.

    Work is ongoing to develop further links with Universities and Business Schools to support development of experienced and qualified women. The first to be developed is with LinKS@Wharton.

    Work is also being undertaken to encourage schools across the region to participate in team sport and debating.

    contact

    Please contact: farah.foustok@lazard.com

    Group leader

    Farah Fastouk

  • MENTORING

    Main aims

    Mentoring is a proven way of helping both men and women to develop, where ever they are in an organization and it is important for those aspiring to senior positions. This group has worked with Reach, a not-for-profit organization based in the Dubai International Finance Centre, dedicated to helping young professionals unlock their potential through structured mentoring. The 30% Club GCC and Reach are collaborating to provide a dedicated segment of support to those who aspire to become board members.  Mentors and mentees come from the 30% Club member firms

    contact

    Please contact: catherine.beckett@dentons.com

    Group leader

    Catherine Beckett

  • RESEARCH

    Main aims

    Understanding what is currently happening helps us understand the change that needs to be brought about to make a difference. This group aims to undertake work to help improve gender diversity across organisations.

    Together with Deloitte, the first piece of work to be undertaken was ‘A view from the top – What business executives really think about women leaders in the GCC’. There is more work to be done to disseminate the messages from this research.

    Scoping will soon start to undertake a ‘literature review’’ which will work to map all the efforts and organisations that are currently active across the region with the purpose of improving diversity at work.

    contact

    ​Please contact:

    rsalhab@deloitte.com & ccorby@deloitte.com

    Group leader

    Rana Salhab

  • MEDIA & EVENTS

    Main aims

    This group produces a quarterly newsletter and maintains a calendar of events taking place across the region. Through our Chairs and Steering Group Members they help get the 30% Club message out. They also organize the 30% Club annual event and control our branding and messaging. 

    contact

    ​Please contact: Raeda.AlSarayreh@ch2m.ae

    Raeda Al Sarayreh

  • INVESTORS

    Main aims

    This group has developed a set of actions that companies can take to improve female participation on boards. They aim to work with Chairs and Member Firms to encourage the top 20 listed firms in each country in the region to improve the presence of women on boards and in senior level positions..

    contact

    ​Please contact: H.Alsyead@olayangroup.com

    Group leader

    Hana Al Syead

  • SEARCH FIRMS

    Main aims

    This group aim to encourage broad support and advocacy from the executive search community in the wider GCC region to identify and engage with female and diverse candidates, and to help client organisations to increase diversity on boards and in senior level executive positions

    A code is being developed which will be owned by The Association of Executive Search and Leadership Consultants (AESC). A consultation period to see how the code works will be undertaken before it is put into practice.

    A database of ‘board ready’ women is also being developed and it is intended that this will be accessible via an app. 

    contact

    ​Please contact: vstead@heidrick.com

    Group leader

    Victoria Stead

Events

Previous

  • Bloomberg, Al Fattan Currency House, DIFC, Dubai

    The 30% Club GCC are organizing a "Volunteer and Working Groups Meet & Greet" session on June 20th, 2017 at Bloomberg premises, Al Fattan Currency House, DIFC from 16:00 - 18:00.  As we are growing in numbers this would be a great chance to bring everyone together under one roof and plan for the second half of the year, before we all break away for the summer. The primary objective of the meet up is to provide everyone with:

    • an opportunity to meet face to face 
    • understand the organizational structure of the 30% club 
    • review and re-align the objectives of the different working groups and 
    • allocate volunteers to the different working groups based on personal interest. 

    For those of you who have expressed their interest in volunteering and wish to attend the event please send an email to: bindu@mindfulme.me confirming your attendance, so that we facilitate the space accordingly. We hope you can make it and look forward to meeting you soon. 

  • The Capital Club, DIFC, Dubai

    Susan Gilchrist, Group Chief Executive of Brunswick, Invites you to the Women in Leadership Breakfast Event.

    An Introduction will also be provided by Farah Foustok, co-founder of the 30% Club GCC. 

     

    Please RSVP to gulfevents@brunswickgroup.com

  • Dubai

    30% Club GCC & Bloomberg invite you to join a conversation on business leaders driving change.

    Sunday, September 25th, 2016. 
    9:00 AM - 10:30 AM

    Bloomberg Dubai Office, DIFC, Al Fattan Currency House Level 10.

    Please RSVP to Catie Faison 30percent@bloomberg.net

    (Limited Spaces Available)

  • Four Seasons Hotel, Jumeirah Beach Dubai

    The GCC Chapter of The 30% Club Powers Arabian Business Forum on gender diversity


    Dubai, UAE- 24 May 2016: Business leaders across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries today took part in The 13th Arabian Business Forum, in association with the 30% Club GCC Chapter, a global business-led initiative committed to achieving better gender representation in senior leadership positions of organisations.

    Lubna Qassim, Executive Vice President, Group Company Secretary and group General Counsel of Emirates NBD and Founding Chair of the GCC Chapter of the 30% Club, opened the conference with a keynote speech on diversity and the 30% Club GCC Chapter.

    Ghassan Turqieh, Consulting Partner and human capital leader at Deloitte in the Middle East delivered a presentation entitled: ‘View from the top: What business executives really think about women leaders in the GCC’ in which he discussed the key findings of a GCC study conducted by Deloitte in collaboration with the 30% Club GCC.

    “We are honoured to be associated with this important event,” said Raeda AlSarayreh, Director of Corporate Affairs at CH2M MENAI and Steering Committee member of the 30% Club GCC. “We are continuously working together to support the efforts of GCC governments and companies to increase women’s participation in the workforce in the belief that gender balance on boards further contributes to improved board performance.”

    Other eminent speakers from the 30% Club GCC included Hoda Abou Jamra, Founding Partner, TVM Capital Healthcare Partners and Catherine Beckett, Partner, Dentons, among other to discuss an array of topics including  how to encourage greater female entrepreneurship in the Gulf.

    To learn more about the 30% Club GCC and how your firm can support this initiative, please contact: info@30percentclubGCC.org

    View from the Top - A GCC study conducted by Deloitte in association with the 30% Club GCC Chapter, was released at the Arabian Business Women's Forum on 24th May 2016. Please download the report here.

  • Armani Hotel, Burj Khalifa, Dubai

  • Dubai

  • Dubai

Contact

Farah Foustok: farah.foustok@lazard.com
Philippa Benfield: pb30clubgcc@zoho.com
Samantha King: Samantha.king@bnymellon.com
​Bindu Joseph: binduannjoseph@gmail.com