We celebrated some of the empowering and strong business women in the GCC, North Africa and the Levant. And now it is time to move on and celebrate some of the global business women who are also transforming the business world as we know it!
Here is a list of 6 powerful and outstanding business women from all around the world:
1. Raja Easa Al Gurg - UAE
As Managing Director of Easa Saleh Al Gurg, Raja Easa Al Gurg, has served with the company for more than 30 years. Ranked as #1 in Forbes’ The Middle East’s Power Businesswomen 2021, Al Gurg advocates for gender equality and is the president of the Dubai Business Women Council. Not only does she support gender equality, but Raja Al Gurg has announced that EasA Saleh Al Gurg Group and its foundations donated $3.5M to help UAE tackle the challenges that the COVID-19 brought upon the entire world.
2. Queen Rania Al Abdullah - Jordan
Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan is one of the most inspiring and empowering women not just in the region but also worldwide. She is a great believer in the power of education and that every child should have access to it. In her efforts to contribute and develop the education system in Jordan, Queen Rania founded The Queen Rania Foundation for Education and Development (QRF), through which several initiatives were launched. Her majesty is also UNICEF’s first Eminent Advocate for Children. Not only does Queen Rania support education, but she also advocates for the rights and needs of refugees. She participated in several global refugee events as well as visited refugee camps in Jordan, Greece and Bangladesh.
3. Jacinda Ardern - New Zealand
The youngest female leader in the world as well as New Zealand’s youngest Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern is the true definition of an empowering woman. After successfully leading her country through the COVID-19 pandemic with less than 30 deaths, Jacinda Ardern was able to get the trust of her people and she was elected for a second term in October 2020. A great believer of empathy and kindness, Jacinda has great plans to help tackle climate change and child poverty.
4. Saadia Zahidi - Pakistan
Saadia Zahidi is the Managing Director at the World Economic Forum, and aims to create gender equality, bridge skills gaps and prepare for the future of work. Saadia is also an author of Fifty Million Rising which sheds light on the rise of working muslim women in the world. Saadia Zahidi also believes in the need for a reskilling revolution to cope with the changes that the pandemic and technology introduced.
5. Diana Trujillo - Colombia
The story of Diana Trujillo is one of pure perseverance and courage. She went from cleaning houses to get through college to becoming an aerospace engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab. Diana Trujillo was the flight director on the NASA Perseverance mission to land on Mars, and she also worked on designing the robotic arm that will be used to collect rock samples from the Red Plant.
6. Melinda Gates - US
As the most powerful woman in philanthropy, Melinda Gates is the co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Foundation, the largest private foundation worldwide. Melinda Gates also founded Pivotal Ventures in order to support social progression and close the funding gap for female founders, says Forbes.
