The following is an article by one of 2130 Partners' Co-founders and Principals - Suzanne Frindt. Click here for Suzanne's biography.
"Women can play a pivotal role in spreading the culture of cooperation and peace."
-H.H. Sheika Fatima Bint Mubarak from her speech at the opening program of the MENA Businesswomen's Summit 2006, delivered by Dr. Rawda Al Mutawa, Chairperson Businesswomen Council of Abu Dhabi, U.A.E.
This article is first and foremost a tribute to participants of the three-day conference for 250 women entrepreneurs and executives from the Middle East and North Africa. I share my personal highlights from this experience because I found the event to be so profound. My intention is for people to become aware there are some bright lights shining amidst conflict in the Middle East.
After receiving an invitation to participate in conference leadership from Dr. Ray Smilor at the Beyster Institute, Rady School of Management at the University of California, San Diego, I quickly researched MEPI which is the U.S. State Department's initiative sponsoring the conference. When I saw the goals of the initiative are to promote education, empowerment of women and democracy, I realized immediately this was an event for me! Following is my personal diary from the Summit:
Oct. 30th - Day 1: A full day's schedule of consecutive, 20 minute, one-to-one coaching sessions with women from all over the region caused the day to fly by. Each one earnestly presented her business challenges and opportunities. The conversations were mainly about growing their businesses, the dilemmas of leadership, and motivating and compensating employees. At the end of the day, I was in such high spirits and so invigorated, I felt I could spend many more days doing just that!
Oct. 31st - Day 2: Coaching goes on stage! I was part of a panel who coached three women entrepreneurs from the region facing challenges with their business plans. This offered an exciting opportunity to introduce the value of coaching to the larger conference audience. The openness and courage of the presenters, combined with the coaching, created the opening for those in the audience to apply the learnings to their own situations. Many thanks to my co-panelists; Laura Kilcrease of Triton Ventures, www.tritonventures.com, and Pat Cloherty of Delta Private Equity Partners, www.deltacap.ru/eng/index.wbp as well as the three courageous entrepreneurs:
Randa Abdou, Egypt, Founder, Marketing Mix
Bouthayna Iraqui, Morocco, Founder, Locamed
Azza Al-Qubaisi, UAE, Founder, The Arabian Workshop for Jewelry and Gemstones
Nov. 1st - Day 3: The day for delivering my workshop, Vision-Focused LeadershipTM had finally arrived!! Simultaneous translation into French and Arabic made it possible for women from any country to participate.
At lunchtime about half of the women chose to stay and experience our listening exercise, which is designed to support raising and resolving issues productively.(Click here to see a photo of this amazing group.) I explained the need to partner and rapidly rearrange the seating to match common "first languages" so that each person could experience the nuances and impact of the exercise. I marveled at the instant and cooperative manner in which the women re-arranged themselves. Their commitment to learning and desire to create value for their conference partners was clear. Truly a cooperative process! Throughout the conference, I was awed by the participants' tremendous personal power, undaunted intention for success, and sheer tenacity. I was fully present to the possibility of a "culture of cooperation and peace" unleashed in the world through their pivotal roles. Thank you to everyone at the conference! Meeting you and having the privilege of contributing was definitely the highlight of my year! Have you had an experience of something positive starting either in the US or abroad that hasn't "made the papers yet?" Let's start an international businesswomen's conversation that is consistent with the spirit of mutual support I experienced so powerfully at the conference. Post your thoughts!
"Women can play a pivotal role in spreading the culture of cooperation and peace."
-H.H. Sheika Fatima Bint Mubarak from her speech at the opening program of the MENA Businesswomen's Summit 2006, delivered by Dr. Rawda Al Mutawa, Chairperson Businesswomen Council of Abu Dhabi, U.A.E.
This article is first and foremost a tribute to participants of the three-day conference for 250 women entrepreneurs and executives from the Middle East and North Africa. I share my personal highlights from this experience because I found the event to be so profound. My intention is for people to become aware there are some bright lights shining amidst conflict in the Middle East.
After receiving an invitation to participate in conference leadership from Dr. Ray Smilor at the Beyster Institute, Rady School of Management at the University of California, San Diego, I quickly researched MEPI which is the U.S. State Department's initiative sponsoring the conference. When I saw the goals of the initiative are to promote education, empowerment of women and democracy, I realized immediately this was an event for me! Following is my personal diary from the Summit:
Oct. 30th - Day 1: A full day's schedule of consecutive, 20 minute, one-to-one coaching sessions with women from all over the region caused the day to fly by. Each one earnestly presented her business challenges and opportunities. The conversations were mainly about growing their businesses, the dilemmas of leadership, and motivating and compensating employees. At the end of the day, I was in such high spirits and so invigorated, I felt I could spend many more days doing just that!
Oct. 31st - Day 2: Coaching goes on stage! I was part of a panel who coached three women entrepreneurs from the region facing challenges with their business plans. This offered an exciting opportunity to introduce the value of coaching to the larger conference audience. The openness and courage of the presenters, combined with the coaching, created the opening for those in the audience to apply the learnings to their own situations. Many thanks to my co-panelists; Laura Kilcrease of Triton Ventures, www.tritonventures.com, and Pat Cloherty of Delta Private Equity Partners, www.deltacap.ru/eng/index.wbp as well as the three courageous entrepreneurs:
Randa Abdou, Egypt, Founder, Marketing Mix
Bouthayna Iraqui, Morocco, Founder, Locamed
Azza Al-Qubaisi, UAE, Founder, The Arabian Workshop for Jewelry and Gemstones
Nov. 1st - Day 3: The day for delivering my workshop, Vision-Focused LeadershipTM had finally arrived!! Simultaneous translation into French and Arabic made it possible for women from any country to participate.
At lunchtime about half of the women chose to stay and experience our listening exercise, which is designed to support raising and resolving issues productively.(Click here to see a photo of this amazing group.) I explained the need to partner and rapidly rearrange the seating to match common "first languages" so that each person could experience the nuances and impact of the exercise. I marveled at the instant and cooperative manner in which the women re-arranged themselves. Their commitment to learning and desire to create value for their conference partners was clear. Truly a cooperative process! Throughout the conference, I was awed by the participants' tremendous personal power, undaunted intention for success, and sheer tenacity. I was fully present to the possibility of a "culture of cooperation and peace" unleashed in the world through their pivotal roles. Thank you to everyone at the conference! Meeting you and having the privilege of contributing was definitely the highlight of my year! Have you had an experience of something positive starting either in the US or abroad that hasn't "made the papers yet?" Let's start an international businesswomen's conversation that is consistent with the spirit of mutual support I experienced so powerfully at the conference. Post your thoughts!
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