Meet UAE’s Most Influential Women

Sheikha Lubna

Sheikha Lubna is the first woman to hold a ministerial post in the United Arab Emirates. One of the most iconic figures of the country, Lubna served as the Minister of State for Tolerance, Minister of State for International Cooperation, and Minister of Economic and Planning of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Impressed by her hard work and determination, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum awarded her the “Distinguished Government Employee Award” in 1999 and appointed her as Chief Executive of Tejari. It was under Lubna’s leadership that Tejari won awards for the World Summit for Information Society’s “Best e-Content Provider in e-business” (Geneva) and the UAE Super Brands Council “Super Brand of 2003”.

Fatima Al Jaber

Fatima Obaid Al Jaber holds the distinction of being the first Emirati woman to be elected to the board of directors at the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce in 2009. She currently serves as the chief operating officer of the United Arab Emirates-based Al Jaber Group.
The country she resides in might be conservative, but not her thoughts. She is of the notion that success is dependent on skills, preparation, and ambition, and not gender. An influential businesswoman, Al Jaber has been instrumental in overseeing the construction of some of the most iconic projects in the UAE.

Mariam Al-Mansouri

“A woman’s passion about something will lead her to achieving what she aspires, and that’s why she should pursue her interests.”
These are the words by Mariam Al-Mansouri, the first female fighter pilot in UAE. Mariam, who has led UAE mission airstrikes against ISIS over Syria, is a true inspiration for women across the globe.
Mariam Al-Mansouri is quite popular across the country, which is evident from her large social media following. Her courage and determination have helped her earn the titles “Lady Liberty” and “ISIS’s nightmare.” She was honoured with the Mohammed bin Rashid Pride of the Emirates medal for excellence in her field.

Reem Al-Hashimi

Expo 2020 is one of the most anticipated events in UAE and winning the bid to host the expo was not an easy task. It is the result of hard work and determination of many and one person who played a significant role in winning the bid was Al Hashimi. She is the Director general of the Expo, who also happens to be the UAE Minister of State for International Cooperation.
Reem Al-Hashimi is the chairperson of Dubai Cares, a children’s education charity established by HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum.

Nayla Al-Khaja

Nayla Al-Khaja is the first female film director/producer in the UAE. She made history at Cannes by being the first Emirati filmmaker, whose project got accepted by the festival’s Producers’ Network.
Filmmaking being one of the hardest areas to work in as a creative, Nayla Al-Khaja’s journey had never been easy. It was not all roses in the garden for Nyla; she had her shares of ups and downs but was eventually successful in building her own empire.
Nayla Al-Khaja was awarded the Best Emirati Filmmaker award at DIFF in 2006 and in 2017 she won the jury’s special prize for short fiction at the Italian Movie Awards.

Huda Kattan

Kattan is the person behind the billion-dollar beauty empire, Huda Beauty. A makeup artist, beauty blogger, and entrepreneur, Kattan is one among the “ten most powerful influencers in the world of beauty”.
Kattan rose to fame by doing makeup tutorials online and soon emerged as one of the biggest online beauty sensations. Kattan who is ranked #1 on the “2017 Influencer Instagram Rich List”, earns $18,000 per post of sponsored content.

Amal Al Qubaisi

Amal Al Qubaisi, the President of the Federal National Council, is the first female leader of a national assembly in the United Arab Emirates and the Arab world. Prior to her current role, Amal Al Qubaisi served as the chairwoman of the Abu Dhabi Education Council.
Amal Al Qubaisi is the senior most female politician in the Arab world who has been inspiring young women to cross barriers and conquer the world.

Amina Al Rustamani

Amina Al Rustamani is the former group CEO of TECOM Group, who started her career as an electrical engineer at the company. An influential and charismatic business leader, Al Rustamani was ranked number 9 in the CEO Middle East’s fifth annual list of the world’s most powerful Arab women, published in 2015. In the same year, she grabbed the title of Advertising Person of the Year by Dubai Lynx .
Al Rustamani took active participation in the development of Dubai Design District and Dubai Wholesale City.

Noura Al Kaabi

Al Kaabi is the minister of Culture and knowledge development for the UAE. She served as the minister of state for Federal National Council Affairs before she was assigned the current responsibility. She has also been the chairperson of twofour54 and Abu Dhabi Media Company.
Al Kaabi made it to the list of ‘Top 100 Global Thinkers’ by Foreign Policy Magazine, the first Emirati to have achieved the distinction.
She was honored with “Business Woman of the Year” title at the Gulf Business Awards and she also received the “Young Achiever Award” at the AmCham, Abu Dhabi’s Annual Excellence Awards.

Nahla Al Rostamani

Nahla is not your conventional type of woman who used to play with dolls when she was small. She was rather attracted towards racing cars and was successful in breaking through the glass ceilings and fulfilling her passion of becoming a racing driver. Al Rostamani is the first female Emirati F3 driver.
According to Nahla, “I had to stand tall and prove to society and to my culture that I am not doing anything wrong, I am just pursuing my dream and passion. As a result, I have gained respect, love and more loyal friends.”
She is a role model for other women to follow their dreams and to become their own boss.