Areej Mohsin Darwish
Deputy Chairperson, Mohsin Haider Darwish
Catalyst of change
As the deputy chairperson in MHD, Areej has brought about operational and financial improvements at the MHD Group. She has spearheaded a series of innovations in the company’s operating model which have helped in driving top line revenue growth and bottom-line profits. In the luxury car segment of the automotive division, Areej implemented a customer-centric operating model and brand reinforcement strategies to sustain the division’s competitive edge. The restructured automotive operations have improved efficiency and customer satisfaction. Before entering the family business, Areej, a graduate form Sultan Qaboos University, started her career with Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) as an analyst programmer. During her tenure with PDO, she gained valuable exposure to various systems and processes. She served as the vice chairman, Areej Vegetable Oils & Derivatives during the year 2000-2001, was on the board of directors of Armour Insurance from 2005-2008, a member of the board of Capital Market Authority (CMA) from 2008. She is the recipient of a number of awards such as the winner of Forbes Most Influential Arab Women in 2013; winner of Forbes 200 Most Powerful Women in 2014 and winner of Al Mara Excellence Awards in 2014 under the category – entrepreneurship and innovation.”
Assilah Zaher Al Harthy
Founder and CEO, Group 6
Pioneering effort
Assilah Zaher Al Harthy is the founder and CEO of Group 6, the first private equity firm in Oman. Assilah who has over 20 years of experience at the senior corporate executive level is currently working hard to grow the company into a leading brand in the country. She was previously head of corporate affairs at Oman Oil Company; and as a board representative of the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry, she played a key role in the five-year planning process for the Omani government from 2001 to 2005. Assilah has received numerous accolades. She was the recipient of the Young Global Leaders award in 2005 at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. In October 1999, Assilah was appointed as a member of the Kennedy School’s Dean Council and ambassador for the school’s outreach efforts in Oman. She is a graduate of the Sultan Qaboos University and of the Owner/President Management (OPM) programme at Harvard Business School.
Badriya Al Siyabi
Corporate Social Responsibility Manager, Omran
Touching lives
An engineer with 13 years of experience in the banking sector, Badriya Al Siyabi now devotes her full-time attention to her passion –supporting people. Badriya had always wished for a job that would allow her to give back to the community and improve the welfare of others. Now, as the CSR manager for Oman Tourism Development Company – (Omran), Badriya spends each day ensuring that Omran’s work developing tourism infrastructure also positively touches the lives of local communities. For Badriya, the company’s guiding principles compliment her own personal ethos. Local development and community welfare are pillars of Omran’s operations and according to Badriya, “Omran’s work is so important because it generates many opportunities for Omanis, both in terms of employment and community development.” As part of her role, she travels across the country, establishing and supervising projects designed to build entrepreneurial and profitable skills of local community members. Prior to joining Omran, she established Nisa Sidab (Ladies of Sidab), an NGO based in the Wilayat of Muscat that aims to enable women to reach financial independence by equipping them with the necessary skills to find employment or run a viable micro-business. For Badriya, the founding of Nisa Sidab is one of her proudest achievements and inspired a number of CSR projects later established at Omran.
Barka Shahbal al Bakry
Life Honorary Member, Al Noor Association for the Blind
Philanthropist at heart
The list of civil societies that Barka is associated with reads like a directory. She has been involved with Omani Women Association; Association for the Welfare of Handicapped Children; Early Intervention Centre for Children with disabilities; Oman Food Bank and Al Noor Association for the Blind of which she is a founding member. Al Noor Association for the Blind is a dynamic philanthropic organisation actively involved in improving the lives of visually impaired Omanis. Says Barka, “As per the 2010 census, this country has 17,000 blind. Initially the blind were sent to schools in other neighbouring countries. In 2002 the first blind school was open in Oman. Al Noor developed and encouraged the education and placement of the blind in jobs. The development of IT and specifically of programmes for the blind, has opened new opportunities for the blind around the world. It is now possible for them to work in call centre, ticketing, data entry, teaching and many other areas. She is also the Oman representative of the International Association for Volunteer Effort (IAVE).
