Arab International Women’s Forum appoints Dr Lamya Fawwaz to Board of Directors

• Lamya Fawwaz joins the Board of the Arab International Women’s Forum, creating considerable impact in 2024 and beyond, supporting women and young leaders across climate action, sustainability, and energy innovation.

Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 8 March 2024

The Board of the Arab International Women’s Forum is delighted to announce the appointment of Dr Lamya Fawwaz to the Board of the Arab International Women’s Forum.

Dr Lamya Fawwaz is the Executive Director of Brand and Strategic Initiatives at Masdar, director of the Zayed Sustainability Prize and program director of the UAE-led Women in Sustainability, Environment and Renewable Energy (WiSER) initiative, an institutional partner of AIWF since 2021.

On the appointment of Dr Fawwaz to the AIWF Board, HE Mona Al Moayyed, Chair of the AIWF Executive Committee, said: ‘We are delighted to welcome Dr Lamya Fawwaz to the Board of AIWF at such a pivotal time for AIWF. Dr Lamya is an exceptional woman leader and a true inspiration to women aspiring to STEM and sustainability leadership in the Arab world and globally. We are proud and honoured to have her on the Board and to be able to count on her support and expertise in helping to steer AIWF’s work in the coming years to support women and young leaders in climate action, sustainability and energy innovation.”

Dr Lamya Fawwaz, Executive Director for Brand & Strategic Initiatives, Masdar, Program Director of WiSER, said: “I look forward to building on WiSER’s impactful partnership with the Arab International Women’s Forum (AIWF) through this appointment to the Board of AIWF. Together, we are committed to amplifying women’s voices and fostering their leadership to drive climate action. Following the historic UAE Consensus reached at COP28, we must take forward the mandate for action, placing women and young leaders at the heart of progress on climate solutions. We will continue to champion the many women around the world who are entrepreneurs, innovating new technologies, and leading the global mission to tackle climate change.”

AIWF has worked closely with WiSER and Masdar – based in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates – since signing a Memorandum of Understanding on International Women’s Day 2021, collaborating on initiatives to champion women entrepreneurs in the green economy and more recently, on a highly successful conference held at the Royal Academy of Engineering in London held in May 2023 titled ‘On the Road to COP28: Women-led innovation in climate, sustainability and STEM’. The conference was co-chaired by AIWF President & Founder Haifa Al Kaylani OBE and Dr Fawwaz, and produced an impactful report and recommendations amplifying the COP28 agenda in the context of SDG5. A follow up AIWF x WiSER conference is planned to take place in London in June 2024, designed to explore strategies for taking forward the action agenda of the UAE Consensus placing women and young leaders at the heart of progress on climate and the SDGS in the MENA and globally.

Dr Fawwaz has been a long-time supporter of AIWF, which was founded by Haifa Al Kaylani in London in 2001 as a leading development organisation dedicated to the empowerment and inclusion of women and youth in the MENA and internationally. Dr Fawwaz is the fourth Emirati woman leader to serve on the Board of AIWF, following HE Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi (AIWF Founder Board member, former UAE Minister of State for Tolerance, Minister of State for International Cooperation, and former Minister of Economic and Planning); HE Dr Raja Al Gurg (Managing Director of Easa Saleh Al Gurg Group and Chair of the Dubai Business Women Council); and HE Dr Shaikha Al Maskari (Chair of Al Maskari Holding and Tricon Group).

In 2024 and beyond, AIWF remains committed to scaling up its global advocacy on climate, sustainability and STEM, bringing women leaders from the UAE, the MENA and the UK ever more closely together in the process – and look forward to the full support of its exemplary and voluntary Board in achieving this aim.