Supporting the Female Leaders of Tomorrow: a Teacherly Event with GEMs First Point Dubai

Women are still underrepresented in business. Globally, women only make up 23% of business executives and less than 1/5 business executives are women in the UAE. Why is this a problem? Businesses drive the products and services available to us; they decide what gets marketed to us, how things are sold, who they are sold to, and even form part of our ideologies. Women and girls have an equal right to make decisions about the world we live in, and to shape the future through their leadership and creativity.

At Teacherly, our mission is to support educators worldwide: to empower students and help create a more equitable future through both our platform and our community. That’s why earlier this month we partnered with GEMs First Point School in Dubai to set up a panel discussion and mentorship programme for their students: to help guide the female leaders of tomorrow.

The Panelists

Our Panelists

Wendy Sfeir is the legal counsel for Shorooq Partners, a Venture Capital firm in the UAE. Wendy provides advice and support on investment transactions, fund formation, portfolio governance and all things legalese. She holds a degree in International Studies and has studied in London and Geneva, interned in Beirut with the UNHCR and worked at a top Montreal Law Firm.

Anusha Mahanti is co-founder of The Zola Collective, a company that brings sustainable African products to the world. She has a background in advertising, social enterprise and startups, and she is part of the ESG team at Endeavour.

Lena Chauhan is a social entrepreneur who builds services and products that result in positive social impacts. She is the founder & CEO of Rise IQ, which provides healthcare services for employees. She has over 20 years of experience in the financial industry and has founded several other businesses.

Paula Dosza is one of the co-founders and Lead Developer at imagiLabs: a startup that equips and empowers girls to shape the future with tech. Paula previously worked as a software engineer at Google and Goldman Sachs.

Karin Gabriel has 10+ years of experience developing and delivering programs focused on innovation and emerging tech for government, private sector professionals & entrepreneurs. She has lived and worked in Bangalore and Dubai, and recently moved to Austria to develop the ‘Future Thinking School’ at Ars Electronica.

What did we discuss?

The panel discussion consisted of five discussion questions that centered around the panelists’ experiences in the business world both as women and as business professionals. We discussed everything from how to mitigate self-doubt and foster confidence, to what investors look for in good founders. Read on for some of our most interesting and insightful points.

1. What is it like working in a male-dominated industry? What have you overcome and how did you succeed?

“This is one of your challenges: to gain the confidence to raise your voice, and say no, and say why.”

— Wendy Sfier

“I worked in investment banking as a trader for many years, and at the time I was the only woman on the floor. I was part of an all-male brokering team, and I had to develop this alter ego. I had to become another person — a tiger — in order to be heard. Now things have changed, thank goodness, but if we’re still having these conversations twenty years later, that tells me we still have a responsibility to change things.”

— Lena Chauhan

“Throughout my whole career I was almost always the only woman. It was a challenge, but the good thing about a challenge is that it allows you to grow. Did I cry in the office toilet? Yes, many times. For a long time I thought I was the only person who didn’t feel like I deserved to be there, but my friends in other fields were feeling the same way. Don’t be afraid to reach out to your friends, they will support you and cheer you on… The whole conversation about gender is also just a first step in terms of diversity and inclusion. You should always think of who you can extend your hand to.”

— Karin Gabriel

1. Can you tell us what was most valuable to you while you were starting your business? What was it like when you first started and how did you grow?

“The most valuable thing has been my co-founders. We’ve known each other for five years now, we met in university and since then we’ve had a shared passion for getting more women involved in STEM and tech. It was really important that we have this shared vision but also that we’re supportive of each other; we all know we’re still learning and growing and we give each other space to make mistakes. The people you surround yourself with matter the most.”

— Paula Dosza

(If you want to know more about imagiLabs and girls in STEM, check out our podcast with Paula.)

“I found everything incredibly overwhelming when I got started, but at the same time, I had nothing to lose so I didn’t feel bad asking really ridiculous questions. I always kept that mindset: I’m here to learn, I have nothing to lose. There were days when I wanted to pull my hair out or return to banking. I thought, this is insane, what am I doing? Who do I think I am? But I gained many mentors and I would reach out to them and to my friends who had their own businesses for support.

— Lena

“It’s really important when you’re founding a business to find someone who compliments your skill set. My co-founder and I both have different backgrounds and in the business our goals and tasks are split according to our strengths. My co-founder handles more of the operations, I handle more of the sales and outreach. It’s crucial to find someone who you like to work with, but also someone who can be objective when you are working with them.”

— Anusha Mahanti

1. What do you & your companies look for in a good business, founder, or project?

“Shorooq invests in startups, which means we invest at a very early stage; the business has an idea, a plan, some execution, a product, and some customers: but we’re mainly investing in the founder. We invest in the person. An idea is great, but execution is everything. What we’re looking for is strength and maturity. You need financial maturity, vision, and the ability to communicate your vision: not only with clients and investors but with employees who believe in your mission. We also look for coachability. As the founder you need to be willing to be coached by your investors, your clients, and your employees.”

— Wendy

“When I was working at Dubai Future Accelerators we usually had around eight hundred people who applied to be part of a cohort; in the end, around twenty to thirty-five would be selected. We had a very rigorous process for selection. The first part focused on their solution: is this something we’re looking for and is it new and innovative? But the final selection always came down to the team.”

— Karin

1. What was your best asset in your career and how did you cultivate it?

“Flexibility. When I started my first job, the role I was offered was different from the role I ended up in, which was telesales. I initially thought I would hate it because, like any other millennial, I hated speaking on the phone. But I gained the skills and the confidence to speak on the phone and to sell, which translated really well into selling for my own business down the line.”

— Anusha

“We work in demanding, high-performing environments. There’s this culture of complaining, and making sure we look really busy, and having this wall up. Breaking that wall is really powerful. Arriving at work with a good attitude and a smile, reminding people that there’s a world out there can make a huge difference. There are other things that you probably care about more than your job, and a good attitude is contagious.

— Wendy

“Do things that make you uncomfortable and push you out of your comfort zone. If you do that, in five years you’re going to smash it. You won’t see anything and think it’s insurmountable. Emotional intelligence is also a powerful tool, so you should use it, even in the business world.”

— Lena

1. How important was your education?

“What you really learn at university is analytical skills, critical thinking, the ability to live by yourself and manage your time. These are soft skills that are much easier to learn if you’re studying something you love and something you’re interested in. If you’re not sure what you want to do, study whatever you love and you will still have the opportunity to specialize in your masters. People in consulting or startups are very open to working with people who have a range of degrees.”

— Anusha

“If I were to hire someone, I would be much more interested in their practical experiences rather than simply their schooling. If one person has straight A’s but no practical experience, and another person has a range of different grades but did a part time job, volunteered, or was part of a project, then I would be more inclined to hire the second person. Also… education never ends. I’m sorry to say it, but after you graduate, you will keep learning for your whole life.”

— Karin

“No matter the pressure people put on you to have a five year plan, I’m sure none of us thought we’d be working from home in half pj’s half formal wear this year, so chances are things will not turn out the way you expected, so it’s okay not to have a five year plan.”

— Anusha

We followed this discussion with a Q&A. If you’re interested in watching the entire conversation including answers to questions such as: how do you motivate yourself? How do you choose a career when you’re interested in many different things? How do I gain work experience in a relevant field? Feel free to check out the entire webinar on our Youtube channel.

The mentorship programme

In addition to the panel discussion, the panelists have also agreed to join a group of mentors who will be working with the girls at GEMs First Point School in Dubai. The mentors will be giving the students advice, tricks of the trade, and coaching on what they should do in the future and how to start their careers.

In addition to the panelists mentioned above, the mentors will also include:

Joanne White is the Head of Global Marketing at Teacherly and has grown brands across private, public, charity and agency sectors. She was one of only five graduates selected as part of Ford Motor Company’s graduate trainee program, worked for Save the Children fund-raising, as well as the Ministry of Justice in the UK in the legal aid department. Jo has also worked for Frog Education, Gecko Direct and Capsule CRM.

Ashna Mahanti is Teacherly’s Education Outreach Manager. Now based in the UAE, Ashna graduated from the University of Brighton with a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Education. Her work experience within the education industry ranges from research in alternative education settings in the UK, working as an Educational Consultant in an EdTech based in Dubai, and Content Creator for a nature focused EdTech. Ashna has experience both as a copy writer and sales manager in the fast-paced startup world.

Zoe Jane Patterson is Teacherly’s Community Manager and the co-founder and Editor in Chief of Postscript Magazine: a global independent magazine based in the UAE. Zoe graduated with honors from New York University Abu Dhabi, which she attended on a full academic scholarship. Zoe has experience in the publishing and arts industries: she has worked as a docent for NYUAD art gallery, a sales intern at Ugly Duckling press in New York, and she’s a fiction writer and poet with work published in multiple publications.

Malak Abdel-Ghaffar is a final year student at New York University Abu Dhabi studying Creative Writing and Public Policy. Malak has a range of professional experiences in fields such as public relations, marketing, and education. She is passionate about children’s literature and is the co-author of, “Where is Our Home,” a children’s book that was distributed to nearly 3000 refugee and underprivileged children in Jordan.

We look forward to building strong foundations for these students, and to expanding this network of female leaders to encourage collaboration and leadership. If you or your school would like to collaborate with Teacherly to organize a similar event, please contact us at zoe@teacherly.io