Corporate Ambassadors Program

"Palestine Corporate Ambassadors Program - July 2008"

As part of the MENA Business Women Network’s ongoing program, a delegation of three American Corporate Ambassadors traveled to Ramallah on July 6th and 7th to share their experiences in business and advocacy issues with the Palestinian business community.

The event, “Global and Local trends in Business and Advocacy”, was organized by the Business Women Forum- Palestine, in partnership with Vital Voices and Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI). The event featured Deborah Coleman Parker (CEO, International Business Solutions Inc.), Stephenie Foster (Senior Vice President for Government Affairs, American Legacy Foundation) and Cynthia Traeger (Chairman, CEO and President, VSI Visual Synthesis Incorporated). 130 Palestinians from across the West Bank attended the event and were able to interact with the Corporate Ambassadors in a number of plenary sessions and workshops.

The event was launched with the opening remarks from Manal Zraiq (BWF Chairwoman), HE Dr. Kholoud Dabis, (Minister of Women Affairs), Jonathan Carpenter (US Consulate- Jerusalem), the Corporate Ambassadors and Emily Hutchinson (Vital Voices). The speaker all emphasized the importance of businesswomen’s participation in the economy and they important role they play in societal change.

The opening session was then followed by the first workshop entitled “Achieving Sustainable Growth in a Challenging Business Environment”. Cynthia Traeger, Mazen Sinokrot (former minister of Planning and CEO, Sinokrot Global Group) and Ibrahim Barham (CEO, Safad Engineering & Electronics Ltd.) discussed their experiences in achieving sustainable growth Establishing strategic partnerships, crisis management and long term investments were a few of the tips given to the participants.

The final session of the day focused on “Successfully Managing Financial Risk”. Deborah Coleman and Hanna Sahhar, (General Manager, European Palestinian Credit Guarantee Fund) presented the possible financial risks that may arise especially in Palestine. Many questions were raised by the participants during this session, since financial risk is an important issue for the business community in Palestine.

The second day featured two plenary sessions and ended with a workshop on Advocacy. The first plenary focused on “Women’s Participation in the Economy-Economic, Political and Social Impacts”. The highlight of the plenary was a study done by Shuaa Murrar (CEO, Riyada Consulting and Training) in partnership with the BWF and the International Labor Organization (ILO) on women’s participation in the market and economy of the MENA region, the rate of education and the constraints women face.

The second plenary shifted the concentration from business related topics to advocacy, a subject of importance in the region. Stephenie Foster and Amal Jadou (Director General, International Relations Department, Office of the President) discussed the basis and methodology of advocacy, and explained its significance to businesses. The plenary was followed by an advocacy workshop that concentrated on the advocacy topics the BWF hopes to pursue. The BWF used this opportunity to publicly announce their advocacy issues, and with the help of both Stephenie Foster, Lubnah Katbeh (Founder and Partner, Equity Legal Group) and the participants a plan and methodology was drawn up to tackle these issues and bring about change to further empower the business women in Palestine.

The Event ended with brief Business-to-business meetings between the Corporate Ambassadors and Palestinian business owners, giving the opportunity for a personal and in depth exchange of experiences and tips.

The Symposium was extremely successful and provided the Palestinian business community an opportunity to meet and interact with prominent business women from the US. The experiences and knowledge shared amongst the speakers and participants generated interest in creating a follow up event to further connect local business owners with the Corporate Ambassadors for further interaction and discussion.

Global and Local trends in Business and Advocacy
Event Summary_ English
Event Summary_ Arabic
Event Summary_ French
Agenda_ English
Agenda_ Arabic
Advocacy Outline_ English
Advocacy Outline_ Arabic
Vital Voices Training Material_ English
Vital Voices Training Material_ Arabic
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