Female Voices & the Qatari Economy

Sheikha Alanoud bint Hamad Al-Thani was appointed Managing Director of business development of the QFC Authority in 2017. Previously, she was associate director of economic affairs for the MENA region and vice president of strategic alliances. Prior to joining QFC, Alanoud served as the Qatar Country Director for Silatech. She has also held other positions working with various UN agencies and international organizations. Alanoud has been a board member of a number of organizations, including vice chair for the Bedaya Centre for Entrepreneurship and Career Guidance, Tomouh, How Women Work, and others. She is a proud recipient of honors and awards including Young Arab Achiever in 2011 and His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani Education Excellence Awards in 2008 and 2012. She earned a BSc (joint honors) in economics with government from the London School of Economics and Political Science and an MSc in economics for development from Oxford.

Aisha Hussein Alfardan is a prominent Qatari businesswoman, Vice chairwoman of the Qatari Businesswomen Association, and head of the Qatar Hub and Board Member of the Middle East and North Africa Businesswoman's Network. In 2006 Alfardan was ranked 24th on the Forbes list of the 50 Top Businesswomen in the Arab Word, which recognized her success, prominence and ambition in the business world. She is the daughter of the renowned Qatari businessman, Hussein Alfardan—Chairman of Alfardan Group of Companies, and is following her father's footsteps as she has become one of the prominent businesswomen in the Middle East. Aisha graduated from Qatar University in 1993, with a degree in English literature. She began her career in the Commercial Bank of Qatar where she worked for over nine years, during which she climbed the business ladder to become the Ladies Branch Manager. In 2003, she joined Alfardan Group, to assist her father and brothers in running the family business; Aisha Hussein Alfardan claims her favorite part about working at Alfardan is “the challenge of continuing to build the legacy that her family has worked so hard to build".

Machaille Hassan Al-Naimi is the President of Community Development at Qatar Foundation. She began her career as an attorney at Patton Boggs, a US law firm where she advised both local and international clients. She later joined ExxonMobil Qatar Inc. as legal counsel, supporting Qatar Petroleum joint-venture projects. She also has experience working with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Se holds a master's in international business management from the University of Surrey and a master's in international business economic law from Georgetown University.

Dr. Muna Al Maslamani is the Medical Director at the Communicable Disease Center and the appointed Medical Director of All COVID-19 Cases in the State of Qatar. She is also a senior consultant in transplant infectious diseases and the assistant head of infectious diseases division–medicine department at Hamad Medical Corporation, Qatar, alongside many other prestigious roles. In addition to her clinical responsibilities, she also holds several administrative and academic positions in and outside HMC, namely Vice Chairperson for Quality and Patient Safety–Medicine, Fellowship Program Director for Infectious Disease, Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine in Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar (WCM-Q), and Clinical Associate Professor of Internal Medicine & Infectious Diseases in the Department of Clinical Academic Education, College of Medicine at Qatar University.

As Country Manager for Microsoft Qatar, Lana Khalaf spearheads the company's efforts in supporting the country in its pursuit of the National Vision 2030, in line with Microsoft's mission to empower every individual and organization to achieve more. Khalaf started her career with Microsoft in 2006 by taking responsibility for empowering students and teachers across the Gulf region to achieve more through technology. Prior to joining Microsoft, she held positions in organizations such as Samsung and Active Mania with involvement in areas such automation of business processes as well-connected solutions for Smart Cities. She has an MBA with a focus on leadership from the Lebanese American University, and majors in computer science from the American University of Beirut.

Fatma Al Nuaimi is the Communications Executive Director at the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC). Al Nuaimi has been leading the department since January 2017, having first joined the organization in 2013. She leads her team to communicate and engage with all local, regional, and global stakeholders, effectively promoting the SC, the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™️, and the State of Qatar. In September of 2021, she was named in the list of Leaders Under 40 Class of 2021 by the Leaders Sports Awards. She is an alumnus of the Global Shapers Community at the World Economic Forum, where she advises the Doha Hub, among other responsibilities. She holds an MBA from Qatar University and is an alumnus of the Qatar Leadership Centre.

Nataly Almanza Madrid is an International Business Professional who has been the Country Director for The Business Year in Qatar for more than two years. She has successfully managed projects in Colombia, Mexico, Costa Rica, and Ecuador. For the last 10 years, she has gained wide international experience working in America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.

Ioana Krempanszky Popa is The Regional Director for Middle East for The Business Year, where she has been working for the past 6 years. She has successfully created partnerships with the worlds' largest entities in highly competitive markets, and lead teams to complete successful projects in several countries, such as the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Jamaica, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Nigeria. She graduated from the University of Vienna, Austria, with a Master's Degree in Cognitive Science, majoring in Behavioural Economics.