In our 25th anniversary year, the Arab International Women’s Forum (AIWF) is delighted to announce the appointment of two Board Members to the Board of AIWF: Dina Saleh, Special Envoy for the Middle East for the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), a specialized UN agency and international financial institution headquartered in Rome; and Nilüfer Günhan, senior executive with 25 years of experiencing building, scaling and governing regulated financial services businesses across the Middle East, North Africa, Turkey and the United Kingdom.
In a joint statement, Haifa Al Kaylani OBE, President & Founder of AIWF, and HE Mona Al Moayyed (Chair of the Executive Committee), warmly welcomed both Ms Saleh and Ms Gunhan to the Board of AIWF: “We are immensely proud to welcome Dina and Nilufer to the Board to work alongside all our valued AIWF Board Members and partners in what promises to be an outstanding and deeply impactful year for AIWF, as we celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Arab International Women’s Forum. The remarkable progress that AIWF has made in the last two and a half decades is a result of the tireless dedication and commitment of the AIWF Board in supporting and steering our work at the highest levels, to promote economic inclusion, education and entrepreneurship for women in the Arab world, and nurture closer connections between Arab women in business, public service, academia and civil society with their international counterparts. Their contributions will be invaluable as AIWF looks ahead to a transformative few years ahead.”
Dina Saleh previously served as the Managing Director and Chief of Staff in the Office of the President and Vice-President (OPV) in IFAD. Before that, she was the Regional Director for Near East, North Africa, Europe and Central Asia (NEN). Ms Saleh has over 30 years of experience in agriculture and rural development in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Asia. She also served as the Sub-Regional Director based in Cairo, Regional Portfolio Adviser for the Near East, North Africa and Europe Division. Prior to joining IFAD in 2007, Ms Saleh worked at the United Nations Office for Project Services in Nairobi, Tunis and Rome and with private sector companies. She holds an MSc from the University of London in Development Finance.
On her appointment to the AIWF Board, Ms Saleh said: “I am honoured to join the Board of the Arab International Women’s Forum as it celebrates its 25th anniversary. At a time of extraordinary technological transformation, we must ensure that progress is matched by inclusion. Too many women – globally and across the Arab region – are not benefiting from these advances at the same pace, widening existing inequalities and the digital divide. I am excited to bring over 25 years of development experience to this exceptional group of leaders and changemakers, and to contribute to shaping a more inclusive and equitable future.”
Nilüfer Günhan’s career spans financial services, insurance, automotive and governance of family enterprises. As Founding CEO of several finance companies in Turkey, UK and MENA, Nilüfer also chaired the Consumer Finance Companies Association and is a founding board member of the Non-bank Financial Services Institutions Association in Turkey where she has advocated for the country’s first NBFI law. From 2018 to 2022, Nilüfer served as Chief Financial Services Officer of Abdul Latif Jameel International in Dubai, with governance and P&L responsibility for financial services and insurance operations across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UK and Turkey. Nilüfer has served on the boards of publicly traded and private companies in different sectors and is a longstanding advocate for women’s leadership and empowerment as well as a specialist in governance transitions and board succession in family enterprises, women’s economic empowerment and intergenerational leadership transfer, and digital transformation oversight at board level. She is a member of European Women on Boards, the Independent Board Directors Association Turkey. She has been recognised among the 50 Best Women CEOs in Turkey (2018) and the 20 Most Inspiring Digital Women CEOs in Turkey (2023). Nilüfer is a 2026 Fellow of Harvard University Advanced Leadership Initiative, holds an MBA from the University of West Georgia US and a BA in Business Administration from Marmara University, with executive education at MIT Sloan, Oxford Saïd Business School and INSEAD.
On her appointment to the AIWF Board, Ms Günhan said: “I am honoured to join the Board of AWF. My career across MENA and Turkey has taught me that when women gain access to finance, capital and governance, entire economies change for the better with them. In this era of immense transformation driven by AI, I am keen to support AIWF’s efforts to ensure that the next generation of Arab women are not asking for access to the future but are designing it.”
The Board of AIWF welcome Dina Saleh and Nilüfer Günhan and look forward to working closely with them both as the leadership of AIWF celebrate a quarter century milestone. AIWF was founded in London in 2001 by Haifa Al Kaylani OBE as a non-profit development organisation dedicated to the empowerment and inclusion of women and young people in the MENA and globally. In AIWF’s 25th anniversary year, AIWF will be focused on economic opportunities for women in the MENA’s AI transformation.
To view the full AIWF Board, please visit: https://aiwfonline.com/aiwf-board/.
