AIWF was proud to host its first event in the Saraha Series, titled ‘Women in the Media’, a virtual panel event held on 24 November 2021 supported by PRCA MENA and GWPR.
The event was held in full partnership with Taa Marbouta, a women-in-PR empowerment movement that introduced the first open to all, women-to-women mentorship programme in the MENA region, co-owned by founding partners PRCA MENA (the world’s largest Public Relations Association) and GWPR (Global Women in PR), with global integrated communications network Ogilvy as a founding and creative partner.
Conceptualised and presented by AIWF, Taa Marbouta, and a range of inspiring partners, the first event of the Saraha Series aims to explore honest and open dialogue around the challenges women face in climbing the professional ladder, receiving equal representation, and increasing the level of senior representation in the corporate environment. For this session, a community of inspiring women and men discuss diversity and inclusion challenges experienced by women in media, communications, and related creative fields — both in terms of their participation in the sector and how they’re represented externally.
With an opening keynote from Dr Afnan Alshuaiby, Chair of AIWF, the session provided a valuable forum for open, honest dialogue on the challenges of female representation in the media, PR and communications industries, welcoming distinguished speakers from Memac Ogilvy, TikTok, CNN Arabic, Microsoft, American University of Sharjah, Khaleej Times, GEMS Education, and She is Arab.
The agenda included:
SESSION 1
Empowering female creators in the new media space
With TikTok
A look at rising challenges of gender discrimination and representation in the MENA digital creator space; exploring how traditional media representational challenges took years to understand and address, yet now we have a whole new space to look at and navigate.
SESSION 2
Empowering the next generation of women
With GEMS Education & She is Arab
In a frank one-to-one conversation with one of the leading women figures in the region’s largest education entity, we’ll learn what educators are doing to help empower tomorrow’s female leaders, how the social dynamic is changing how educators approach gender challenges, and what industries—particularly in the MENA’s growing creative economy—can learn from undergraduates and youth.
SESSION 3
Achieving equal representation in the media
With Microsoft, CNN Arabia, American University of Sharjah, and Khaleej Times
Across 114 countries, women represent just 24% of the people we see, read about, and hear from in the media. This problem starts on the inside — where lack of newsroom diversity, creative diversity, production diversity, and communications diversity stops the spread of new perspectives, ideas, and voices.
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