The Chief Executives' Club at Queen's and Women in Business hosted 'In Conversation with Dr Raja Al Gurg'.

This lunchtime event presented by Roseann Kelly MBE of Women in Business and hosted by The Chief Executives' Club at Queen's. The event was held in the Canada Room and Council Chamber located in the Lanyon Building at Queen's University.

About Roseann Kelly MBE

Roseann Kelly MBE is CEO of Women in Business NI (WIBNI). Roseann joined Women in Business soon after the organisation was formed in 2002 as a voluntary Director; she held the roles of Vice Chair, Treasurer, and Company Secretary during that time. She has been Chief Executive of WIBNI since 2009 overseeing a period of rapid growth and a successful sustainability strategy.

Roseann was recognised on Her Majesty the Queen’s Honours list in 2019 for her contribution to the NI Economy. She sits on the Department of the Economies Ministerial Strategic Advisory Forum. She also sits on the Expert Panel for the Review of Apprenticeships and on the Youth Training Review Panel. She is CEO and a Director of Diversity Mark NI Ltd formed in 2017. She is Vice Chair of Women’s Tec NI and past Committee member of both WINET and the Women’s Fund for NI.

In 2016 she won the Chief Executive of the 3rd Sector (CO3) Award for Entrepreneurial Leader of the Year. In 2014 she was invited onto the Advisory Board of the SME Development Institute at the Ulster University Business School. In 2013 she won the Services to Enterprise Award with Young Enterprise, was announced in the Belfast Business TOP 50 in 2011 and was a participant on the Irish institute Boston College Women in the Workplace Programme in 2010.

About Dr Raja Al Gurg

Dr Raja Al Gurg is Chairperson and Managing Director of the Easa Saleh Al Gurg Group. With four decades of experience as a businesswoman in sectors as diverse as education and manufacturing, Raja has had hands-on experience with a wide variety of sectors in the corporate world.

Al Gurg's reputation as one of the foremost female business leaders in the Middle East is underscored by the countless board positions she holds and the associations she is affiliated with in the UAE and beyond. She is the Founder of the Dubai Business Women Council, and regularly represents the UAE at international conferences. Alongside her professional endeavours, Al Gurg is focused on a number of philanthropic missions.

She is regularly engaged in charitable activities with the Easa Saleh Al Gurg Charity Foundation and the Al Jalila Foundation, a UAE organisation dedicated to improved and accessible healthcare. Yet, Al Gurg’s commitment lies most strongly with advocacy for women in the workplace, creating opportunities for them to thrive and develop in their careers.

Her work in this area has yielded a list of impressive accolades, including being listed for multiple years among ‘The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women’ by Forbes and held the number one position for 2021 in Forbes Middle East’s ‘Most Powerful Businesswomen’. In Raja Al Gurg: An Autobiography, Raja reflects truthfully on the various challenges faced as a Muslim woman in business, offering lessons from experience to a new generation of ambitious young women. The Power of Authenticity is her latest book.