WIn Fellowship Returns with Second Cohort, Empowering Women Entrepreneurs in Middle East

With the addition of its second cohort, the Women Innovators (WIn) Fellowship has triumphantly returned to its original goal of empowering female entrepreneurs in the Middle East and North Africa area. The fellowship was first introduced in Saudi Arabia in 2022 and was created by PepsiCo in collaboration with the Atlantic Council, Georgetown University, and the US Embassy in Riyadh.

PepsiCo recently hosted an event called "The Rising Female Workforce in Saudi Arabia and its Impact on the Private Sector," during which a panel discussion was conducted to examine how the private sector in the Kingdom is changing.

In her opening remarks, Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the US, Princess Reema bint Bandar, commended the initial programme from 2022 and voiced optimism for 2023’s cohort's success. Recognising the considerable beneficial effects that women's entrepreneurship has on society and the economy, she emphasised the significance of supporting it.

With an emphasis on fostering and strengthening female leadership in the region, the fellowship has grown beyond Saudi Arabia to include Bahrain and the UAE. The importance of women's empowerment, a key component of Saudi Arabia's 2030 transformative plan, was emphasised by Princess Reema.

Notably, the Kingdom has achieved outstanding progress towards its initial objective of 30 percent by 2030 in terms of the inclusion of women in the workforce. An amazing 37 percent of Saudi Arabia's workforce is female as of 2023, and a third of the country's IT industry is made up of women, outpacing even Silicon Valley's representation.

During the event, prominent speakers from a range of businesses discussed how women are becoming more integrated into previously male-dominated fields. Dena Elkhatib, general counsel for Riyadh Air, emphasised the substantial contribution of women in the aviation sector, including air traffic controllers, engineers, and pilots.

Hattan Ahmed, the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology's head of entrepreneurship, also lauded the high proportion of women working in STEM subjects. He reported that the institution has a higher than normal percentage of women in STEM graduate programmes, at about 39%.

The fellowship intends to promote women's leadership, entrepreneurship, and economic engagement in order to boost the general economic prosperity of the area. From June 2023 to March 2024, the second cohort of 34 Saudi women entrepreneurs will participate in a one-year programme that will provide them the chance to broaden their networks, gain useful skills, and forge significant business and personal linkages with the US.

Through programmes like the WIn Fellowship, the area is seeing an increase in the number of women working in a variety of industries, breaking down barriers, and igniting change for a more fair and inclusive society.