Women in the Lead

By Elisabeth Vang Jørgensen

When browsing through the presentations below, one can only be amazed by this group of young women in leadership positions who have joined the Women Taking the Lead Network 2022. Not only are they well educated and already well accomplished in their professional careers but they also show an impressive involvement in society.

Being in a leadership position always comes with specific challenges and being a young woman in a leadership position even more so. Offering a space for the young women to reach out and share not only challenges, doubts and difficulties but also praise and success is what Women Taking the Lead Network is all about.

In the beginning of August, the 23 young Danes and Egyptians will all meet in Copenhagen for a three days long workshop and we will be hosting them again in November, this time in Cairo. When evaluating the experience of Women Taking the Lead Network 2021, one of the participants declared it “a life changing experience”, and all felt empowered. They particularly enjoyed to be able to start off by talking about their challenges and not having to first argue about the challenges being there or not. We hope this year’s workshops will be as fruitful and given this group of participants, chances are high!

Hamis Elgabry

Hamis Elgabry is 29 years old and a Product Development and Innovation Manager at Mozare3, an Agri-Fintech startup. She has 6+ years of experience in the Agritech field and has a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology and Biochemistry from Helwan University, and a master’s degree in Management of Technology from Nile University

Anne Marie Simonsen 

Anne Marie Simonsen is 34-year-old and works as Communication & Project Manager at UngRingsted (Youth Center of Ringsted Municipality). She has completed her two-subject master’s degree in Communication & Global Studies from Roskilde University. Since completing her master’s degree in 2014, she has worked with digital communication, event management, and project coordination in a variety of sectors in Denmark as well as abroad. However, she has always been committed to working towards creating awareness about marginalized groups, empowering youth, and ensuring children’s rights. 

Mariam Refaat Zaki

Mariam Refaat Zaki is 33 years old and working as a Service Delivery Manager at Crossworkers, a Danish-Egyptian outsourcing company. Her work revolves around enhancing the service between her clients and their teams to make them grow more efficiently, which includes project management, coaching, and mentoring. She graduated from Helwan University with a bachelor in Computer Science, but after six years she decided to shift toward project management hence currently studying for an MBA.

Neama Ebaid

Neama Ebaid joined Mitsubishi Motors Egypt 6 years ago and was promoted to director of Marketing and Product Management this year. She is the youngest and only female leader on her company’s directory board. Her previous positions include Marketing Manager at Peugeot, teaching assistant at AUC and research associate at UN Women. In 2008, she cofounded Glow, a youth community development club. Neama Ebaid got her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the American University in Cairo in Business Administration and Public Policy and has studied economics at the University of Chicago in the United States.

Roaa Ahmed

Roaa Ahmed is 28 years old and graduated from Ain Shams University with a degree in Architectural Engineering and continued her studies in Growth Management at Reforge School. She has 8+ years of experience and is at present working as Strategic Growth Manager at Chefaa, an on-line platform facilitating delivery of medicine. Roaa Ahmed also serves as Pipeline Development Advisor at CFYE (Challenge Fund for Youth Employment), specialized startups consultant, and as certified mentor. She also works with Meta, formerly Facebook, as Regional Com. Manager and was featured among the top impact-driven Facebook Community Leaders 2020 worldwide.

Josefine Bak 

Josefine Bak is 35 years old and works as Head of Productions at Investering og Feriebolig (an investment company that buys and rents holiday homes all over Europe). She has a master’s degree in Anthropology, History, and Spanish from University of Copenhagen. Josefine Bak has also been working as a teacher and at the historical archives, Rudersdal Museums.

Alexandra Singpiel

Alexandra Singpiel is a Project Coordinator in the Civil Society Engagement Unit of the Danish Refugee Council, leading the Diaspora Emergency Action & Coordination initiative (DEMAC). Alexandra has previously worked with other NGOs and the EU system on civil society engagement and humanitarian efforts. Most recently, before joining DRC, she worked in Afghanistan with Welthungerhilfe as Partner Advisor on capacity development and topics of localization, civil society empowerment and accountability. In addition, she is a trainer and facilitator for intercultural topics and has been involved with youth networks across Europe, MENA and Africa. She holds a MA in International Humanitarian Action from Riijksuniversitet Groningen, and a BA in Islamic Studies from Freie Universität Berlin.

Norhan Bader

Cairo-based Norhan Bader is 32 years old holding a Master of Public Health from the American University in Beirut. She is a project manager at Gozour Foundation for Development advocating for reproductive health and rights in Egypt.  Norhan has strong experience in research, monitoring, evaluation, and implementation ofreproductive and sexual health interventions.

Nina Benn

Nina Benn is 30-year-old and Manager & Chapter Lead of Business Analysts at Danske Bank. She has a master’s degree in Strategy, Organization, and Leadership from Copenhagen Business School. She has been a manager for 1,5 years, so the leadership journey is still quite new to her. Other job experience includes Customer Integration Consultant at UserTribe and Project Manager at Very Agency.

Loujaine Moustafa

Loujaine Moustafa is Business Development Manager at Shadypack for Pharmaceutical and Food Packaging. She completed her MA degree in Economics in International Development and BA in Political Science at the American University in Cairo. Loujaine has experience in banking, sustainability and FMCGs.

Amira Hossam Ismail

Amira Hossam Ismail is 29 years old and works as associate minister for sustainable development affairs at The Ministry of Planning and Economic Development. She graduated from Faculty of Economics and Political Science (English section), Cairo University. She obtained her master’s degree in comparative politics, and is currently writing her PhD thesis on “Urban Governance and Transformation to new Capitals: International Case Studies”.

For the past seven years, Amira has been working as an economic researcher in different portfolios at The Ministry of Planning and Economic Development, until she was promoted to her present position. She coordinates “Be an ambassador for sustainable developments”, a national initiative for dissemination of the culture of sustainability among Egyptian youth. Furthermore, she is participating in the preparations for COP27 in November in Sharm El-Sheikh.

Anna Bjørn Reland

Anna Bjørn Reland is 27 years and works in a cBrain, a software company. Here she’s been a project manager for almost a year dealing with implementing process systems for different customers in the public sector like Ministries and Authorities. She has a master’s degree in management and industrial engineering from the Technical University of Denmark.

Yomna EL-Awamri

Yomna EL-Awamri is a 31-year-old expert in education policy and sustainable development having more than 10 years of experience managing international and local projects in sustainable development. She is currently working as a Community Projects Manager at the Center for Applied Research on the Environment & Sustainability at the American University in Cairo, where she also teaches at the Graduate Program in Sustainable Development and the Water-Energy-Food Diploma. She received her bachelor’s degree in Economics in 2012 from the Faculty of Economics & Political Science at Cairo University. Yomna El-Awamri is also one of the very first graduates of AUC’s Master’s Program in Sustainable Development.

Menna ElBeheiry

Dr. Menna ElBeheiry is 34 years old and works as the Health Policy Lead for Roche Pharmaceuticals in Egypt and a Visiting Lecturer in Health Policy at different Egyptian universities including Cairo University, the American University in Cairo, and New Giza University. She completed her undergraduate studies at the School of Medicine, Cairo University, then she earned her first Master’s Degree in Health Economics from the same university. Currently, she is pursuing her second Master’s Degree in Public Policy at the American University in Cairo.

Anna Falk Jensen

Anna Falk Jensen is 28 year old and working as Lead Consultant and People Manager at Inviso by Devoteam. For the last year and a half, she has successfully led her own team of seven consultants and a broad variety of different projects.  She holds a master’s degree in Economics from University of Copenhagen. Since 2014, Anna Falk Jensen has been volunteering at GirlTalk, an anonymous chat-councelling for girls.

Carina Sandholm

Carina Sandholm is 32 years old and the Head of Customer Success at Pleaz and is building the customer success department. She helps businesses create a healthier, funnier, and more social workplace culture through movement. Carina Sandholm holds an MA in International Business Communication and a BA in International Communication and Multimedia from Aarhus University. She has 2+ years of management experience and has previously worked in a variety of startups in positions such as a digital consultant and Communication Manager.

Mai El Naggar

Mai El Naggar is the Managing Director of Naggar Trading & Consultancy – TAMARA Foods, producing premium quality frozen fruits and vegetables from Egypt sold in over 19 countries in Europe, the Gulf, Canada and other countries. Coming from a business background, she is also certified from the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers in London. She started her business at the age of 24 – a multimodal logistics provider, and 2 years later transitioned into the field of production of frozen fruits and vegetables.

Read more from DEDI:

Be the change

A new motivation

Smashing the glass ceiling

This project was managed by Project Officer Doaa Fayyad and Facilitated by Margrethe Lyngs Mortensen and Menas Saleh.