On The Occasion of International Women's Day and to Discuss the Challenges Faced by Women When Pursuing Leadership Positions

• Salma Al-Hajjaj: The conference is part of the Bank's continuous efforts to support and empower women.

In celebration of International Women's Day 2023, Gulf Bank is organizing a national conference titled ‘Lead the Way’, to celebrate the achievements of women leaders, and to discuss and analyze the efforts of empowering women in Kuwait, and the modern-day challenges they face at work.

Gulf Bank will host the conference at Grand Hyatt 360 Mall, on March 20, which will be a combination of interactive workshops, inspirational speeches, and thought-provoking discussion panels to uncover, and shed light on ongoing issues related to women.

The conference consists of two workshops: The first one being exclusively for women, which will be presented by Kuwait University Professor, and Founder of SHORE Consultancy, Dr. Amar Behbehani, who will discuss how women can remain emotionally and physically resilient as they progress to leadership positions.

The second workshop will be presented by Global Brand Strategist and Reputation Risk Mitigator, Mr. Steve Brazell, who will provide deep insights and actionable strategies to develop, build, and grow a personal brand of value.

The conference will also be featuring keynote speeches by Gulf Bank Board Member, Ahmad Mohammad Al Bahar, and the General Manager of Human Resources, Salma Al-Hajjaj. In addition to an open panel discussion with: The General Secretary of the Supreme Planning and Development Council, Dr. Khaled Al-Mahdi, the Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Program, Hideko Hadzialic, and a Representative from MasterCard.

On this occasion, Al-Hajjaj stated that organizing this conference comes as part of Gulf Bank's continuous efforts to support and empower women and help them reach leadership positions. She also indicated that this conference falls in line with the United Nations women empowerment principles, as well as the Bank's 2025 strategy, where one of the main pillars is based on achieving social sustainability, inside and outside the Bank.

Al-Hajjaj pointed that Gulf Bank is keen to consolidate the concept of women empowerment through many decisions and initiatives, considering that it was one the first financial institutions to sign the United Nations fifth principle application, which aims to promote gender equality, and support and empower women in both the workplace and society.

She further affirmed the Bank’s keenness to support and empower women – whether through employment or by supporting their career paths as they seek leadership positions. This has been evident in the rising number of women employees in the Bank, which has exceeded 43.5 percent out of the total number of employees in the bank, while their share of leadership positions exceeded 28 percent.

Gulf Bank's vision is to be the leading Kuwaiti Bank of the Future. The Bank is constantly engaging and empowering its employees as part of an inclusive and diversified workplace in recognition of every employee’s role in delivering customer excellence and serving the community at large. With its extensive network of branches and innovative digital services, Gulf Bank is able to give its customers the choice of how and where to conduct their banking transactions, all while ensuring a simple and seamless banking experience.

Gulf Bank is committed to maintaining robust developments in sustainability at environmental, social and governance levels through diverse sustainability initiatives, strategically selected to benefit the Bank both internally and externally. Gulf Bank supports Kuwait Vision 2035 “New Kuwait” and works with various parties to achieve it.