Dubai, UAE – For the first time in its 33-year history, the Global Summit of Women, a major international business and economic forum for women leaders, will take place in Dubai from May 4-6, 2023.  Convened by US-based Globewomen Research & Education Institute, the Global Summit of Women brings together 800 delegates from 70 economies to engage in active cross-border networking, robust best practice exchanges, and inspiring presentations, with a focus on strategic and creative solutions to advance women’s economic progress globally. 

The Summit highlights include a special session on “Doing Business with the UAE” to equip delegates with key information needed to form future business alliances and opportunities, which will be led by UAE’s Minister for the Economy Abdulla bin Tocq and Securities and Commodities Authority CEO Dr. Maryam buti al Suwaidi.  In addition, a Ministerial Roundtable in which 25+ Ministers and government officials are expected to attend for exchanges of what works legislatively in improving women’s economic lives, especially programs in which both business and government are partners. The Summit also plans to release its first-ever report on women Board Directors in the MENAT region – its 36th report on women directors globally – covering 1,148 listed companies in 16 economies.

The delegates will gather in Dubai under the theme of “Women: Leading a New Climate of Change” to highlight how women are utilizing innovative strategies and technologies to advance women’s economic opportunities and to address challenges faced by society at large.  As in years past, women leaders ranging from Cabinet Ministers of various portfolios, CEOs of major companies, entrepreneurs, along with male and female senior executives of multinational corporations, are all expected to participate in the three-day Summit.   Delegations of women in business are expected from countries as diverse as South Africa, Vietnam, France, Spain, Mexico, Germany, and Kazakhstan, to name a few.

“We look forward to bringing this renowned Summit to the Gulf Region for the first time, specifically to the UAE, since it is the regional leader in advancing women economically and in leadership positions,” says Summit President Irene Natividad. “Not everyone knows that women make up 50% of the UAE’s Parliament or that 30% of the Cabinet is female, or that the UAE was the first country to institute a quota for women board directors in the region. I want the Summit audience to leave with a sense of the progress being achieved in this economy.”

 “There is genuine excitement from all parts of the world to come to Dubai, so we expect a dynamic, fact-filled and engaging dialogue with robust practical outcomes – individual and organizational -- on what can be done to move the needle on economic equity for women,” adds Natividad.

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About the Global Summit of Women

Founded in 1990, the Global Summit of Women is a program of GlobeWomen Research & Education Institute, a nonprofit organization based in Washington, DC.  GlobeWomen aims to expand women’s economic opportunities through its yearly international forum, through research on women in leadership roles globally, and through other programs, which provide leaders with the tools to expand their efforts to advance women’s economic status – the annual Colloquium on Global Diversity, the Legacies of Women Forum, and Stock Exchange Market Opens held in different countries.  More information is available at www.globewomen.org

About Irene Natividad – President of the Global Summit of Women

As President of GlobeWomen Research and Education Institute, Irene Natividad has convened women leaders annually for three decades at the Global Summit of Women on best practices in advancing women’s economic progress. Irene also conducts pioneering research on women board directors globally for 26 years now through Corporate Women Directors International, which she chairs; presents women CEOs to students at top universities globally through Legacies of Women Forums;  and integrates economic equity issues in international forums including OECD, APEC, T-20 and W-20 (for G-20), U.N. and World Bank meetings, to name a few.

A former Board Director of the Sallie Mae Corp., she served as a Commissioner on the National Association of Board Directors’ Blue Ribbon Commission on Board Diversity.  She was appointed by French Pres. Macron in 2019 to the G-7 Advisory Council on Gender Equality, and in 2021 he presented her with France’s highest civilian award, the Legion d’Honneur. She was awarded the Trailblazer Award by the Huffington Post In 2015, selected by Women’s eNews as one of the “21 Leaders for the 21st Century” in 2004, as one of the “25 Most Influential Working Mothers by Working Mother magazine in 1998 and as one of the “100 Most Powerful Women in America” by Ladies Home Journal in 1988.

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