With a central message about the important role women play in Qatar’s growing economy, Sheikha Alanoud bint Hamad al-Thani, managing director, Business Development at the Qatar Financial Centre Authority (QFC) was the featured guest speaker at a webinar hosted by Qatar Foundation partner, Georgetown University in Qatar (GU-Q).
The talk was part of the “Mentor Tea” series, a collaboration between the GU-Q Women’s Centre and Georgetown Women Alliance in Qatar which aims to inspire female students and women across the GU-Q community through engagement with professional women.
In her presentation, Sheikha Alanoud stressed the critical importance of closing gender-based employment and wage parity gaps, saying, “Women and girls continue to make incredible contributions every day across all fields of human endeavour – from business, to education, sport, art, science, agriculture, parenting, and governance.”
She also focused on entrepreneurship as an important path to women’s empowerment, highlighting key initiatives QFC offers to support women in business. The London School of Economics and University of Oxford graduate also discussed the challenges professional Qatari women face when navigating cultural expectations, but said the opportunity for advancement has never been better.
“Reforms guided by Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser in terms of human and community development through education, equal opportunities, family welfare and regulation, have seen women establish themselves as a formidable part of the workforce in Qatar.”
Kamilah Idris, an international economics major, said, “Seeing professional women sharing their career journeys is not only inspirational but also empowering, and I believe it is important to showcase more women in successful positions.”
Prior to her current role, Sheikha Alanoud held the roles of associate director of economic affairs for the Mena region and vice president of strategic alliances at QFC. Previously, Sheikha Alanoud served as the Qatar country director for Silatech, a Qatar-based social initiative that connects young people to employment opportunities across the Arab region.


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