I recently had the opportunity to attend a presentation by Heba Fatani, Corporate Communications Director at Kingdom Holdings. Kingdom Holdings is owned by HRH Prince Alwaleed bin Talal and in her capacity as Director of Corporate Communications, Heba reports directly to Alwaleed. Heba is a professional Saudi woman. She is poised, articulate, confident and the epitome of a professional. She is an excellent role model and leader for not only women in the Kingdom but all over. What I most enjoyed about her presentation was the passion with which she delivered her views and information. There was no doubt of how much she not only enjoys her job and position but is committed to the values, outlooks and objectives of Kingdom Holdings – every employers dream of an employee.
I also learned some interesting facts about Kingdom Holdings. 70 per cent of its employees are women of which 90 per cent are Saudi women. Heba stressed that Alwaleed believes strongly not only in opportunities for women but empowerment of women and in particular, the Saudi woman. Now there will be many who nod their heads at this comment in agreement but at the same time may be remarking “yes, that is true but he is also highly selective. Just look at all the women employed by him…they could all easily be models.” That may be true and what is also true is that each and every one of them will be well-educated and likely educated abroad. Heba is one of the few exceptions who acquired the bulk of her education inside the Kingdom.
Kingdom Holdings is quite diversified in the properties, businesses and enterprises which it owns. Its holdings include the Kingdom Foundation which focuses on global philanthropic needs as well as bridging the gap between East and West/muslims and non-muslims. As part of these efforts, Prince Alwaleed established programs and departments at Georgetown University, Harvard, American University, Beirut and American University, Cairo to name a few. I do not have data though on how these programs are measured vis-à-vis their success and what kind of success the programs are having in bridging the gap. One project is establishing a wing of Islamic art at the Louvre.
For more information about Kingdom Holdings and the biography and portfolio of Prince Alwaleed visit: www.kingdom.com.sa
Filed under: America, culture, gender, politics, relationships, Saudi Arabia, Saudi culture, Saudi customs, Saudi education, terrorism, travel, Uncategorized
Carol,
I guess I have to start the comments of this topic. Pr. Waleed is a great hope for regressive thinking within the royal family and the country. His father prince Tallal and other princes like Pr. Khalid Al-Faisal are also reasons for hope.
I am glad to see Heba Fatani reach such high position in his company. I would like to hear more about her. Are there videos or writings of hers out there on the net?
The challenge of progression for women should not end there. Roles even as high as reporting to the CEO do not go far enough. This applies to the US also, where you see many corporations have women as heads of HR and Communication. Not enough companies appoint women as head of Business Units or CEO roles (of course there are exceptions). I still hold the believe that Pr. Alwalled bin Talal is a progressive leader in the country. I will with “Great Joy” call him a champion of womens’ rights when he appoints a woman to a position with a significant business impact like Head of a Business Unit.
Thanks for starting the comments, Saudi in US.
And yes, if you google Heba you will find more about her.
While I cannot speak for KSA at least I can say that when I was in Pakistan, I was the first US woman to hold a position equal to a CEO when I was there in 2005/2006. It was a great challenge, lots of long hours and I loved it!
But such opportunities do remain more elusive yet in KSA but I have hope…
I’d like to know what are the percentages of women in positions of power in his company? Is she a one off or is she indicitive of a wider pattern in the company?
I admire Talal to the extent that he is ahead of his countrymen when it comes to the treatment of women however, in general, I am not a fan of the man. He is not a self made man, he owes his position to his father’s money, to his membership of the royal family, and all that entails. In that he is exacly like all other Saudi princes, what makes him different is that he decided to make his money grow rather than sit around building palaces and spending Ramadan partying in Europe.
Considering the state of Saudi affairs, I guess one has to start somewhere. The other thing that bothers me about him is his massive ego. Ego, from a person like Bill Gates (even though he doesnt seem to have too big of one) I can accept. He is a man who did it himself and ended up top in the world. It is harder to accept from a man who has his entire society pushing his success.
I guess I am pretty predictable at this point, but from experience and belief, I have a visceral hatred of monarchies and everything that comes with them. It doesnt matter whether it is the Queen of England, or Scandanavian monarchs cycling to work, although the later is the least offensive of the lot.
My understanding is that she is not atypical but one of many SAUDI professional women in his company.
I think it is debatable on the issue of self-made. Did he have assets due to family? Yes. But what he has done with them and how he has used such assets and continued to build upon them is commendable. He should not be faulted or fingers pointed just because he is a royal who also happens to have demonstrated excellent business acumen.
Rather than a Bill Gates I would tend to compare him to a Donald Trump…someone who has built an empire with care and precision and aims to stay at the top.
I agree with Bedu: he’s had usefull assets, and has used them. I think he’s very clever, and we can’t judge his personality as what we see is always editted one way or the other.
To reach such a high position Heba Fatani must have great capacity, and I’m glad she is recognised for it and has been given the room to make use of her potential. And that other people can see a woman is capable of more than nice make-up and hair.
I believe I am a fair judge of character and I was favorably (very) impressed with Heba. She is a product of the Saudi educational system although she also is a former Fullbright scholar as well.
She informed the audience that Alwaleed relies on individuals with good education to be part of his team and most of the women have Master Degrees if not PhD’s. I found it interesting to learn that the individual in charge of maintenance of Al Memlika in Riyadh is a woman! And he also has a female architect on his staff. These are not typical positions in the Kingdom where one expects to find a woman in charge! And they are not the only women in responsible positions either.
Heba also stated that they are not “eye candy” by any means. Alwaleed made it clear to all of them that if they do not meet expectations of the job, they would be history just like anyone else.
I like it!
I saw a bit of German documentary where Alwaleed was discussing with I think the female architect and she was a nice woman, but not eyecandy.
He likes to have people to be representative, especially the women as they will come into closer scrutiny, that is what I understood from his interview on the dutch documentary.
That is my perception as well!
I’d love to see a documentary on the guy that was a bit more investigative. I’d like to know how much of his fortune relied on bribes and percentages of contracts that is so often the case in Saudi.
For those who dont know how it works, a person with reach in the Saudi establishment will set up a contract for a foriegn business to be able to work in Saudi. In exchange the person, usually a prince or someone working for one, will get a 5%-20% kick back based on the entire worth of the contract. If the contract is worth billions, then there are hundreds of millions of dollars to be made. No work…….just money pouring in.
It is my understanding that Talal made his early money with money loaned from his father and contracts with outside business ventures of the type I mentioned. It is after he made his start with these sorts of ventures that he spread out.
I have yet to see a real documentary on the man. Everything seems to be nothing more than complimentary. I’d like to see something that digs and asks some real questions.
Give me a large sum of money, give me a system set up so I can get a percentage of all projects I facilitate in my country and the ability to work outside of the normal operating rules of my country, and see if I dont come up with something wonderful.
I guess I really dont think Talal is all that special, I think what makes him look better than he should are the hundreds and hundreds of princes that did absolutely nothing. Against that backdrop it would be hard NOT to look great.
Again, he is NOT a self made man in the Western sense of the word. We could look a Donald Trump, but to make it work you’d have to add a few things. Imagine Trump who has the President and the Congress working to make sure that he makes money. Imagine the system set up that gives Trump 5%-20% of all projects he puts through Congress. Imagine that any sort of regulatory statutes dont apply to him and that he can use any government asset he wants to promote his business.
I am not impressed, rather I’d be surprise if he wasnt were he was today.
Let’s not forget Prince Alwaleed bin Talal also sponsored [paid for school, all expenses, etc.] the FIRST female pilot, here, in Saudi as well. So, although women can’t drive, they CAN fly! I believe the young lady is actually flying for him now, isn’t she Delhi4cats? Regardless. It made for quite an impressive story a couple of years ago. The photo of her in the Arab News was great! She, the young woman pilot whose name escapes me, all smiles and thrilled with her accomplishment, along with her parents, standing proud – as they should be – next to her!
BT in SA, yes, you are absolutely right! Thanks for reminding me.
Additionally, institutions such as Georgetown, American University, the Louvre in Paris and others are benefiting from his contributions.
Abu Sinan, I know you have your issues in regards to the Saudi government but sometimes I think as a result you are too harsh and quick to judge.
Just to add to Abu Sinan – is THERE a more photographed man in KSA? No. I don’t think so. He is as much a celebrity in the KSA as Brittney Spears (is she still right up there in standing for celebrities?) is, or Michael Jackson (was – has been!), or Madonna (another has been?) in the States (okay, Angelina Jolie, then!). But, HE has done a lot of good. He will continue to do more as a philanthropist. What the hell else is he going to do with all that $$$? And he is making headway for things to come. I hope. (We’ll be long gone from here before it all takes place…)
P.S. Bedu/Delhi – Thanks for helping me with a debate at another site! Appreciate it.
BT – glad to have you posting here too and certainly enjoying the debating dialogue at Crossroads Arabia. I certainly encourage others to check out Crossroads Arabia on my blogroll if they have not done so. It is another excellent and informative site where all aspects of life in the Kingdom are discussed and debated….right, BT?! (smile)
BT,
You have actually, unwillingly, made my point for me. In Islam the reward for charity is drastically reduced when you let others know you have done it.
When Talal lets everyone know what he has done, when he uses it as advertisement, then the reward is next to nothing. He uses it as a PR tool.
If you were worth multi billions, why not give away a few billion here or there for publicity that one could not buy by other means? Yes, he gives a lot, then the schools, hospitals, what have you are all named after him. He doesnt keep it quiet as is demanded in Islam, Judaism and Islam, he announces it to the world.
For me this is another part of his ego. He wants people to know he has the money, he wants exactly what is happening here on this thread, people fawning and giving him kudos when I personally think it is out of proportion.
If he wanted a reward other than public adulation he’d not let the world know what he is doing.
LIke you said, he gets more pictures out in the Arab world than anyone else you could name and his charity money is a large part of why that is.
Carol,
I miht be quick to judge, but I would argue considering the FACTS of how things are in Saudi today, I am not harsh enough.
I suggest if you think my comments are too harsh, you might want to let the families of those tortured to death in Saudi know this, how about letting the American lady who posted on my blog to today know that?
When she went to Saudi with her Saudi husband they were both thrown into jail for two years because they couldnt prove they were married. Two years later when she finally got a letter to her mother the embassy got involved and they were both released when it was found there was no case against them.
Not harsh enough by a long shot. At the end of the day God will sort things out when I, and others like me, cannot. For all of the self professed religiousity of the royal family they are certainly living for this dunya, they are not thinking of the after life, and no amount of “Insha’Allahs” and “Bismillahs” will change that.
Does Talal think he can buy his way into heaven? I doubt all of the PR bought with his billions will mean much when it really counts.
Reuters chose to pick up this post:
http://www.reuters.com/article/blogBurst/investing?bbPostId=CzCso0daZ4bnXBEZgr4vZTMqJBzA01FtONmt3Cz4jicRefCjFi