Dubai: The Cherie Blair Foundation for Women has announced the appointment of creative entrepreneur Pembe Al Mazrouei as chair of the Middle East chapter of The Cherie Blair Foundation for Women’s ‘100,000 Women Campaign’.
The campaign, launched in the Middle East, aims to raise funds and awareness across the region.
The Middle East chapter is one of six regional campaign boards forming the global ‘100,000 Women Campaign’, a three-year programme directly supporting 100,000 more women in low and middle income countries to start and grow successful businesses.
The foundation is a global charity seeking women’s economic empowerment through supporting women entrepreneurs to start and sustain their own businesses. It currently runs a Mentoring Women in Business programme in low and middle income countries throughout the Middle East. To date, 362 mentees and mentors have graduated through the programme. Work in the region has included numerous bespoke programmes since 2009. These programmes have supported women entrepreneurs through training, business development opportunities and access to networks to develop and grow sustainable businesses and enhance their access to capital and financial products and services,
An entrepreneur herself, Pembe founded a successful theatre company in 2001 and intends to use her experience and her love of the arts and fashion to inspire creative entrepreneurship from women in the region. To build support for the foundation, Pembe will actively promote the foundation and the ‘100,000 Women Campaign’ throughout the Middle East, meeting with prospective individual donors, sponsors and partners in order to draw in key income from the region.
Pembe said: “Enabling women who are full of vision to fulfil their capabilities is the overriding goal of the foundation and I intend to connect with a range of women across the region to help open doors to knowledge, skills and self-belief. As obstacles are removed and playing fields levelled, a generation of female high achievers is poised to show that entrepreneurship is one of the most effective routes to equality.”
Pembe is passionate in her support for women’s’ empowerment and has already appointed a team to support her activities in the region. The Middle East chapter now includes Middle East advisor Simona Spazzini, a lawyer and a director at Dubai-based Calliope Transaction Advisors, and Middle East ambassador Alison Higgins of First Abu Dhabi Bank.
