- Muna Abu Sulayman
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Muna AbuSulayman Born May 16, 1973
Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaNationality Saudi Arabian Alma mater George Mason University Occupation MBC Co-host Kalam Nawaem (2002–2007)
King Saud University Lecturer, English Department (1997–2004)
Kingdom Holding, Executive manager of Strategic Studies and Research Initiatives(2004-2006)
Alwaleed Bin Talal Foundation, Executive Director(2006-present)Religion Islam Children 2 daughters Website http://www.munaabusulayman.com Muna AbuSulayman, (Arabic: منى أبو سليمان; born 1973) is Secretary General and Executive Director of the Alwaleed Bin Talal Foundation,[1] the philanthropic arm of HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal's Kingdom Holding Company[2] and formerly co-host of one of MBC TV’s most popular social programs, Kalam Nawaem (“Softly Speaking”).
As a public and media personality, major organizations and companies often ask her to speak on issues related to society, media, and building bridges of understanding between the East and West. In 2004, Ms. AbuSulayman was named a Young Leader by the World Economic Forum.[3] In this capacity, she is often called upon to speak to large audiences on issues related to challenges facing the youth around the world. In 2005, she became the first woman from Saudi Arabia to be appointed by the United Nations Development Program as a Goodwill Ambassador.[4] As a goodwill ambassador she is often invited to attend high-profile celebrity events to promote certain products or humanitarian causes. In 2007, the Middle East Excellence Awards Institute presented Ms. AbuSulayman the Achievements in Regional and International Relations Award.[5] In 2009, she was named one of the most influential Muslims in the world.[6]
Ms. AbuSulayman has been invited to give keynote addresses at academic conferences and graduations. She has appeared frequently as a panelist at the Davos World Economic Forum, Jeddah Economic Forum, C-100 of the World Economic Forum, Brookings Institute Conferences and many other venues.[7] She is often asked to serve as a Master of Ceremonies at different engagements, including public events and high-level meetings. Her speaking engagements have taken her to the United States, England, Switzerland, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Africa. She also moderates industry gatherings, international affairs meetings, official government delegation visits, and diplomatic events. She speaks fluent English and Arabic.
Muna is a board member of the Muslim Women’s Fund (MWF) which aims to strengthen Muslim women, benefit families and communities.[citation needed] She is also a member of Soliya[2], an organization devoted to improving communications between East and West through university education. AbuSulayman also serves in the Advisory Board of Meedan[3], the premier content translation website service in the world for Arabic. Since 2004, Ms. AbuSulayman has also served as a volunteer director for the Friends of Saudi Arabia Association and remains a member of the Saudi Media Association.[8]
Contents
Early Years
Muna was born in Philadelphia in the US state of Pennsylvania to Dr. Abdulhamid AbuSulayman who was attending the University of Pennsylvania for his Ph.D. dissertation in International Relations. Dr. Abdulhamid is a well known Islamic thinker in Saudi Arabia and the Islamic world. At the age of 10 she moved to Virginia from Saudi Arabia.[9]
From elementary school through college and graduate schools, she lived in the United States. She later moved with her family to Malaysia where her father headed the International Islamic University Malaysia. “My two years there were absolutely the most wonderful years of my life. I appreciated the rich culture where Indians, Chinese and Malaysians all lived peacefully. Living abroad and experiencing different cultures helped me with different perspectives. I owe this to my family who gave me this opportunity to shape my personality.”[10] said Muna in an interview with arabnews.com
Education
Ms. AbuSulayman had a diverse college experience where she attended King Abdulaziz University in Saudi Arabia, International Islamic University Malaysia and George Mason University. She graduated in 1993 from George Mason University and holds a B.A. and M.A. in English literature[11]. She is currently completing her Ph.D. in Arab-American Literature from King Saud University.[12]
Career
Since 1997, Ms. AbuSulayman has served as lecturer on American literature at King Saud University in Saudi Arabia. In this capacity, she designed and implemented curricula changes in English literature courses, created and analyzed teacher performance evaluations, and supervised the English department’s student magazine.[8]
In terms of her media career she founded and co-hosted the MBC TV social program Kalam Nawaem which is considered to have a viewership of tens of millions and is one of the most watched social programs by Arabs worldwide. Her role in the station was as a presenter and she mainly focused on the social segment of the program in which she tried to convey the message to the viewer in the best way possible.[8][9]
In the corporate world Ms. AbuSulayman started working in Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal's Kingdom Holdings company. She served as the Executive manager of Strategic Studies and Research Initiatives. Prior to taking this post she had no experience in HR and administration and she had to learn everything in the first 6 months working for the company, but also gained personal experience while working together with Alwaleed. She doesn't deny The 'Alwaleed Effect' and says, smiling, "when I first joined, I asked His Royal Highness to provide me with some executive training as I had no business experience, so I was sent to take a few courses"; she then adds, "but I realized later that working with him was my real executive training".[13]
In 2006 she took on the task of building the Alwaleed bin Talal foundation, previously known as Kingdom Foundation. This foundation is the philanthropic arm of the Kingdom Holding company. In this capacity, she is developing and implementing the foundation’s mission, vision, and operations for strategic philanthropy and humanitarian assistance. She is responsible for the global philanthropic activities, projects, and donations that reach the globe. When asked about getting this job she said in an interview with Aljazeera English "I guess I did such a good job that he offered me the foundation".[9]
MBC | Kalam Nawaem
Muna spoke about the story of how she got the job as one of the co-hosts of Kalam Nawaem in an interview on Aljazeera English's One on One program with Riz Khan. She started by saying that she initially applied for a job as a writer for the show, but found out that they wanted writers in Arabic and as she describes it, her Arabic is not very strong in writing, so she couldn't take the job. The producers later told her that they were looking for a Saudi woman to co-host the show and asked her if she would like to do a screen test. She agreed to that, did the screen test and went on traveling. Later on she got a call from the producers telling her that they liked her screen test and would like her to co-host the show. Before agreeing to do the show, she asked her father if he had any objections to that, because his name was also going to be publicized. His reply to her was that he liked to live a private life and if she wanted to do the show, it was her life and she is free to do whatever she wanted.[9]
As co-host for Kalam Nawaem she was the first Saudi women to appear on international television, and had a great responsibility on her back. There were many women especially from Saudi Arabia who were looking to her as a role model and inspiration. Since she was from Saudi Arabia she understood the social problems and the taboo issues in her country and thus was able to address them properly.
Describing the success and the changes the show brought to the Arab world, she tells the story of a child who was abused and how discussing this issue on the show led to the passing of a legislation that protected children's rights.
Muna received few criticisms for being a public figure as some view that women should not appear in public, but the majority of people support what she is doing and have encouraged her.[9]
Muna left the show in 2007, as for the reason why, she said, "I left ‘Kalam Nawaim’ when it was getting too much. Is it worth the recognition and me traveling a weekend every month and leaving my kids? The foundation and my daughters needed me so I made the decision."[14]
There are reports that she is working on a new television show.
Alwaleed Bin Talal Foundation
Prior to the establishment of the Alwaleed Bin Talal Foundation, Muna worked for 7 years as an Executive manager of Strategic Studies and Research Initiatives in the Kingdom Holdings company of HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal. She built the foundation from ground up and serves as the Secretary General and Executive Director.[9] Her duties in the foundation range from administering the day to day activities to researching, managing the budget and laying down long term goals for the foundation and the Prince's vision. She has the task of spending around $100 million in a year on projects which mainly focus on four areas; promoting East/West dialogue, women empowerment poverty alleviation and disaster relief.
Islam and West Dialogue
Muna described her work in this area in the Arab-U.S. policymakers conference by saying we work with Islam-West dialogue, which is one of the biggest areas. Four departments in the foundation and that’s to help build bridges between Islam and the West through academic institutions. It is to bring objective intellectual academic work to the arena, to bring common sense and logic to the discussion, as we have seen that these two were lacking in the last eight years. We also fund a lot of initiatives like this conference and the organization of the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations. We fund the rabbi’s and imam’s conferences, some leadership initiatives between Muslims and Western leaders so they can come to the table. Some of it is publicized, some not publicized." [8]
Her work in this area is of a personal interest to her, she has a passion in bridging the gap between the Arab world and the Western world. Her work comprises mainly in giving talks in leading universities in America and Europe. She is interested in eliminating the misunderstanding that the West has of the Muslim world and vice versa. Ms. AbuSulayman gave a lecture at Yale University where she talked about the misconceptions that the west has about the Islamic veil which is the covering of the hair and wearing loose clothes that don't show body parts and the Burqa(face cover). She said that even some Muslims are ignorant of the fact that wearing the Burqa isn't an Islamic edict.[15]
Ms. Abusulayman views France's ban of the scarf as a discriminatory act against Muslims and that wearing the Scarf is viewed by President Sarkozy and his Government as a sign of France changing which they don't want to see. She argues that whether France likes or not, it will go through some very difficult years as more and more immigrants bring in their own traditions and religions to France, and that this is something that can not be avoided and France has to simply accept this fact.[15]
In response to a question that asked her about the reason why Christian Arabs leave their countries to the west, she said that it is a very saddening situation that is happening in the Arab world nowadays. She said there are several reasons why these individuals leave their own country, but mainly its because of governmental oppression or better economical opportunities available outside the Arab world. She said the circumstance on which they leave differ from one country to another and each case must be treated separately. She added that its a shame that any Arab feels compelled to leave his country for what ever the reason may be and that we have disappointed them.[16]
Women Empowerment
“When you change women’s conditions and empower them, you change the whole family" said Muna in an article by arabianbusiness.com, she also said, Prince Alwaleed firmly believes that encouraging and supporting women and female initiatives is one of the most important ways to measure real tangible progress in any country. From this view stems her strong support for women empowerment in the world and especially in Saudi Arabia.[17][18]
Talking about motherhood Muna said that the years mothers spend raising their children should be taken into consideration when they are applying for a job. Instead of starting as an intern or a novice employee, they should be starting as assistant managers with a certain salary. She justified this by saying that mothers gain a lot of experience raising children, they acquire skills like patience, multitasking and management, and these shouldn't be neglected by employers and should be compensated financially.[15]
In an interview with Saudi Gazette Muna said, “I want girls to see that there is almost no limitation to where they can go; the most important thing they can do is to work to be content, happy, married and to have children.”[14]
Clothing and Fashion Accessories Line
Muna has her own fashion accessories line, which adheres to Islamic code of clothing. The reason she started her own line is because she couldn't find clothes that were both contemporary and Islamic. The clothes are designed and prepared in Italy and Matthew Williamson is one of her designers. About her collection Muna says "I have created this collection to provide stylish, elegant and trendy clothing for my global customer base. My customers are confident women who have travelled the world and know what they like. In order to accommodate a wide range of tastes the clothes are created with a lot of attention to details and sizes so that they fit just right, and are not tight or see-through. For my core customers, the Muslim women, I am including different scarf options to complete the total look."[19]
Personal life
Ms. AbuSulayman was married but in XXXX she got divorced from her husband. According to her interview with Riz Khan on Aljazeera English's One on One program, the divorce was settled out of court cordially and her parents supported her in whatever she decided. In fact her father told her brothers and sisters not to talk to her about it, so that their feelings do not effect her decision. After her divorce she worked on TV and travelled and there was no change in her lifestyle after the divorce. Her role models in her divorce were Demi Moore and Bruce Willis and she maintains a good relationship with her daughters' father who fully supports the kids. She said its been wonderful post divorce. She got engaged for a while but didn't work out and has received several proposals but none with the kind of partnership she was looking for.[9]
Ms. AbuSulayman is the mother of Shahad and Sereen. She has a unique parenting style, with a no-TV rule at home. "I have two daughters; a 17-year-old and a 10 year old. I didn’t like them watching things that I don’t know about and they weren’t reading as much as I wanted them to. They were also bored most, if not all, the time. But since then (the rule) they aren’t bored. They exercise, learn ballet and read now. And on Fridays, for example, if they have nothing to do, I let them watch DVDs. I want them to be able to utilize their time," she said in an interview with Saudi Gazette.[14]
Awards and Recognition
- 2004, Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.[3]
- 2005, Saudi UN Goodwill Ambassador, UNDP.[4]
- 2007, Middle East Businesswomen & Leaders Achievement Award for her Achievements in Regional and International Relations.[5]
- 2009, Named one of 500 Most Influential Muslims in the World.[6]
- 2009, Excellence Arab women award, by the Arab Woman Studies Center[citation needed]
- 2009, Yale World Fellow.[20]
- 2010, Colin Morley Award.[21]
References
- ^ Alwaleed Bin Talal Foundation
- ^ Kingdom Holding Website
- ^ a b arabnews.com I Am Honored to Be Named as Young Global Leader: Muna AbuSulayman
- ^ a b Muna AbuSulayman Appointed UNDP National Goodwill Ambassador
- ^ a b Middle East Businesswomen & Leaders Achievement Award for her Achievements in Regional and International Relations
- ^ a b 500 Most Influential Women 2009 p.127
- ^ World Economic Forum Core Group and Members
- ^ a b c d Foundations for Change in the Arab World: A Woman’s Personal and Professional Perspective Ms. Muna AbuSulayman
- ^ a b c d e f g Aljazeera English One on One with Muna AbuSulayman
- ^ Interview by arabnews with Muna AbuSulayman
- ^ [1]
- ^ Muna AbuSulayman WeForum profile
- ^ huffingtonpost.com Muna Abu Sulayman: Saudi Arabia's 'Oprah'
- ^ a b c A Conversation with Muna AbuSulayman by Saudi Gazette
- ^ a b c Lecture and Interview at Yale University Department of Religious Studies
- ^ Interview with abouna.org Arabic link
- ^ arabianbusiness.com Foundations for change
- ^ Girl Effect movement sweeping the globe by Muna AbuSulayman
- ^ Muna AbuSulayman collection Facebook page
- ^ Yale World Fellow
- ^ Muna AbuSulayman awarded the Colin Morley Award
External links
- Muna AbuSulayman's Facebook Page
- An Interview with Muna AbuSulayman by asmalleorld.net
- A Conversation with Muna AbuSulayman by Saudi Gazette
- Aljazeera English One on One with Muna AbuSulayman
- An Interview with americanbedu.com
- Foundations for Change in the Arab World: A Woman’s Personal and Professional Perspective Ms. Muna AbuSulayman
- World Economic Forum, Panel Race for and Audience Media in the Middle East 2009
- Lecture and Interview at Yale University Department of Religious Studies
- Professor Urges More Translations to Arabic
Categories:- 1973 births
- Living people
- Saudi Arabian women
- George Mason University alumni
- Saudi Arabian Muslims
- Saudi Arabian academics
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