Program Events 2009
Legal and Business Fellowship Program Honors 2009 Participants
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The U.S. Embassy in Abu Dhabi today honored three women from the United Arab Emirates for their participation in a U.S. Department of State-sponsored fellowship program, designed to promote legal and business training and employment opportunities for women from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Ms. Raghda Shaheen of the Dubai International Financial Center, Ms. Noura Al Sarraj of the InterPublic Group , and Ms. Sarah Rafeh of the Research Triangle Institute participated in the 2009 Legal and Business Fellowship Program (LBFP), sponsored by the U.S. Department of State's Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI).
MEPI’s Legal and Business Fellowship Program provides young women in business, law and science and technology an opportunity to practice their professional skills and gain real-world experience to help them grow as professionals and advocate for an improved investment climate and legal reforms in their host countries. The program consisted of a one-month course at the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, followed by a three-month fellowship at a top U.S. company or law firm. Their four-month program was conducted in the United States from April 21, 2009 to August 18, 2009.
Ms. Raghda Shaheen was placed at the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce for her fellowship. Describing the experience, Ms. Shaheen said, "the experience itself was unique for many reasons; the knowledge we gained at Wharton will definitely arm us to become stronger business leaders in our fields and to better serve our people and countries."
Ms. Sarah Rafeh was also placed in Chicago for her fellowship with the Global Citizenship Unit at Boeing Corporation. Ms. Rafeh is pleased to have gotten "a deeper understanding of the very impressive educational techniques at Wharton, the professional workplace of a Fortune 100 company, and the daily lifestyle of American people." She added that she and the other women "were able to be good ambassadors of our countries. We were always excited and informative when the chance came to share with Americans information about where we come from and the culture and mindsets of people from our countries. I can also comfortably say we helped break some stereotypes Americans had about Arab women."
Ms. Noura Al Sarraj was placed at Tierney Communications in Philadelphia for a communications fellowship. Ms. Al Sarraj called the program "a wonderful experience that surpassed all my expectations. I established great business contacts that I remain in touch with on a regular basis, I further developed my multi-cultural communication skills and also made long-lasting friendships with the other participants. I would do it again in a heartbeat."
Background on the Legal and Business Fellowship Program
The 2009 Legal and Business Fellowship program brought 22 young professional women from the Middle East and North Africa -- Algeria, Bahrain, Israel, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, West Bank and Yemen -- to the U.S. for a four-week executive training program at the Wharton School of Business in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, followed by three-month professional fellowships in top U.S. companies and law firms across the country from April 21 to August 18.
Participants in the program are professional women, from the MENA region, typically between 22 to 32 years of age, who work in the private sector or in the legal field. Participants were selected through a merit-based competitive process and demonstrate strong academics, relevant work experience, excellent English, and leadership skills. Over 400 applications were received for this year’s program.
Large U.S. companies and top-tier law firms host the fellows who work full-time. The professional fellowship allows each participant to practice and develop their skills and experience in areas such as accounting, finance, human resources, information technology, financial analysis and legal research. The company or law firm assigns each woman a mentor for the duration of her fellowship. For many participants, it is the first time that they have experienced the concept of mentoring, and this facet of the program has been very successful.
AMIDEAST, a U.S.-based non-governmental organization, is responsible for the recruitment and selection of the participants, ensuring appropriate Fellowship matches, securing international and domestic travel, providing visa issuance support and medical insurance, and issuing monthly allowances.
The Legal and Business Fellowship Program is unique in that it provides a multi-tiered approach to learning, focusing on both academic and practical skills, while also creating personal and professional connections. Through university-level coursework, leadership training, and hands-on experience, participants are fully prepared to take on higher levels of responsibility and bring new ideas to the workplace.
One of the strengths of this project is that the fellows are immediately able to put into practice the professional skills they learn at the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School. During their internships at U.S. companies, fellows are assigned specific projects and receive one-on-one guidance and coaching from an American workplace mentor. The mentor relationships not only boost the fellows’ confidence in new environments, but also enhance mutual understanding and encourage the exchange of ideas.