Celebrating 75 Years of Female Leadership and Global Impact
On Monday, February 24th, 2025, the Binational Fulbright Commission in Egypt hosted a women’s month celebration event at the Sofitel Cairo Downtown Nile Hotel, titled Celebrating 75 Years of Female Leadership and Global Impact, and featuring H.E. Ambassador Herro Mustafa Garg, U.S. Ambassador to Egypt and Honorary Co-Chair of the Binational Fulbright Commission Egypt and H.E. Dr. Manal Awad, Minister of Local Development as keynote speakers. Dr. Ibrahim ElKerdany, Former Good Morning Egypt TV Anchor and Professor at Alexandria High Institute of Public Health served as Master of Ceremony and introduced four sessions of impressive female alumni and partners. The first session, Shaping Minds: A Conversation with a Female University President, highlighted the role of women in higher education through an interview with Dr. Shaden Muawia, President of the University of Sadat City and with BFCE Executive Director Dr. Maggie Nassif as the discussant. This was followed by three panel discussions showcasing trailblazing work of female leadership in academia, NGOs, business and government. The first panel on the efforts carried out by corporations and legislators to support women in the workplace was titled, Women and Economic Transformation: The Road to Boardrooms, and was moderated by Dr. Mervat Abou Ouf, Professor at the American University in Cairo and featured Ms. Sharon Nishi, Chair and Managing Director at General Motors Egypt and Africa and Dr. Heba Sharobeem, Fulbright alumna and Senator in the Egyptian Senate. The second panel, titled Breaking Barriers: Female Scientists at the Helm, was moderated by Dr. Shaima El-Mowafi, and alumna of the Fulbright-Egyptian Missions Program and Associate Professor of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the National Research Center, and featured a host of Fulbright Scholar alumni in the STEM fields: Dr. Sherine Assem, Vice President for Research at the Agriculture Research Center; Dr. Irene Sami, Director of the Smart Engineering Systems Research Center at Nile University; Dr. Ola Gomaa, Head of the Biotechnology Division at the Egyptian Atomic Energy Authority; and Fulbright U.S. Scholar Dr. Janet Genz, Professor of Biology at the University of West Georgia. The third and final panel was moderated by Hubert Humphrey alumnus Judge Moustafa Farrag, a Member of the Technical Bureau of the Human Rights, Woman and Child Sector at the Ministry of Justice. The session was titled, Female Trailblazers: Leading Local Communities and Global Networks, and featured Fulbright U.S. Scholar Dr. Tessa Farmer, Associate Professor of Anthropology and Global Studies at the University of Virginia and Dr. Nahla Abdel Tawab, Hubert Humphrey alumna and Egypt Country Director of the Population Council Egypt. The event concluded with a networking dinner.
