Nashwa Al Ruwaini Nashwa Al Ruwaini is a prominent and highly recognized Arab business woman who has vast experience in the media field and a career history that has led to her being acknowledged over the years as a best-in-class leading media and business excellence personality. In terms of her business achievements she is currently Board Member and CEO of Pyramedia – Media Production and Consultancy, CEO of Al Joude Investments, CEO of Al Joude Advertising and Publicity, as well as CEO of Delma Medical Centre. Al Ruwaini is also the Founder and Chairman of the Nashwa Foundation, a charity that is dedicated to philanthropic work across the Arab world. Her award winning company Pyramedia is renowned in the Middle East for having produced several significant and popular television shows that have been aired across the region and recognized for their success. Of these shows the most viewed was The Millions Poet and Prince of Poets, which are cultural shows that have helped to preserve Arab poetic culture and heritage, a cause Al Ruwaini is extremely dedicated to. Nashwa Al Ruwaini is also the Founder and Board Member of the Middle East Film Festival, Abu Dhabi which was later renamed the Abu Dhabi Film Festival – a very well-received film event that now has global reach and the presence of international film personalities participating every year. Additionally she was appointed member of the jury for the International Digital Emmy and is an appointed member of the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in the United States. In addition she pioneered the Muslims on Screen and Television, a project that aims to improve and correct the image of Muslims on television and in films all across the globe. Using her strength in media consulting, Al Ruwaini has a very strong portfolio of government and private sector clients spanning across the Middle East that she provides counsel to. These include the Executive Council, Abu Dhabi, the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (UAE), Environment Agency-Abu Dhabi (UAE), Emirate of Ajman Culture and Media Department (UAE), the Saudi Ministry of Media and Culture, Qatar Media Company and Egyptian Radio and Television Union. She has also consulted for Hollywood’s famous movies such as, Kingdom of Heaven, Pirates of the Caribbean, Syriana and Aladin. Media Career Nashwa al Ruwaini has an extensive career history in the media as both a presenter, producer and executive producer in several countries in the Middle East, and she has received a multitude of awards for her work. Her most famous shows that she presented were broadcast on MBC and Dubai TV. Nashwa which was an extremely popular social show on Dubai TV landed her the title of ‘Oprah of the Middle East’ because of her capability to discuss and highlight social issues fearlessly and with no boundaries. The Nashwa show led to her receiving a Gold Award for Best Talk Show, and she was also nominated twice for the Rose D’Or Awards in Switzerland within the category for Best Entertainer and was the first Arab to be nominated for the title. The Nashwa show was also nominated for the Social Award category at the Rose D’Or Awards. On MBC Al Ruwaini presented several shows over the years such as: Kalam Nawaem, Kashf il Mastour, Good Morning Arabs, Good Evening Arabs, Be Honest with Nashwa and An Evening with an Artistic Celebrity. Her presence on television on these successful and highly viewed shows led to her recognition as an acclaimed media personality in the region. In the Middle East she was voted as Best Arab Presenter in 1997 and 1998 by Sharq Al Awsat Newspaper in addition to winning within the category of Best Arab Presenter by Al Sada magazine. She was also selected as the Best Arab Presenter in 1999 by Future TV in Lebanon and Al Mara’a Al Asreya Magazine. In the same year she was also chosen for Best Arab Presenter for her program Wipe Out which was aired on MBC. During her media career, Al Ruwaini has worked as both a presenter and producer for Qatar Media, where she also established press offices for a variety of competitions such as the Qatar International Tennis Tournament, the Qatar Horse Beauty Contest and the Qatar Sailing Competition. She was also the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of a magazine called Nada. One of Al Ruwaini’s major achievements is her iconic establishment of MBC Group, a significant media company in the Middle East where her contributions ranged from being the Founder and CEO of the MBC Creative Department, the Founder and CEO of the MBC offices in Egypt and North Africa, the Founder and CEO of the production arm of the MBC Group which was based in Egypt and the Founder of the MBC Company for Technical Facilities. She was also the CEO of the International Business for MBC and the holding company ARA in London. Starting from scratch she helped build MBC into the media powerhouse that it is today. On MBC Nashwa Al Ruwaini has been the producer of several famous shows such as: Ala Waraq, Who Wants to be a Millionaire, Hourouf wa Oulouf, Altabkha Naesa Eh, Yalla Shabab, the No to Terrorism Campaign and Awards on Air. Nashwa Al Ruwaini was part of the team that established Al Arabiya Channel and was responsible for the branding of the channel as well as the Co-producer of the programs grid of the first year after the launch of the channel. In Egypt and other Arab countries Al Ruwaini has worked on a plethora of media projects and has developed several business plans including conducting a full media plan to establish and develop the Egyptian Company for Media Production with the goal of transforming Egypt into the Hollywood of the Middle East in collaboration with the Egyptian government and developing the Egyptian Union of Radio and Television. She also worked closely with the Secretary General of the Arab League to establish the Arab Media Resources Initiative to create a unified base in association with all the leading media entities to help refute distortions in the Western media concerning the reality of the Arab world. In the United Arab Emirates, where Al Ruwaini is currently based, she has contributed to key projects and initiatives such as the Middle East Film Festival hosted in Abu Dhabi, the Al Mahabba Awards Festival and the Prince of Poets Festival. She was also the main arm in establishing the Film Financing Circle, Abu Dhabi Film Commission, developing and supervising the agreement of National Geographic Abu Dhabi for the local government and she has helped plan the launch for private channels in Abu Dhabi. Similarly she was responsible for analyzing the feasibility of establishing the New York Film Academy in Abu Dhabi, an equipment and supplies company called Live and worked on an agreement between the Environment Agency in Abu Dhabi in collaboration with Prince Phillip of England and ARKive to set up the largest audio-visual archive of wildlife in the world. Al Ruwaini was also the Executive Producer of a feature documentary called Changing Sands – The Story of Abu Dhabi. Personality and Leadership Awards Al Ruwaini’s successful career has resulted in her being recognized, nominated and awarded by a series of organisations, media channels and by leading personalities across the globe. She has received The ISO Knight Award and been branded a Knight Woman. Similarly, Al Ruwaini has been acknowledged by Forbes magazine on more than one occasion and was coined: Most Powerful Women to Watch in 2012, was ranked 23rd on Forbes Most Powerful Arab Woman in 2014 and chosen amongst Forbes Arabia’s 50 Most Powerful Businesswomen in the Arab World, twice in a row. She was selected among the 25 Most Powerful Women in Global Media by the Hollywood Reporter, was nominated in the International TV Personality category at the Association of International Broadcasters Media Excellence Awards in the United Kingdom and called Unstoppable in Media by Femina Magazine in 2016. As a business leader, Nashwa Al Ruwaini has received several excellence awards such as CEO of the Year at the IAIR Awards three years in a row, CEO of the Year in the female category of CEO Middle East 2016, selected among the most 100 Powerful Women by CEO Middle East Magazine for several years running. She was also ranked among the Most Powerful Arab People by Arabian Business in 2011, 2012 and 2013. In the UAE she has also received several titles such as: Ten Most Powerful Arab Women by Emirates Women Magazine, chosen in Ahlan Magazine among the 100 Most Important and Influential Personalities in the UAE, was called Arab Woman Rising Star at the Women Leaders in the UAE in 2015 and one of the Most Inspirational Women in the UAE in 2016. She was honoured by Cambridge University, Middle East branch for her exemplary work and contribution in painting a clearer picture of the Arab world and media and as a result was granted the award of Best Arab Media Personality. Nashwa Al Ruwaini has also received awards for her humanitarian work with women and children from the Rashid Foundation and bestowed her with an honour shield from Dubai Police due to her support for social causes. Production Awards Nashwa Al Ruwaini has not only been awarded for her business excellence skills, she has also received numerous awards for her shows and productions. She received the Silver and Gold Award at the 14th Gulf Festival for Radio and Television productions and Prince of Poets won the Gold Award for Best Variety Show at the 11th Gulf Festival. One of her famous game show productions, The Buzzer was nominated for the 11th edition of the coveted Digital Studio Awards in 2016 and the Million’s Poet TV Show received the Best Production of the Year and Best Lighting Installation at the Digital Studio Awards. Her pioneering efforts in setting up the Middle East Film Festival led to the event being voted Best Festival in Abu Dhabi by What’s On magazine and her production Son of Babylon won the Amnesty International Award and the Peace Film Award at the 60th Berlin International Film Festival Independent Jury Awards. She also won Best Documentary Award for Okht El Amar: Soad Hosny from Al Ahram Al Arabi magazine and at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival she won Best Short Film Documentary for the film discussing AIDS called They Live Among Us. Education Al Ruwaini has a BA in English Literature from Qatar University, an MSc in International Politics of Asia and Africa from the University of London and an MPhil from the University of London on the media aspects of the Islamic rhetoric. Passions Nashwa Al Ruwaini is passionate about television and digital content and is consistently seeking inspiration to develop new ideas for her production company Pyramedia. She loves movies and the film making industry and is an avid promoter of social awareness campaigns for several important social and cultural topics. She loves being actively involved with charity work through the Nashwa Foundation that targets to help women and children across the Middle East. Al Ruwaini is married with three children and her family is one of her main passions.