Introduction
Muna AbuSulyman is considered to be one of the most influential and successful women in the Arab league of nations. She has achieved so much success in both her career as well as through her efforts to bring about prosperity, development and equality in the Arab nations. Her achievements are made even more phenomenal by the fact that she is a woman and she has been able to achieve so much in a society whereby the women are undermined and are constantly mistreated.
She stands up for the rights of women and aspires to prove that indeed women can be able to achieve as much as their male counterparts can (Book, 2000). Her achievements and accomplishments are made even more admirable by the stigma that she is able to overcome in a society that has for a long time been known to have strong opposition to single mothers and divorcees in the community.
Achievements
Muna’s popularity has risen to a great extent and she is a famous figure especially in the Middle East region; she has also served as a television co-host with MBC.
The social program that she co-hosted drew her wide range of admirers and her great sense of fashion has modeled her as a fashion icon amongst the women especially in the Arab nations. Her fields of work and interest are diverse and she works in philanthropy, the media, as aforementioned, as well as in the fields of international relations; in addition, she also has business interests.
Muna was born in 1973 on the 16th of May in Philadelphia in the United States, she spent her early years in the US whereby she attended and attained her elementary education as well as college education. Afterwards, she spent two years in Malaysia with her father who was working there; her interaction with the different and diverse cultures is perhaps one of the key contributors that helped to shape her personality (Carli & Eagly, 1999).
Muna graduated from the George Mason University, her academic accomplishments include a B.A. and an M.A in English Literature, and currently she is pursuing her doctorate degree. Her career has spun around a number of fields and interests; she has lectured American Literature at the King Saud University. In the field of education, her contribution cannot be overlooked because she helped to formulate and oversee the successful implementation of courses in English Literature.
Her achievements and accomplishments in both the education and the corporate worlds have seen her receive regular invitations to give keynote addresses in various conferences as well as gatherings. She has also received several awards and recognitions for her efforts and achievements alike; due to here public image and style, she has travelled to various parts of the world to spread her efforts to influence people and spread her values and the ideals that she stands for.
Her recent achievements include being the first woman to be appointed as a Goodwill Ambassador to the United Nations Development Program; this was in the year 2005 and in the year 2007 she was recognized by the Middle East Excellence Awards Institute for her efforts and achievements.
In the same year, she managed to achieve another milestone at the World Economic Forum whereby she was named as a Young Global Leader. In view of all of her accomplishments, then it is very easy to conclude that Muna did deserve her awards and the recognition that she was given because she has influenced the lives of many people all over the world. Her success in the corporate world is also a key indicator of her achievements; she has even managed to successfully launch her own clothes fashion line.
Muna describes her efforts as being geared towards bridging the gap between the Arab nations and the western world especially in the way that the women are treated in these nations.
Women are perceived to be inferior to men and they are not seen as being fit to appear as public figures; by co-hosting a television show, Muna was able to fight this perception of the Arab women (Raelin, 2003). She has also spread her efforts by giving talks and various lectures in various Universities about the various misconceptions that are associated with the Arab women.
Challenges and Conclusion
It is very important to note that in spite of her achievements, Muna has faced several challenges especially in her personal life. She is currently a divorcee and a mother of two daughters; having undergone a divorce in a society that does not generally support divorces might have hampered her efforts at empowering women and her other achievements.
However Muna was able to successfully overcome all these and has continued with her efforts and drive towards helping the community and the change the perceptions that were associated with the Saudi women. It is clear that Muna AbuSulayman exhibits the characteristics of a true leader and her style of leadership is exhibited by her numerous achievements in an environment that can be described as having been far from being perfect (Book, 2000).
References
Book, E. W. (2000). Why the best man for the job is a woman. New York: HarperCollins.
Carli, L. L., & Eagly, A. H. (1999). Gender effects on influence and emergent leadership.
In G. N. Powell (Ed.), Handbook of gender & work (pp. 203-222). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Raelin, J. (2003) Creating Leaderful Organizations. San Fransisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers Inc.