Procter & Gamble Middle East FZE kickstarted its Women Entrepreneurs Academy from March 7-9 in its MENA Innovation Centre Dubai offices in collaboration with WEConnect International, as part of its ongoing commitment to equality and inclusion.

The first of its kind in the region, the P&G Women Entrepreneurs Academy program invited female business owners based in the UAE to participate in competitive training opportunities ahead of industry-wide digitization, further cementing the brand’s efforts to create an inclusive, gender-equal environment.

The program offered a total of eight training sessions across leadership and key skill sets necessary to achieve greater pitch delivery, procurement, digitization, business strategy and long-term growth, concluding with a graduation ceremony and networking session on March 9, 2022.

P&G Women Entrepreneurs Academy co-directors Nihal Hashish, senior purchasing manager-paper packaging and supplier diversity at Procter & Gamble; and Patricia E. Langan, regional director for the Middle East at WEConnect International, together spearheaded the selection process against competitive criteria, whereby all 20 successful applicants are either female owners or have a high-level executive role in a B2B business that is at least 51 percent owned, managed and controlled by women.

Procter & Gamble (P&G) and WEConnect International have partnered since 2016 to develop the Women Entrepreneurs Development Programs to train women-owned businesses in communities where P&G operates. To date, more than 440 women from 14 countries have been provided course content on topics including building leadership skills, aligning and executing business strategy, leveraging technology and procurement processes.