More women around the world are using geographic information system (GIS) technology to achieve meaningful solutions to spatial challenges. According to the Blue Marble Geographics report, women occupy up to 35% of GIS positions worldwide, with an estimated 21% held in the Middle East and Africa.
MEA Women in GIS is a support initiative created by Esri, the global leader in GIS, aimed at growing the regional community of women in the geospatial industry.
“MEA Women in GIS is an initiative that helps women motivate each other to succeed and encourage more young women to join the industry,” said Nadine Sherif, Regional Marketing Manager at Esri in the Middle East, Africa, and Central Asia
Through the initiative, Esri celebrates the professional lives and achievements of nine women from the Middle East and Africa. Here are their inspiring stories:
- Eng. Maryam Obaid Al Muhairi, CEO of Building Regulation & Permits Agency, Dubai Municipality
Maryam has over 20 years of government-level management, including building management, GIS, executive planning, and information technology. In her role, Maryam focuses on the GeoDubai initiative to create a digital twin of Dubai. This digital replica of the city enables the government to plan and manage Dubai effectively with smart services, meeting their “happy and sustainable” goal. Mariam received the Construction Technology Woman Award for 2021.
- Sanaa Salman, CEO & Co-Founder, Openware
Sanaa is a co-founder of Openware, the Esri Distributor in Kuwait. With over 22 years of experience in GIS, Sanaa has held different leadership positions at Openware including Projects Manager, Professional Services Manager, Outsourcing Director, and Sales Director. As the CEO, Sanaa sets strategies, directs sales and support teams, and ensures the company meets its financial and business targets. She is proud of Openware’s work with Kuwait’s leading Oil & Gas company.
- Manal Sayed, Vice President of Digital Services, Khatib & Alami
Manal has 30 years of GIS experience in implementation and GeoSmart solutions management. She was instrumental in helping Khatib & Alami (K&A) become the first Esri Platinum Partner in the MENA region in 2014. Leading K&A’s Digital Services sector, Manal guides her team to offer a dynamic environment that fosters a technology-driven mindset. Her personal vision is to blend GIS technology into K&A’s various services and business processes and empower K&A’s engineering consultancy and digital services.
- Akua Aboabea Aboah, Managing Director, Sambus Geospatial Limited
Akua joined Sambus in 2013, maintaining the Esri distributorship her late father had started. To date, she is the youngest African woman in most leadership meetings. Akua embraced the GIS business learning from her employees, business partners, and stakeholders who supported her during the transitional phase. In the following decade, Akua developed Sambus from its headquarters in Ghana, later establishing and growing a Nigeria office. Akua advocates GIS as a decision and policymaking tool for various African governments to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
- Dr. Khaula Al Kaabi, Assistant Professor, and Department of Geography and Urban Planning Chair at United Arab Emirates University (UAEU)
At UAEU Khaula has served as Chair of Geography Department since 2013 and as Chief Innovation Officer since 2015. Dr. Khaula’s research interests include transport and land use planning, spatial analysis and GIS applications, tourism and urban development, and innovation. Dr. Khaula has published several articles in the Journal of Air Transport Management, Journal of Transport Geography, and The Arab World Geographer. She also published three book chapters in Aviation and Tourism: Implications for Leisure Travel published by Ashgate; Airports, Cities and Regions published by Routledge; and in Geographies of Air Transport published by Ashgate.
- S’lindi Mhlongo – Chief GIS Advisor, Eskom
S’lindi has 20 years of experience in GIS working in utilities. She joined the South African power sector as a Geographic Mapping Producer in 2003 working on GIS application, contract placement & management, project management, spatial data management, GIS solution deployment, and GIS strategy development. Over the years, S’lindi has grown her career now serving as Chief GIS Advisor within Eskom’s GIS Centre of Excellence (CoE) which is responsible for providing geospatial products and services to all business divisions. She continues to voice her support for GIS as a business value technology for enabling better decision-making.
- Gretta Kelzi – Senior Manager for Operations, Esri Lebanon
Gretta began her GIS career 25 years ago as a supervisor for GeoSpatial data collection. Later she was promoted to a GIS project manager and continued her way up to managing the entire distributorship. Gretta is passionate about education, working with students and teachers in Lebanon to integrate GIS as part of the curriculum. Her work has resulted in diversified projects that leverage GIS for stronger neighborhood connections. Gretta is proud her work was recognized for Esri Lebanon’s Award for Special Achievement 2020, and Esri’s recognition for Doing Good Amidst Conflict in 2021.
- Pauline Okeyo, MSc. – Solution Engineer at Esri Regional office at MEA
Pauline’s 12 years of GIS experience empowers her work at Esri to support Pan-African Organizations, regional partners, and international organizations working in Africa. Her focus is on the Africa GeoPortal to achieve sustainable development in Africa. She has also worked for Esri Eastern Africa as the Professional Services Manager responsible for developing and implementing services and training in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Ethiopia. Before joining Esri, Pauline worked for the Kenya Wildlife Service, supporting conservation activities in the Western Conservation Area.
- Dr. Eng. Nadine Sherif – Marketing Manager at Esri for Middle East, Africa, and Central Asia
Nadine is a GIS professional and a seasoned Marketer. She has over 20 years of experience helping businesses in the Middle East and Africa region to grow and flourish. Nadine joined Esri as Marketing Manager at Middle East & Africa in 2019. Before that, she worked at Esri North Africa (Esri distributor for Egypt, Libya, Chad, Sudan, and South Sudan) for ten years. She also worked in multinationals, regional corporations, and consulting firms. Together with regional distributors, Nadine developed a Storytelling Center of Excellence and champions education programs to raise GIS awareness in MEA. She advocates the adoption of geospatial thinking & Location Intelligence across industries.
“Esri Press Series Women and GIS
Esri’s Women and GIS is a series of books revealing how ordinary girls become extraordinary women, overcoming obstacles to make significant global contributions. Since 2019, Esri Press has published 3 volumes.
Volume 1: Mapping Their Stories
Volume 2: Starts of Spatial Science
Volume 3: Champions of Sustainable World
Continuing to grow the women in GIS community, Esri also ran a series of dedicated webinars, viewable here.
Get Connected
Follow upcoming profiles on the MEA Portal. If you are a native woman of the MEA region who is working in GIS, please send us your story by email.
