Pearl Initiative appoints chief executive officer

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter

The Pearl Initiative, the leading Gulf business-led non-profit organisation promoting a corporate culture of accountability and transparency, announced the appointment of Yamama Al-Oraibi as its Chief Executive Officer, the first such appointment since the organisation’s inception in 2010.

A graduate of the University of Cambridge, Yamama comes with fifteen years of experience in youth employability, education, and entrepreneurship in the Middle East within the non-profit sector. Having lived in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Syria, with extensive travel throughout the Middle East and North Africa, Al Oraibi has strong knowledge of the region and a solid track record of establishing partnerships across different sectors. Al Oraibi previously worked as a private banker in London, and has expertise in building high-performance teams with particular emphasis on hiring local talent and young graduates.

The Pearl Initiative has experienced an exciting and busy period over the past two years, hosting 95 events, workshops and forums reaching over 3,100 executives across the Gulf region, and engaging over 2,300 students from 11 universities across the region in its various programs. In mid-2022, the organisation saw the return of in-person convenings held across several cities, including Riyadh, Jeddah, Khobar, Manama, Muscat, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah.
 
Yamama Al-Oraibi will work closely with the Pearl Initiative Board of Governors and the organisation’s growing community of partner companies to advance the mission of enhancing corporate governance in the Gulf region. Yamama joins at an extremely exciting time for the Gulf region’s business community, and the Pearl Initiative’s mission of promoting the business case for strong corporate governance in the Gulf region is more important than ever as more and more businesses embrace governance as a pillar for sustainable economic growth.

Commenting on the appointment, Badr Jafar, Founder of the Pearl Initiative said: “Over the past 13 years, the Pearl Initiative has been a leading player in helping to champion the business case behind good corporate governance practices across the Gulf region. The appointment of Yamama is aligned with the Pearl Initiative’s commitment to rapid expansion with a vision to support rapid private sector sustainable growth and employment across the region.”

Jamal Fakhro, Managing Partner of KPMG Bahrain and the Chairman of the Pearl Initiative Board of Governors, stated: ‘We are delighted to welcome Yamama as the newly appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Pearl Initiative. With her extensive years of experience, we believe that Yamama will be instrumental in driving the organisation towards the realisation of its Vision 2025 goals. We look forward to working together towards a brighter future."

Yamama Al-Oraibi commented: “It is an exhilarating time to be in the Gulf as the region witnesses historic growth and fast-paced changes including those in the private sector. As part of the Pearl Initiative’s unwavering commitment to champion strong corporate governance, the organisation is expanding to support the rapid growth and diversity of the private sector in the region. I am excited to join the Pearl Initiative in this unique time and look forward to working with its board, partners and the team to achieve our mission.”