Parsons’ Suad Khawaja named Woman in Leadership of the Year winner
Outstanding achievements and leadership skills help Khawaja to win Women in Construction Seminar & Awards prize
Suad Khawaja, Dubai area manager at Parsons won the Woman in Leadership of the Year prize during the Women in Construction Seminar & Awards held alongside The Big 5 event in Dubai.
Khawaja earned the award “in light of her outstanding achievements and leadership skills and positive impact on the industry”, said the judges.
Jovana Lukac, structural engineer at Robert Bird Group, and Suheir Islam, Geotechnical Engineer at SNC-Lavalin’s Atkins were awarded the Next-Generation Woman of the Year 2018 award by the panel of judges.
Speaking during Women in Construction Seminar, Shorouq Hamawi, regional communications and marketing manager at Mott Macdonald, and commented that women have faced challenges related to pay gap, career development, promotion opportunities and leadership appointments but added: “We are, however, seeing policy changes and new practices in place to close the pay gap and to introduce more friendly regulations that should allow women to have a balance between their professional and private lives which will ultimately, allow women to pursue leadership opportunities and invest more in their career development journey.”
“Continuing from the UAE’s leadership vison and its approach to women’s empowerment, we believe this is a great opportunity to showcase our commitment to support and value women in construction.”
Anwaar Al Shimmari, CIO at the UAE Ministry of Infrastructure Development, Cynthia Corby, audit partner & Middle East construction industry leader at Deloitte & Touche Middle East, Hind Alowais, VP International Participants at EXPO 2020, and Dr Shetha Al-Zubaidi, CEO Alfahim Avenue Group Companies – Brookson Project Management, were among the many high profile professionals who participated as speakers in the event, said event organiser dmg events.
“As we pursue our mission to support and move the building industry forward, we recognize that developing the construction sector also means developing its work force,” said Josine Heijmans, portfolio director at dmg events, said in her opening remarks.
“With The Big 5’s Women in Construction Seminar & Awards, not only we are putting women empowerment and gender parity in construction on top of the agenda. We are also shedding light on some of the great women who are changing the game and making an impact in the construction sector.”
