Sipping on her very well-made decaf cappuccino, courtesy of Magnolia Bakery, Karen shares, “We recently held an event on how to start a blog with Doha’s top blogger, Rachel Morris, as our members showed great interest in this area.” Karen and her team will be introducing a ‘Newbie Program’ starting in October 2015. “Well, I need to come up with a better name for the program than the ‘Newbie Program’,” she giggles. “The ‘Newbie Program’ is a means to encouraging cross-cultural understanding,” she continues. “It will be a four-week rolling program every month. The first session will be an introduction on how to learn Arabic – not teach Arabic – but how to direct people who would like to learn Arabic through different options. The second session will encompass a coffee morning with expat and Qatari women allowing for an understanding to be forged from the beginning. The third session will assist members on how to find a suitable job in Qatar. The fourth session will be a cultural journey encouraging our members to familiarize themselves with Qatar’s culture, be it visiting Katara, Fanar, and so on.” “Our sessions are currently in English but we look to introduce Arabic into the sessions very soon, at least in the way of introductions. We need more integration. People appreciate the fact that we are guests in Qatar and it’s important for us to help people embrace the cultural understanding. All our meetings are ladies-only and are alcoholfree.” QPWN is keen on creating alliances and partnerships with local organizations. “We are working on tying in with the Bedaya [Centre] in order to offer sessions in Arabic. We are partnering with organizations like Fanar, Katara, Doha Toastmasters and various others to further the mission to help support and develop professional women in Qatar.” QPWN provides an in depth-mentoring program called The Circle of Pearl, where mentors and mentees are invited to a six-month program. After reviewing the applications, members are matched based on specific needs and requirements. Members are free to arrange meetings on their own time allowing a flexible yet intense schedule. Over the course of the year, there’s a dinner for all participants to take part in a larger networking event. Women who may feel they have not found their niche in Qatar will find the monthly membership program valuable. “It’s really important that one establishes their core values, because if you don’t understand your values, then the balance you’re looking for in life versus career will be virtually impossible,” Karen explains. “We practice a general exercise asking women to write down their six core values, and then narrow them down to three. From there, one can work out how to create life to reflect that balance.” Meetings are scheduled from 6:00 p.m. till 8:00 p.m., leaving room for a flexible schedule for non-working and working women alike. Women of all ages are welcome and QPWN’s numbers are growing significantly every month. Those interested in joining the QPWN journey, can visit the website and join for free. “We would love for people to come along for this journey and join QPWN in its efforts in Qatar.”
at QPWN's Karen (centre) receives an award contributions of Dream Big event, honouring the leaders unity female entrepreneurs and comm
Upcoming Events: • Introducing QPWN Book Club with a twist (books on personal/ professional development) • July: Ramadan iftar • July/August: A number of small events (visit their Facebook page for details) • September: Dress for Success event with speaker Elisabete Reis (Glam Your Image founder) • October: ‘Newbie Program’ initiates • November: Celebrating Five-Year QPWN Anniversary (stay tuned!) • Keep an eye out for events on Women in Oil and Gas n
For more information on QPWN visit www.qpwn.org, or email qatarpwn@gmail.com and karen@karenkennaby.com. QPWN can also be found on Facebook and LinkedIn under Qatar Professional Women’s Network. (Follow Facebook for up-to-date announcements and events). Twitter handle: @QPWN.
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