Emerging business leaders, senior professionals attend networking event

Manama, Sept. 11 (BNA): Tamkeen, in cooperation with Bahrain Islamic Bank (BISB) and FinMark Communications, announced the successful hosting of a mentorship and networking event attended by more than 100 professionals – both senior and emerging business leaders - aimed at highlighting the benefits of professional mentorship in the career progression and development of young Bahraini talent. The event, which took place at Gallery 21, saw participation from professional across sectors including banking, insurance, telecommunications, aviation, industrial, training and development, healthcare, travel, media, and the public sector. Among these were professionals from Bahrain and Saudi Arabia including junior and senior managers, HR specialists from some of Bahrain’s leading corporates and numerous potential mentors and mentees who were educated about the existing professional mentorship programmes currently available or under development in Bahrain. This includes Tamkeen’s soon to be launched Career Mentorship Program as well as the Reach programme. Reach is the first non-profit organisation dedicated to the mentorship of women professionals in the Middle East. First established in the Dubai International Financial Centre, the organisation launched its professional mentorship scheme in Bahrain in February 2018. The evening comprised of networking and a lively and interactive panel discussion that saw senior HR professionals share insights and stories of mentorship success. Panelists included: Mr. Ahmed Janahi, Community Engagement Manger at Tamkeen, Mr. Dawood Al Ashhab, Head of Human Resources and General Services at BiSB, an active mentor and Ms. Dana Buhiji, Chief Human Resources Officer at NBB. The discussion was moderated by Ms. Zahraa Taher, Managing Director at FinMark Communications. Mr. Al Ashhab said, “BiSB is extremely pleased to help support not only young members of our team leverage the power of mentorship to facilitate professional growth but more broadly support other community initiatives aimed at helping Bahrain’s emerging business leaders succeed. Good mentors can play an instrumental role in career advancement. Mentors can help provide direction and guide the choices that young professionals make, help them break out of their comfort zones and ultimately provide them with a range of informed possibilities and perspectives. As a strong believer in the positive impact of mentorship, I hope that both young professionals and HR leaders attending the event will increasingly begin to view mentorship as a key part of their development strategy and in the process disrupt the norms of the industry and the way we have traditionally approached career progression.” Ms. Taher added, “We are delighted with the strong interest and turnout at the event, especially the number of senior cross industry professionals who participated, showing their commitment to the development of the next generation of young business leaders and their belief in the power of mentorship. The event’s aim was to help young professionals better understand and get acquainted with some of the high caliber mentorship programmes currently available to them in Bahrain as well as helping these programmes identity a ready pool of mentors and mentees who can take part and benefit. We look forward to continuing our partnership with Tamkeen and BiSB to help further develop opportunities and events to support the professional growth of Bahraini talent.”