HILTON GRAND HABTOOR - BEIRUT, TUESDAY, MARCH 20, 2012

www.we-initiative.com

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Mr. Maurice SEHNAOUI, Chairman, General Manager, BLC Bank.

Mr. Maurice Sehnaoui is the Chairman of the Board of Directors and General Manager of BLC Bank since 2008, and Chairman of the Board of Directors of USB Bank PLC (Cyprus) since 2011. He holds a degree in Economics (June 1967) from Saint Joseph University of Beirut. He was a former Minister of Energy and Water from 2004 to 2005. Mr. Sehnaoui was the Chairman–General Manager of Société Générale de Banque au Liban from 1984 to 2007, the Chairman of Société Générale Cyprus Ltd. from 1990 to 2008 and the Vice Chairman of Société Générale Jordan from 2000 and until 2008. He is a Board member and holds participations in a number of companies and owns a large real estate portfolio including prestigious buildings in the Beirut city center. He is Chevalier of the French “Légion d’Honneur” and Officer of the French “Ordre National du Mérite”.

Ms. Cherie BLAIR,Founder and Patron ofthe Cherie Blair Foundation for Women.

Ms. Cherie Blair is an active campaigner on equality and human rights issues. She has spoken across the world on both issues and also on the need for improved work/life balance for both women and men. In 2008, Cherie set up her charity, the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women. She believes that by empowering and supporting women around the world, they can play an increasingly important role in their economies and societies. The Foundation works with women in Africa, South Asia and the Middle East, helping them generate their own income and developing projects which encourage them to become successful and self-sustaining entrepreneurs.Cherie is also closely involved with over 20 charities. She is Honorary Vice President of Barnados, President of the Loomba Foundation, Patron of Scope and Patron of a number of charities, including Breast Cancer Care. Cherie is also Vice-Chair of the US Secretary of State’s International Council for Women’s Business Leadership and Honorary Chair of the World Justice Project.

Ms. Tania MOUSSALLEM,Assistant General Manager headingthe Strategic Development and Financial Management Group at BLC bank-Board Member in USB Bank, Cyprus.

Ms. Tania Moussallem joined BLC bank in 2008 where she initiated, headed and implemented several strategic and innovative development projects involving external and organic growth for the bank. Areas covered include acquisitions, finance, technology, corporate social responsibility, etc. latest of which is the We Initiative, subject of today’s conference. She had started her carrier at Société Générale de Banque au Liban where she held several managerial positions and headed among others Investment Banking, Specialized Financing and SMEs Departments. In parallel, she acted as Deputy Head of the Corporate and Investment Banking Division. She developed as well an extensive experience in privatization of the energy and water and waste water sectors including a 6 months period as member of the Minister of Energy and Water Cabinet.She holds a Masters degree in Finance & Communication from Ecole Superieure des Sciences Economiques et Commerciales ESSEC, France and a degree in Business Administration from the American University of Beirut.

Ms. Toyin ADENIJI,Head of Women in Business - IFC.

Ms. Toyin Adeniji heads IFC’s Global Women in Business Program (WIN) in the Sustainable Business Advisory Department, charged with creating opportunities for women in business in the developing world.Ms. Adeniji is a Financial Services professional with experience in international development, microfinance, and small and medium enterprise development. Prior to leading the WIN program, Ms. Adeniji conceived and promoted Susu Microfinance Bank Ltd in Nigeria: one of the first five microfinance banks to obtain an operating license from the Central Bank of Nigeria. She established Susu Microfinance Bank Ltd. after having previously worked at IFC as an investment officer for 12 years. While serving as an investment officer for the African Enterprise Fund, she gained extensive experience in providing financial assistance to small and medium scale enterprises in Nigeria. Ms. Adeniji has an MBA from Harvard Business School.

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

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PANEL 1:GENDER DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

Ms. Rana GHANDOUR SALHAB,Regional Talent & Communications Partner,Deloitte Middle East.A case study: The Deloitte Middle East Retention & Advancement of Women Initiative

Ms. Rana has regional responsibility for talent and communications at Deloitte in the Middle East. Before joining Deloitte, she was at Andersen, an HR Director in the EMEIA (Europe, Middle East, India & Africa) regional management team. During her career, she worked in the education and corporate sectors, in different countries and provided human capital consulting services to multinational and leading companies in the region. Rana is a co-chair of the MENA Entrepreneurship Action Group of the World Economic Forum (WEF). She is actively involved in women advancement, corporate responsibility, and youth skills building initiatives, and is a frequent contributor to regional conferences and has spoken at Harvard University, and other leading institutions in the Middle East and abroad. Rana launched and is leading the Deloitte ME women initiative, DRAW (Deloitte Retention and Advancement of Women) which aims at championing women advancement in the region and creating solutions, programs, networks and processes to advance women to leadership positions in the MENA region.

Ms. Kristin HETLE,Director,Strategic Partnerships, Advocacy, Civil Society, Communications and Resource Mobilization Division in UN Women, a UN agency dedicated to gender equality and women’s empowerment.

Flexible, Inclusive, Integrative Change Models: Lessons and best practices from leading companies applying the UN WEPs

Ms. Hetle, a national of Norway, has her background from the UN system, government service, the private sector and media. Before joining UN Women she served as Director of Communications for the Ministry of Labour in Norway. Until 2008, she was Chief of Communications in UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, where she spearheaded several public awareness campaigns for women’s health . Prior to that, Ms. Hetle was CEO of Media Lion Inc., a company she co-founded, specializing in communication strategies and media training for corporate leaders. She was also a media advisor for the President of the Norwegian Red Cross. Ms. Hetle is a journalist by training, and anchored a variety of programs in Norwegian Public Radio for almost 20 years. Ms. Hetle studied Human Geography and Romance languages at the University of Oslo, and Journalism at the Oslo University College.

Mr. Xavier REILLE,Manager, MENA Financial Market Advisory.

Mr. Xavier joined IFC in 2011 to lead its Financial Market advisory program in the Arab world. He has been a senior manager with the World Bank for 10 years. He is at the origin of the Microfinance Information exchange and he is also the founder of the Microfinance Gateway, the knowledge platform of the microfinance industry.Xavier managed the G8 access to finance for MENA from 2005 to 2008 and lead CGAP/World Bank transparency and technology programs from 2000 to 2005. Before joining CGAP, Xavier set up several microfinance investment funds in Southeast Asia. He also worked for SIDI, a venture capital company focusing on SME. Xavier has been a board member of several banks and investment companies. He has authored over 20 publications on access to finance topics. Xavier graduated from French Grande Ecole ENSIA and completed a banking certificate with CEFEB.

Mr. Najib ANWAR CHOUCAIR,Executive Director and Head of the Banking Department at Banque Du Liban.High Impact Analytics: Integrating Diversity and Inclusion into the economy. What are the opportunities?

Mr. Choucair graduated with a degree in Business Management from the Lebanese American University. Mr. Choucair is also an active member of the open market committee and the Basel committee and a contributor to Doing Business -World Bank. Mr. Choucair organized and participated in a number of conferences and seminars held jointly with IMF, World Bank, EIB and IFC and has Launched initiatives to promote micro-credit, lending to SMEs and the establishment of Registry for movable Assets, and the financial Statement Center for Corporate.

 

MODERATOR

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Ms. Marcela NAVARRO,Executive Business Manager to CEO Corporate Banking Division at Royal Bank of Scotland.Challenges faced by women entrepreneurs in developed countries. What are the similarities with Lebanon?

Ms. Marcela plays an active role as part of the CBD ExCo team. She is responsible for identifying and developing new ventures, working closely with CBD CEO and Executive. She joined RBS in 2010. Marcela worked for ABN AMRO, where she progressed from local to regional to global responsibilities, leveraging her innovative and entrepreneurial approach, as well as her her strong knowledge and experience of international propositions and flow business. In the last two years, she has made a significant contribution to the Chief Executive Office. Marcela has recently joined WeConnect Europe as Chair, and is an advisor to the Board of RBS Foundation India. She has an MBA of the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana (among the top 2 Universities of Colombia) an Advanced Management Programme at IESE (University of Navarra) and recently completed an Executive Banking Programme at INSEAD.

Ms. Randa ABOUSLEIMAN,Managing Partner inAbousleiman and Partners.Overview of the Lebanese Legal Framework and its challenges affecting SMEs, in particular Women in Business.

Ms. Randa Abousleiman holds an LL.M. degree in Corporate Law from New York University School of Law, a Masters of International Affairs with a specialization in Finance from Columbia University School of International Affairs, a Maîtrise en Droit from Saint Joseph University- Beirut and a B.A. in Political Science from the American University of Beirut. Ms. Abousleiman is a member of the Beirut Bar Association and a member of the legal committee of the Association of Banks in Lebanon where she is working on various amendments to the Lebanese Banking Laws. Ms. Abousleiman is also part of the team instituted by the World Bank and the office of the Prime Minister in order to reform the investment climate in Lebanon and a member of the Steering Committee that is currently negotiating and drafting the law on Public- Private Partnerships in Lebanon. Ms. Abousleiman has been awarded the International Financial Law Review National Law Firm of the Year Award in 2006, 2008 and 2010.

Ms. Hanan SAAB,Founder of Pharmamed.SMEs and Women in Business financing gap.

Ms. Saab’s main focus is the importation and marketing of medical supplies and novelty pharmaceutical products, based on exclusive representation from renowned foreign companies. Over the years, she worked on enhancing her skills by attending courses and workshops as a speaker and participant on subjects related to business, Women Empowerment, Gender Issues, Pharmaceuticals and others in Lebanon and abroad. These workshops and conferences were organized by MEPI, OECD, World Bank, Woodrow Wilson, MEDA Forum, The Economist and others. Ms. Saab is one of twelve founding members of the Lebanese League for Women in Business (LLWB) that was incepted late 2006 and serves currently as the president of the organization, a founding and board member of the MENA Business Women Network (MENA BWN) and the executive of the Lebanese Hub.

Ms. Mona CHEMALI KHALAF,Economist and Independent Consultant on Gender and Development Issues.

Ms. Mona Chemali Khalaf is a former Professor of Economics and was the Director of the Institute for Women’s Studies in the Arab World at the Lebanese American University. She is on the Advisory Board of the Gender Economic Research and Policy Analysis Initiative (GERPA), established by the World Bank and CAWTAR in 2006. She is on the editorial board of Al-Raida, a magazine that addresses women’s issues in the Arab world and has authored several publications that focus on women’s empowerment through education and work. She is presently undertaking research on migration and its impact on women and the family. Ms. Khalaf was the coordinator of the World Bank’s Gender Consultative Council in the MENA Region and was member of the Lebanese NGO Commission for the Preparation of the 1995 Beijing World Conference on Women; the Lebanese National Commission for Women Affairs; and the Board of Trustees of the United Nations International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW).

PANEL 2:CHALLENGES OF SME’S AND WOMEN IN BUSINESS MODERATOR

3:00PM - 4:00PM

4:00PM - 4:30PM

4:30PM - 5:30PM

5:30PM - 6:30PM

6:30PM - 6:50PM

6:50PM - 7:00PM

7:00PM

managed by

we@blcbank.com • www.blcbank.com • 1510

Registration and Welcome Drink

Opening Speeches Ms. Tania Moussallem, Assistant General Manager - BLC Bank Ms. Toyin Adeniji, Head of Women in Business - IFC

Panel 1 - Gender Diversity and Inclusion Moderator: Mr. Xavier Reille, Manager Financial Markets Advisory - IFC MENAPanelists: Mr. Najib Choucair, Director - Banking Department, Central Bank of Lebanon Ms. Rana Ghandour Salhab, Regional Talent and Communications Partner - Deloitte Middle East Ms. Kristin Hetle, Director of the Strategic Partnerships Division - UN Women

Panel 2 - Challenges of SMEs and Women in BusinessModerator: Ms. Mona Khalaf, Member of the Advisory Board - Gender Economic Research and Policy Analysis Initiative (GERPA); Assistant Professor of Economics - LAUPanelists: Me. Randa Abousleiman, Partner - Abousleiman & Partners Law cabinet Ms. Marcela Navarro, Executive Business Manager - Corporate Banking Division, Royal Bank of Scotland Ms. Hanan Saab, Managing Director - Pharmamed; Founding Member of LLWB

Keynote Speech Ms. Cherie Blair, Founder of the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women

Closing Speech Mr. Maurice Sehnaoui, Chairman General Manager - BLC Bank

Cocktail Reception