The sophomore edition of ProudCast boasted a turnout of 140+ female leaders with diverse areas of expertise from sectors such as banking, finance, retail, and technology.

Kuwait: Celebrating the countless achievements and triumphs of women across sectors, KPMG Kuwait successfully conducted the second edition of its women-led event ProudCast at the Four Seasons Hotel, Kuwait.

The event, held in honor of International Women's Day, was conducted entirely by the women of KPMG Kuwait, and brought together women and allies for the shared cause of women’s empowerment.

Dr. Rasheed Al-Qenae, Managing Partner, KPMG Kuwait, kicked off the event and said, “During the pandemic, the senior leadership at KPMG Kuwait decided to launch the KPMG Kuwait Impact Plan with gender equality as its biggest priority. Since then, we have come a long way and more than doubled our women talent, growing from 19% to about 42%. I can proudly say that, today, women represent all the departments, across all three functions, i.e., Audit, Tax and Advisory. While we remain focused on growing it further, we are not just championing the cause of women empowerment within our organization and are partnering, collaborating, and supporting other advocates of and platforms for the cause.”

The breakfast event saw the launch of the KPMG Network of Women (KNOW), a community-based platform that aims to provide a safe and empowering space for women, where they can connect, share, and support each other to take on leadership roles, pursue their goals with confidence, and fulfill their potential.

One of the main points that ProudCast 2024 drove was that majority of the global female leaders like tackling the challenge of leadership in times of polycrisis. Although they are witnessing increasing complexity of tasks and responsibilities compared to men, they still feel the polycrisis will have a positive impact on their career and are taking an agile and strategic approach to it.

These findings were published in KPMG Kuwait’s women-centric thought leadership report, Global Female Leaders Outlook 2023–24: Female Leaders Shaping Resilience in a Polycrisis, which was also released at the event.

The report features interviews with five of Kuwait’s eminent female leaders who spoke at length with KPMG Kuwait to voice their perspectives on a broad range of issues concerning women. They were Hanaa Hasan Taha, Managing Director, Chief Financial Officer, Kamco Invest, Dr. Fai Ben Salamah, Founder, Cyfay Company for Cybersecurity Services, Karen Cruttenden, Vice President at Victoria’s Secret, Alshaya Group, Yasmeen Fouad AlSalem, Director Corporate Communications, CITRA, and Mai AlOwaish, Chief Data & Innovation Officer, Gulf Bank.

The panel discussion at ProudCast sparked a meaningful dialog on why women should be up to speed with technological changes, the importance of equal opportunity, measures to eliminate stereotypes and biases, and the power of communication as a tool for growth. Adding insights to the discussion were panel members Danah Taqi, Chief Communications Officer, Ottu, Danah AlJasem, General Manager Corporate Communications, stc, Faten Abu-Ghazaleh, President, Service Hero, and Mai Alowaish. The session was moderated by Maryam Mofied, Manager, Deal Advisory, KPMG Kuwait.

ProudCast also brought to the fore two other initiatives aimed at empowering women in Kuwait  Kuwait Women’s Economic Empowerment Platform (KWEEP) which was led by Salma Al Hajjaj, General Manager HR at Gulf Bank, and Lean In Network by Seneca Cottom, Head of Sustainability, Alshaya Group.

As the event progressed, Sara Asfahani, Senior Consultant Management Consulting, and Rashmi Ravikumar, Senior Auditor Audit, KPMG Kuwait, interacted with the audience in an open debate. During the debate, the facilitators used a live survey to understand the pulse of the audience and dove deep into pertinent subjects revolving around women at the workplace to explore if they felt adequately supported by their female colleagues, experienced shifts in peer group dynamic in the event of early promotions and faced higher complexity of tasks compared to men.

The participants of ProudCast 2024 also had the opportunity to network with like-minded individuals and emerging female leaders. A standout in the event was the guided meditation session held by Katherine Taglivia from dar atma.

The returning edition of ProudCast was centered around the theme for International Women’s Day 2024, Count Her In: Accelerating Gender Equality Through Economic Empowerment and saw an attendance of more than 140 women from different spheres.

To read the Global Female Leaders Outlook 2023–24 and learn more about KNOW, visit kpmg.com/kw.