This year’s Impact Global Women Leadership awards ceremony was held on 5th June 2026 at the Metropolitan Hotel Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai. It brought together an extraordinary constellation of leaders, including CEOs of prominent family offices, investors, and dignitaries such as H. E. Yaqoob Al Ali, H. E. Juma Al Madani, and members of the office of H. H. Sheikh Ahmed Bin Faisal Al Qassimi. Their presence underscored the growing recognition that women’s leadership is not a side narrative — it is central to global progress.
At the heart of the evening stood Nousheen Mukhtar, founder of the Impact Leadership Program and the driving force behind the awards. Her keynote address was a masterclass in conviction and clarity. She spoke of the transformative power of women’s leadership, the responsibility that comes with influence, and the urgency of steering the world toward sustainability and equity. The room — filled with leaders, innovators, and rising stars — responded with palpable energy.
Honoring Excellence Across Borders and Sectors
The 2026 cohort of female award winners represented a tapestry of talent from the USA, South Africa, Bahrain, Germany, and the UAE. Each honoree brought a story of resilience, innovation, and impact. These women are more members of the global Impact community that brings them various international opportunities to network with business owners, founders and executives from across the world and capitalize on business growth. Leaders from technology, digital transformation, artificial intelligence, mining, sustainability, health and wellness, art, music, media and business received their awards.
From sustainability, Maphepane Pepsi Baiocco won the award; she is the Co-Founder and CEO of NeOn Energy and Efficient Energies, a manufacturer of hybrid solar panels, called Photovoltaic Thermals. From mining, Eng. Samya Salem Alsereidi, won the award. She is the Director of Geology & Mining Department at Fujairah Natural Resources Corporation, with over 18 years of leadership in geological surveying, mining operations, GIS systems, and large-scale national infrastructure projects. Architecture trailblazer, Ines Miersch-Suess, who is the CEO and Lead Innovation Architect at MSAO Innovation, won the award in architecture. Ines fuses European cultural heritage with frontier technologies. With 60+ museum master plans and contributions to Space Industry 6.0, she pioneers Symphonic Fusion™, a framework shaping next‑generation ecosystem architectures. In the realm of health and wellness, the well-known nurse Juwell Addis Harley and the founder of Broth Lab, Hadil Al Khatib, won awards. The Broth Lab is a wellness‑driven brand rooted in nourishing, slow‑crafted broths. With a passion for clean ingredients and holistic health, she transformed a simple kitchen staple into a modern, functional food movement. Hadil Al Khatib’s leadership blends innovation with tradition, inspiring healthier lifestyles through purposeful, flavor‑forward nutrition.
From technology and innovation, Shabnam Sarjami won an award in Artificial Intelligence. She is an AI strategist and innovation specialist with global impact across Australia and the Middle East. With deep expertise in Microsoft 365 Copilot, agentic AI, she brings a unique, creative and human centered approach into AI adoption and helping businesses transform the way they work, create, and innovate. Lubna El Bannan, won an award in digital transformation; she is an award-winning and globally recognized digital leader, named Entrepreneur of the Year 2021 in Digital Technology by APAC Entrepreneur, listed among the Top 10 Most Admired Women Leaders in Business 2022 by Success Pitchers, and recognized as one of the Most Empowering Women Leaders to Watch in 2025 and among the Most Successful Women Leaders by Global Biz Outlook.
Other distinguished honorees include Zarina Fayzidinova who is a rising musician; as a music teacher she has made her mark by mentoring and training hundreds of students. The ceremony endorsed Dr. Maha Hosain Aziz, a globally recognized influential author and thought leader. Dr Maha Hosain Aziz is a professor, speaker and advisor in global risk and future trends at NYU’s MA IR Program. She is also the award-winning author of bestseller Future World Order (2019 & 2025), its sequel A Global Spring (2026) and the political comic book The Global Kid. Sirine Dia has been inspiring women to step up and claim their share of power through her work. She won the Most Influential Woman Leader award this year. Finance industry has its icons, and this year, the leadership award is won by Fariha Fatima; she is an award‑winning finance leader known for her sharp strategic insight and transformative impact across the industry. With a track record of driving growth, strengthening financial governance, and championing innovation, Fariha has become a respected voice in modern finance. Her leadership blends analytical excellence with a commitment to empowering teams and elevating organizational performance.
More distinguished entrepreneurs and corporate leaders won awards during this ceremony: Nisha Sanghani who leads Ashurst Risk Advisory in the Middle East, advising boards on governance, geo-strategy and transformation is a name that stands out. With over 20 years’ experience, she is known for driving complex change and business performance. An award-winning CEO recognised in both the UK and Middle East, she supports high-impact transformations across sectors. Nareman Shukralla was recognized for being a renowned fashion designer as her superior yet creative luxury brand, NS by Nareman continues to shake Bahrain’s fashion ecosystem with its creativity.
Gina Nelson leading Bella & Bella, won an award for her work in the realm of Women Empowerment. She is an award-winning UAE-based advisory, media, and training platform dedicated to empowering women-led ventures and next-generation leaders across the GCC. Supporting young women in their careers, Bella & Bella has become a trusted partner in building inclusive entrepreneurship ecosystems that drive innovation, leadership, and long-term sustainability. Raneem Zaarour, the Unit manager at a leading Abu Dhabi based insurance company won an award for her commendable and deeply inspiring leadership. All these women have been pushing boundaries to grow and help others around them grow. Their achievements spanned sectors from tech innovation and policy reform to creative enterprise and community development — a testament to the multidimensional nature of modern leadership.
The ceremony was made possible through the support of four distinguished sponsors: Ahmed Al Maghribi Perfumes, ABC Perfumes Group, Iconic Coffee Group, and Breathe Organics.
A Spotlight on ESG: Leadership with Purpose
In a powerful alignment with World Environment Day, the awards featured a dedicated ESG segment in collaboration with Gazelles Management Consultancy. Founder Sweta Pandey delivered a compelling session on corporate responsibility within the ESG framework, urging organizations to embed sustainability into their core DNA. Her message was clear: the future belongs to leaders who can balance profit with purpose, growth with governance, and innovation with environmental stewardship.
Future Leadership Forum: Preparing Tomorrow’s Trailblazers
One of the most anticipated segments of the evening was the Future Leadership Forum, a dynamic discussion designed to equip emerging leaders with the mindset and tools needed for an increasingly complex world.
Moderated by the ever-inspiring Sandi Rich Saksena, the forum featured insights from: Dr. Mariam Shaikh, Ahmed Al Mahmood, Dr. Anumeha Bhatnagar and Dagmara Asbreuk.
Their dialogue explored the evolving demands of leadership — from emotional intelligence and cultural fluency to strategic foresight and ethical decision-making. Attendees described the session as transformative, uplifting, and deeply relevant to the challenges of the next decade.
A Ceremony That Became a Catalyst
The Impact Global Women Leadership Awards 2026 did more than honor excellence — it sparked conversations, forged connections, and reaffirmed a collective commitment to shaping a better world. It celebrated women not just as leaders of today, but as architects of the future.
In a global landscape hungry for vision, integrity, and innovation, these women are not simply rising — they are redefining what leadership looks like.
