Emirates NBD e7 Daughters of the Emirates, a nation-wide program by Promise of a Generation (POAG) that brings together, trains and mentors young women to become future leaders, welcomed its incoming Class of 2018 at the UAE Vision Dialogue, thus marking the beginning of the Emirates NBD e7 Summit which runs till September 9.

Emirates NBD e7 Daughters of the Emirates equips young women aged 18 to 25 with the resources to unlock their potential and positively impact their communities.

Through a series of workshops and guidance from dedicated mentors, participants will work in teams to design, fund and execute community projects, as well as gain connections to a network of Emirates NBD e7 alumni, community leaders and affiliates.

Commemorating Emirati Women’s Day, the theme of this year’s edition has been set aas 'Women are Partners in Giving,' said the organisers.

It will encourage 38 women aged 18-25 to develop sustainable community benefit projects aligned to the core pillars of the Year of Giving: promoting corporate social responsibility, volunteering and serving the nation, they stated.

To help their vision to fruition, the project teams will be provided with seed funding from the programme’s tittle sponsor, Emirates NBD, and ongoing mentorship from Promise of a Generation volunteers.

Commenting at the convocation, Lubna Qassim, the senior executive VP Chief Group General Counsel, Emirates NBD said: "We would like to welcome yet another group of young, passionate and determined Emirati women who are poised to be leaders of tomorrow."

"As a homegrown bank, Emirates NBD is proud to provide both financial as well as knowledge support, empowering Emirati youth in realizing their full potential and contributing positively to their country’s development," she noted.

Adela Acevedo Sarna, Emirates NBD e7 chairperson said: "2017 has been an incredible year for societal development in the UAE owing to the government’s Year of Giving initiative which has brought together entities across the public and private sectors for the good of the country."

"We want to highlight the role that women have played in this contribution and the annual summit gives us an excellent opportunity to connect with these young candidates for the first time and enable them to be positive community change makers in the months to come," noted Sarna.  

The next generation of Emirates NBD e7 participants will also receive instruction on design thinking and grounding their projects in the pillars of POAG: culture & heritage, education & career, enhancing opportunities for the less fortunate, environment & health, family & women and leadership, said the organisers.

Past projects include Mootary, an initiative to empower women through their cars by providing driving safety and car maintenance workshops;  Masaari, a program designed to help high school students discover their strengths and passions through personal development workshops and weeklong career exploration internships; and The Lotus Effect, an education project to improve the earning potential of low-income female hospitality workers by providing English-language classes enhanced by mobile telephone-based learning.-TradeArabia News Service