Abjora

Lubna AlKhamis is a young Saudi Arab woman coming from a long line of Arab intellectuals, with her grandfather being the founder of Al-Jazirah Newspaper, one of the very first newspapers in the Saudi Arabia.

Having been a firsthand witness to the challenges in the Arab world and the massive transformations currently underway, she is deeply passionate to empower Saudi and Arab society and particularly women to take control of their destiny. Lubna herself, is a role model for such empowerment. While gaining valuable leadership experience at the Prime Minister’s Office and the Executive Office of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, she realized that there are very few quality Arabic podcasts.

She took it upon herself to create her own podcast – Abjora (or sidelamp in English), which represents ‘enlightenment’ – her vision to enlighten the Arab world with high quality content that question everything. Her decision was not entirely random, specially when considering only 0.5 percent of content on the web is available in the Arabic language, despite Arabs being 5% of the global population. Her thought provoking sessions became an instant hit and within 8 months, she managed to get a regular follower base of million listeners. Lubna also won the New Media Award bestowed by the Government of Saudi Arabia and has gained wide acclaim. Lubna’s mission in life is to empower other women (and men) to take control of their own narrative and shape their own future, harnessing all her strengths, networks and platforms.