Five students from the University of Wollongong in Dubai (UOWD) were recently chosen to walk in the footsteps of experienced industry leaders in the region under the CEOx1Day (CEO for a Day) program.
Sophie Robertson, Events & Marketing Project Manager, Odgers Berndtson Middle East, said CEOx1Day is an exclusive Odgers Berndtson initiative, aimed at uncovering the rising top talent in the UAE who will be leaders of the future.
“It provides them with the opportunity to spend a day with top Chief Executives from some of the world’s best known brands and organisations in order to gain a better understanding of the factors involved in driving a business and how these leaders create value in their organisations”.
After a rigorous assessment process designed to gauge their leadership potential, Alexandra Makarenko, Amina Mahmood, Annabel Alexander, Kulsoom Khalid and Mustafa Ahmed — all final year undergraduate students from UOWD — successfully secured their spots as finalists to shadow Martin Stewart, CEO of OSN; Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports; Olivier Chavy, CEO of Movenpick; Khalid Anib, CEO of Abu Dhabi Hotels and Ahmed Galal Ismail, CEO of Majid Al Futtaim.
Celebrating the second year of running the project in the UAE, the cohort of CEOx1Day finalists, representing various universities in the region, attended an exclusive event at Burj Khalifa with guest speakers, including Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports, sharing their thoughts on the project, the benefits of the program and why other CEOs should take part in such an initiative.
“This was one of my most memorable experiences whilst studying and I would highly recommend current students to apply for this program”, said Alexandra Makarenko, a recent Bachelor of Business Administration graduate.
“I was in the fortunate position to spend a day with Martin Stewart, CEO of OSN, who provided me with a holistic overview of what is involved running the day-to-day operations of a leading entertainment network. This is a real-life experience you can’t get from a classroom environment and most certainly the most memorable highlight of my time at UOWD,” she added
Amina Mahmood, a BCom Marketing student, said that spending a day with Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports, was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
“Witnessing the ins and outs of one of the world’s largest passenger and cargo hubs and seeing the number of individuals who are working behind the scenes to ensure consumers and travellers alike enjoy a smooth and seamless experience was mind-blowing. Everyone worked together as part of a bigger team to make things happen”, she said.
CEO for a Day is a global program that was launched in 2017 in the UAE. It is currently running in several countries around the world, including Belgium, the Netherlands, Brazil, Canada, Singapore and Spain.
Odgers Berndtson works alongside each participating organisation to coordinate a day that would be a meaningful and memorable experience for the CEO and the student.
