Programme Updates

Wishing you and your loved ones all the best in this festive season

Year 9 recruitment kicked off

Applications for Year 9 are now open! Like every year, please spread the word and send us any referrals you have. Your support and recommendations are always highly valued.

We also just launched a new website, check it out!

Year 8 News

CV Writing Workshop

Year 8 Associates completed a workshop on "CVs, LinkedIn, and Cover Letters" learning about the essentials of building a strong LinkedIn profile as well as how to navigate interviews and assessment centres.The session delivered by Michele Ross, Job Search Coach, organised by Bon Education, and held at the PwC's Academy Middle East, equipped our Associates with the necessary skills to succeed in a competitive job market.

Fujairah Trek

Year 8 went on an adventure that involved a hike in the beautiful landscapes of #Fujairah and a tour of the historically and archaeologically significant #AlHayl Castle.

DBA Alumni Association

Announcement of VPs

We are very pleased to share with you all the Executive Committee for the DBA Alumni Association. Let us give a warm welcome to the undisputed committee:

• President: Surkhel Yousafzai

• VP Programmes and Events: Rafaela Guimarães Barreiro

• VP Career Development and Networking: Ana Paula Poppi

• VP Membership and Communications: Edward James White

Announcement of Mentors

We would like to thank all the alumni that nominated themselves to be mentors for the current cohort. The mentorship programme already kicked off 2 weeks ago and many pairs have already had their first sessions.

The Year 8 cohort is very grateful for all the support and we cannot wait to see the impact this initiative would have moving forward.

Year 8 Mentors: Ana Paula Poppi, Phillip Johnson, Wanxuan Jiang, Chunyan Zhou (Joris), Duanling F, Xiangyu/Kimi Meng, Ruxian Li (Celeste), Carolina Lubinus, Giannis Petras, Shady M. Qubaty, Yueying Yu, Hiba Saif Altamimi, Weining (Will) Qiu, Lenah Ankliss, Hang Guo, Philip Xu, Lane Tianlei Zhao, Lin SHAN, Abdelrahman Boudair, Daniyar Zholdasbay, Austin Sun, Nathanael Didillon, Nikita Naumov, Aikerim Kargazhanova, Guannan (Gloria) M., Tatiana Kostyuk, Shaikhah Alyammahi, Aidana Assylbekova, Al-Amin M.

Past Events

Driving Youth Entrepreneurship in a Future World of Self-Employment

The event organized by James Maughan and Dr Adil Zarooni, Chairman of Citizens School, was very successful. The panelists included DBA Year 8 Associate Miras Sovetov and DBA Alumnus Aidana Assylbekova who participated alongside Karl W. Feilder, Founder of Neutral Fuels, Nicola Bettio, Executive Director - Applied Research, Innovation & Entrepreneurship at Higher Colleges of Technology and Bjorn Dudok van Heel, a serial entrepreneur. The panel had the thematic focus on whether entrepreneurs are born or made and how to drive youth entrepreneurship. The event was held in collaboration with Harvard Business School GCC Club and the Oxbridge.

Key takeaways included:

• Failure is part of entrepreneurship; we train better entrepreneurs by teaching them to embrace failure.

• Entrepreneurship is an un-diagnosed spectrum disorder because of the level of risks and failures involved.

• Don’t time the market, instead focus on predicting future market trends and creating new realities.

• Entrepreneurship skills and mindset could be developed through innovative education models at an early age….Similar to how athletes begin their training at a very young age to help them become professionals later in life, entrepreneurship could also be nurtured.

DBA at Dubai Run

Several associates from Year 8 participated in the Dubai Run this year, some went for the 5km run and others went for the 10km!

Alumni Consulting Panel

The DBA current cohort attended a learning session on careers in the consulting industry with alumni working as consultants across the UAE, East Africa, and China.

A big thank you to Xin Xu, Kimi Meng, Hiba Saif AlTamimi, Ardak Poshayeva, Wanxuan Jiang, and Habiba Elhawati (DBA friend not alumnus) for sharing their valuable career insights, as well as Minh-Ngoc for organizing the event and moderating it!