DBA Year 8 has launched!

Opening Ceremony

Our eighth cohort has been inducted with 30 graduates from 17 countries who will go through the nine-month programme. The associates were selected from the largest applicant pool we have ever received which was more than 2,300 applicants.

The Opening Ceremony was held at ICD-Brookfield Place at DIFC and received a full-house attendance from DBA Placement and Learning Partners as well as strategic partners. The launch was covered in multiple news platforms such as Gulf News, Middle East Business, Zawya, Gulf Business, Consultancy Middle East and more. 

Year 8 Progress Updates

Since the programme kicked off on the 12th of September 2022, the associates have completed their Module 1 successfully which covered courses on finance, data analysis and modelling, economics, marketing, communications and media. They also went on 3 excursions discovering Dubai, building their public speaking skills, learning about UAE's culture from the country's capital! Module 1 was concluded with the assessment where 3 alumni joined the institutional investors panel: Daniyar Zholdasbay from Year 7, Kirill Nushtaev from Year 2 and Anvar Tataev from Year 3.

The associates started their first placements on the 24th of October 2022 and will continue until the 13th of January 2023. They have been placed across 15 prominent partners with another 13 supporting partners. You could find all the details in the famous Placement Map.

DBA Alumni Programme

Programme Updates and Structure

It has been several months now since we had the Alumni Reunion and talked about the potential features of the Alumni Programme. During that time, we have compiled all your ideas and began working on the tailored platform that would act as the main host for the programme! With the leadership of Surkhel Yousafzai from Year 7 as the Association President*, we have also completed the bylaws, constitution, and organisation structure of this programme, now referred to as the DBA Alumni Association.

*The Best Fellow Award winner of the previous cohort shall serve as the President of the Association upon graduation from DBA.

Check out James' article on the importance of alumni networks on LinkedIn.

Nominations for VP positions

We are looking for alumni who want to pioneer the association and take on an active role in elevating the alumni network and services for everyone's benefit!

The 3 VP positions are:

• Program and Events VP: responsible for the programmatic offerings of the Association.

• Career Development and Networking VP: responsible for developing ways and opportunities for enhancing the career goals of the alumni and the current associates.

• Membership and Communications VP: responsible for connecting and engaging the alumni.

Please go through the bylaws, constitution, and organisation chart of the association to better understand the vacant positions.

Self-Nominations will be open for a period of 3 weeks from 3 November 2022 - 23 November 2022. You may submit your self nomination by filling out the below form before the deadline. Once all nominations are received and reviewed, we will begin voting!

If you do not want to be a VP but still want to participate as a member in the different committees, you will be able to sign up for that at a later stage.

Mentorship Programme

Select your mentee!

The mentorship programme which was announced at the Alumni Reunion was to play a key role in building the connection between alumni, current associates and The DBA Programme.

The mentorship programme is designed to comprise of 3, 60-minute, 1-on-1 sessions between the mentor and mentee. Please have a look at the Year 8 Associates' Profiles and then submit the form selecting the associate you would like to mentor.

Your selection could be based on (1) your similar background and experiences such as nationality, university alma mater etc. (2) your common placement partners (3) your similar career ambitions in terms of industries of interest, locations you want to work in etc.

Your support of the associates would be of great help to them and would surely be a rewarding experience for yourselves as well :) Please make sure to submit your selection by 15 November 2022.

Upcoming Events

Driving Youth Entrepreneurship in a Future World of Self-Employment

DBA is excited to collaborate with The Oxford and Cambridge Society of the UAE, CAMentrepreneurs and the Harvard Business School Club of the GCC in an exciting event at Citizens School, Dubai on 15 November 2022 at 6:30 PM GST.

Y8 associate Miras Sovetov will be on the panel as well as Aidana Assylbekova, Year 5. Online attendance of the keynote and panel is also possible. All DBA Year 8 will attend so it will be a great chance to network with them face-to-face.

• RSVP to join in-person here.

• RSVP to join online here.

DBA at Dubai Run

Join the Year 8 cohort in participating in the Dubai Run on 20 November 2022 as part of the Dubai Fitness Challenge. Make sure to register through their website in advance.

If you are interested in participating, please reach out to Anna Weber from Year 8 who is organizing the DBA presence at the run.

Alumni Consulting Panel

Join us online or in-person on 27 November 2022 in a consulting panel by DBA Alumni to share their experience, tips and tricks for excelling in the consulting field. A similar event was held in Year 7 and was highly successful. The panel will focus on strategy and management consulting and aims to answer the following questions:

• How to know if consulting is right for you?

• What is a day in the life of a consultant like?

• How to apply for consulting jobs?

• How to crack the case interview?

The event is not only for those interested in the field or new to it, experienced consultants and other professionals are more than welcome as it will be an opportunity to meet fellow alumni and associates, grow your network, and enjoy some refreshments!

*If you are interested to participate as a panelist, please reach out to Ngoc Nguyen from Year 8 who is organizing this event. Exact details will be announced soon.