Shattering glass ceiling: Poonam Chawla’s mission to bring women in C-Suite in Middle East

Poonam Chawla was a techie until she moved to the Middle East in the mid-90s. 

“When we moved to Oman, we realised the technology field was small (there). My husband too was in the sector, and if he was in one tech company, it would be difficult for me to find a job in another company,” Poonam tells YourStory Gulf Edition. 

So, she entered the world of media and entertainment and has also been Head of Content Partnerships, Events and Conferences at Khaleej Times—one of the largest publications in the region. She has also had over seven years at Bloomberg Business Week Middle East. Poonam believes it is important to consistently live outside her comfort zone and, consistently strive to test her limits. 

She also co-founded Middle East Women Board of Directors initiative in 2021, with her partner, Ebru Tuygun, Regional CMO for Accenture Middle East. The forum aims to bridge the gender gap by bringing women into leadership roles and giving them a seat in boardrooms.

From tech to media

After graduating from Delhi University in 1996, Poonam joined HCL as it launched multi-media computers in India. After a two-year stint, she joined Onida for telecom implementation. 

She got married and moved to Oman with her husband. In 2000, she joined United Media Services in Oman and worked there for 2.5 years, after which she moved to Dubai and joined Khaleej Times in 2003. 

For Poonam, moving to Dubai was a cultural shock, with the only high rise in the city being the Dubai Trade Centre. 

“The landscape (of Dubai) you see today started blooming when I moved to Dubai. When I joined Khaleej Times, the real estate boom had hit Dubai and the city was seeing the entry of many businesses. Dubai was branding itself as a global tourist, trade, and business hub,” she says. 

Poonam worked at Khaleej Times for 10 years, heading the magazine and tabloid division. “I was getting into my comfort zone, and at that time, Bloomberg Business Week was establishing its Middle East wing, so I joined the team,” she adds.

She was at Bloomberg for seven years, before moving back to Khaleej Times. In 2022, as a part of the World Women Leadership Congress, supported by CMO Asia, she won the Middle East Women Leaders Awards. 

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Woman leader in MENA

As a woman leader in the Middle East, Poonam says she has grown from strength to strength in all her organisations. 

“In the past 22 years, I have worked closely with a few ministers of the region and realised there is significant encouragement for women to take up key roles and positions. Taking the initiative of UAE Gender Balance Council to reduce the gender gap forward , there also is a significant push towards having more women leaders at the board level,” explains Poonam. 

Established in 2015, the UAE Gender Balance Council is responsible for developing and implementing gender balance targets in the country.

Over the past three years, the region has seen several initiatives towards bringing more women leaders. However, Poonam adds there is still a long way to go, especially in tech. 

“I now want to ensure that women are given a good representation in organisations, especially in leadership roles. The women must be trained well. The dilemma is that these women are good at their jobs, have great experience and resumes, but when it comes to creating their brand and positioning themselves, they fall back,” she notes. 

Poonam now wants to train more women with the right skill sets. “When you are taking a c-suite role, you need to have knowledge of corporate governance and management skill sets,” she adds. 

However, she is cognizant of the biases but says it’s important to learn and move forward without paying much attention to the negatives. 

Advising all women leaders, Poonam says, they should keep enhancing their skill sets through training, courses etc. “Ask for what you deserve. Learn to position yourself right for what you deserve,” she concludes. 

(The story has been edited to reflect some factual corrections in UAE Gender Balance initiative)