Since becoming a MEET alumnus, Najwa Grace Tohme of Lebanon has seen big changes in her career and, along with fellow alumni, is building a strong foundation of support for other Lebanese businesswomen. 

Najwa came to the MEET U.S. program from Al Rifai Roastery, which produces and exports nuts and operates popular retail outlets for their products along with coffee and sweets.  She has been with the company for four years as Operations & Sales Manager and is very involved in business strategy planning.

In 2004, she took part in a MEET Executive and Entrepreneur training program in San Diego. “The MEET program helped me in several respects,” she says. “To start with, it strengthened my self confidence, it opened my eyes to limitless opportunities, and operationally, action planning became priority.”  For Najwa, the most important aspect of the program was networking.  “I got to know great professionals in their specific fields.”

In July 2006, Al Rifai’s owners decided to start a full-fledged operation in Sweden. They chose Najwa to oversee the new operation, which she will begin in May 2007.

The MEET experience also inspired Najwa to encourage other businesswomen in her country.  She and eleven other businesswomen, many of them MEET alumni, have founded the Lebanese League for Women in Business.  Najwa currently serves as the association’s chair. It is the first association in Lebanon to provide support to aspiring women in the economic and social fields.

Her advice to other MENA business leaders is to remember that “if we are successful and great leaders, it is not because we were born with these traits, but because behind what we have become there is hard work, continuous self-development, and vision.”