Azza Suleiman

Strategic Adviser at 8Bridge Consulting in Dubai and China.

In her role, Azza oversees the development of strategic partnerships and international programs in the areas of innovation, entrepreneurship, artificial intelligence, and sustainability.

She is the Founder and CEO of Direction CSR, a certified trainer in the field of human development, the honorary president of the “Happiness Ambassadors Volunteer Team”, and has been a member of the Board of Directors of the “ Emirates Thalassemia Society ” since 2018, and a member of the “ Emirates Society of Engineers ” since 1990.

She was a candidate for the 2023 Federal National Council elections for the Emirate of Dubai.

She held the position of Assistant Secretary-General for Administrative and Financial Affairs of the National Olympic Committee between 2020 and 2023, and Director-General of the National Program for Small and Medium Enterprises and Projects between April 2020 and July 2021.

She also held several positions in the Ministry of Public Works, including: Director of the Design Department between 2013 and 2015, Director of the Government Communication Department between 2012 and 2013, Director of the Housing Department between 2008 and 2012, Secretary of the Projects Committee between 1998 and 2008, and Head of the Planning and Studies Department between 1993 and 1998.

She was a member of the Executive Office of the National Olympic Committee between 2016 and 2023, the Federal National Council between 2015 and 2019, the Board of Directors of the Federal Transport Authority - Land and Maritime during 2015, and the Olympic Planning Committee between 2013 and 2018.

She also launched the “Reading Balcony Initiative” in 2019, and represented the National Olympic Committee in both the “Third Gulf Games in Kuwait” in 2022, and the “Thirty-Second Summer Olympic Games” held in Tokyo between July 23 and August 8, 2021.

She won the Emirates Women Award in 2011, the L’Officiel Arab Woman Award for Charity Activity in 2012, and the Most Prominent Personality Award for Spreading Awareness of Genetic Diseases in 2018 from the UAE Genetic Diseases Association.

She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Interior Architecture in 1991 from the United Arab Emirates University , and an Innovation Expert Diploma in 2016 from the Mohammed bin Rashid Centre for Government Innovation in cooperation with the University of Cambridge. She also completed the Leadership Preparation Programme in 2009 from the University of Rochester in the United States of America.