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THE LEADING WOMEN ANNUAL AWARD 2023
Kempinski Summerland Beirut honors five leading ladies for the second year in a row.
For the second year in a row, Kempinski Summerland Hotel & Resort Beirut honored five young leading ladies who have positively impacted the society and who are inspirational ambassadors in their field. The Leading Women Annual Award, launched in March 2022, assesses the previous year’s achievements and is celebrated during the month of March between Women’s International Day and Mother’s Day.
Held at Candelabra restaurant on Thursday 9 March 2023, the celebration gathered this year’s honoree, the press and the Kempinski Summerland Beirut team, in the presence of Markus Iseli, the hotel’s general manager, and Najib Nehmé, the CEO of the Kempinski Summerland owning company,
This year’s winners were:
Darine Ammache, a clinical psychologist whose main goal is to provide a platform for easily accessible mental health services. Deriving from this objective, Darine developed @mindsomeapp, a platform that provides a private space to express one’s emotions with certified therapists.
Diane Assafa lawyer whose practice focuses on real estate, corporate, commercial, employment law and dispute resolution. Following the Beirut Port explosion on August 4, 2020, and after having lost one of her closest friends, Diane founded @lawwithdiane, a platform that spreads legal awareness, makes legal topics easy and sheds the light on the flaws of the Lebanese judiciary.
Karma Ekmekji, a mediation advisor for UN Women. She is also an associate fellow at the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut and the lead advisor on their Women, Peace and Security initiative. In addition, Karma is a lecturer in International Affairs and Women Peace and Security.
Nadia Ahmad, a Kuwaiti activist, journalist, writer, and community developer. She hosted one of the longest running talk show in the Arab world, Kalam Nawaem on MBC. She also created the hit Netflix original show “The Exchange”.
Tima Deryan is a mountaineer, mindset coach and social entrepreneur. As a feminist, she advocates gender balance through her talks, workshops, books, and @feministiya brand, a slow fashion brand that advocates for women’s rights and champions sustainability. Tima achieved several records in her field, including being the youngest Arab and first Lebanese woman to summit Mount Everest, youngest Arab and first Lebanese woman to reach the South Pole, as well as the first Arab woman to summit the highest active Volcano in the world.
Markus Iseli stated, “After a long period of distress caused by the endless political turmoil and economic crisis, there is serious need to highlight something positive for a change. Looking back at the last few years, we discovered lovely stories to report. March which is marked by Women’s International Day and Mother’s Day felt like the right month to pay tribute to the women who inspire us. This is how Kempinski Summerland’s Leading Women Annual Award came to life last year.
