International Women’s Day 2022 is coming up soon and there’s already one noteworthy event: Hillary Clinton is coming to Abu Dhabi.

Secretary Clinton will be in Abu Dhabi for International Women’s Day 2022 on Tuesday March 8 where she will be speaking at a summit. Ready to get inspired?

From legal partners to business founders and executive directors to innovative artists – here are seven women in the UAE to look up to on International Women’s Day, and beyond.

Looking for incredible female artists based in the UAE? Click here to discover amazing UAE women artists.

Hanane Benkhallouk, entrepreneur and Executive Director of Sustain Leadership

Looking to get inspired in business this International Women’s Day 2022? Hanane Benkhallouk has an 18-year career that includes leading innovation and entrepreneurship programmes across the Arab World and at the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum foundation. Benkhallouk is now the Executive Director of Sustain Leadership. She has worked with over 500 entrepreneurs and has supported over 20 incubators and entrepreneurship development spaces across the globe.

Heidi Shara, Founder of Wear That

Heidi Shara is the founder of Wear That: a digital platform that creates personalised looks for women to try on in comfort of their own home, with a real-life personal stylist just a WhatsApp away. Heidi has styled thousands of women all over the world and spent over ten years in fashion buying in both luxury and mass markets, where she witnessed the lack of styling services available to everyday women. She decided to give real women access to something traditionally available only to celebrities or VIPs, and Wear That was born.

Maitha Abdalla, Co-Founder of artist-run studio BAIT 15.

Maitha Abdalla is co-founder of artist-run studio and exhibition space BAIT 15, which grew out of a residential neighborhood in downtown Abu Dhabi and is an open platform available to nurture discussion and critical discourse serving the artist community in the UAE. Her work as an artist oscillates between the diaphanous, vibrant and surreal, and is always marked by an atmosphere of reminiscence and nostalgia.

Rima Mrad, Partner at BSA Legal

Rima is a partner with the Corporate and M&A Practice in the DIFC offices in Dubai. She is an experienced corporate and insurance lawyer who has practiced in the UAE for over fourteen years. She specialises in advising insurance companies, corporate organisations, financial institutions, energy companies and private equity funds on a wide range of legal issues.

Sarah Al Agroobi, multidisciplinary artist

Sarah Al Agroobi is a multidisciplinary artist based in the UAE. Having studied at the Royal College of Art in London, she draws on her lived experience to explore notions of culture and identity through her projects. In 2020, she enjoyed residencies at both Sharjah Art Foundation studios and Warehouse421, while in 2016 she was named the Global Women’s Forum Rising Talent.