Changemakers: Reem Althawadi

Reem Althawadi EMBADJ2016 has always sought to carve her own path in life. Most recently, her passion for personal development and communication has found an outlet in designing innovative business training and leadership development programmes for a variety of clients in China.

She’s the first to admit that her path to professional success has not always been clear – beginning her career as an architect in Dubai before becoming a published translator, editor, Communications Director and now Senior Manager for global consultancy PwC in Shanghai.

“I don’t think I fit in with most stereotypes,” she says. “I’m not conservative in the way I dress and not traditional in the way I live. I’ve zigzagged a lot in my career and jobs. I’ve travelled a lot, most of the time driven by my curiosity and my need to find my purpose. It’s not something that you are typically encouraged to do or rewarded for, not by society and surely not by the world of work.

“And now people are often curious about my story – an Arab woman in China.”

Althawadi was born in Bahrain to a Bahraini politician and an Emirati poet. She spent her early years in Syria before settling in Dubai, where she studied and worked before moving to Shanghai in 2016. Fluent in Arabic, English and Spanish, she is currently learning Mandarin.