15 senior marketing and communications professionals to be selected for 2027 cohort.
Senior female marketing and communications professionals in the UAE are being invited to apply for the second edition of The Leadership Accelerator by Think Equal, a six-month programme designed to prepare women for future C-suite positions.
Launched by The Marketing Society UAE in partnership with Weber Shandwick MENAT, the programme will select 15 women for its 2027 cohort, running from January to June.
Applications will remain open until September 25, 2026.
Preparing women for senior leadership
The programme centres on three areas — Community, Capability and Clarity — with the aim of helping participants build leadership skills, strengthen confidence and expand their professional networks.
Selected participants will gain access to senior CEOs and chief marketing officers across the GCC, as well as workshops, mentoring sessions, in-person events and virtual learning opportunities.
Think Equal was established to support greater gender equality in senior management roles across the GCC’s marketing and communications sector.
Amina Taher, Chair of The Marketing Society UAE, said the programme is designed to create greater opportunities for women to progress into senior leadership roles.
“Our mission remains to break down barriers and create more opportunities for women to step into senior leadership roles across marketing and communications,” she said.
“The incredible talent we saw in the first cohort showed just how important The Leadership Accelerator by Think Equal is in helping build a more equitable future for our profession.”
27% report near-equal representation
The 2025 Think Equal Survey by The Marketing Society and Weber Shandwick found that just 27% of marketing and communications professionals across the GCC reported equal or near-equal representation of men and women in their management teams.
The first edition of the programme received more than 90 applications, with 15 women ultimately selected to take part.
Participants said the programme helped them expand their professional networks, strengthen leadership skills and build confidence as they prepared for more senior roles.
Anismita Ghosh, Marketing Manager at Abu Dhabi Biobank, M42, said key takeaways included “the power of network, executive visibility, growth mindset and intuitiveness about what makes female leaders different”.
Roxana Nicolescu, VP Brand Marketing, Social Media and PR at Wego.com, described the programme as “one of the best contributions to my personal and professional growth”.
The second cohort will once again bring together leadership workshops, mentoring and networking opportunities designed to help participants prepare for senior leadership positions.
Applications are open to female marketing and communications professionals based in the UAE, with submissions closing on September 25.
