part interview, Maram Al-Asmari talks to media personality Mona Abu Sulayman about her life, ambitions and how she perceives all the success she has received. For most people, Muna Abu Sulayman is a bit of an enigma. As one of the leading media personalities in the Kingdom, she is a founding co-host of one of the most popular talk shows on MBC - “Kalam Nawaem” - and the first woman in Saudi Arabia to be appointed by the United Nations Development Program as a Goodwill Ambassador in 2005. She also serves as Secretary General and Executive Director of the Alwaleed Bin Talal Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal's Kingdom Holding Company. In this capacity, she is responsible for the foundation's global philanthropic activities, including disaster relief to promoting dialog between Islamic countries and the West. Since 1997, she has served as lecturer on American literature at King Saud University in Saudi Arabia. Sulayman recently completed a prestigious fellowship at Yale University in the United States in global leadership and management. She has evolved into a highly popular public speaker, addressing high-level international conferences and business meetings. She frequently appears as a panelist at the Davos World Economic Forum, C-100 of the World Economic Forum, Brookings Institute Conferences and many other venues. In a recent interview, she spoke to Saudi Gazette at length about her life, ambitions and success. Accepting success Announced last year as one of the 50 most influential Arabs in the world in a magazine, Sulayman hails her background for giving her so much. “It was extremely flattering. They discussed my role on TV and how it touched the lives of others. I don't think I persuade others but I think it is because of the opportunities I've had whether it's growing up with my father - who is an Islamic scholar - and meeting some of the best scholars in the world from philanthropy to giving to parenting to education and the wonderful ideas that I've been exposed to that has enabled me to present my potential,” she said. She added, however, that compliments from fellow citizens were scarce. “It's so strange, that whenever I do something, I always get congratulations from the outside world and not from the inside.” Talking about how a culture of muted celebration on anyone's success is becoming more and more the norm, she said: “There are some examples like the kids who won science fair awards in Geneva; we have a few female Saudi doctors and scientists who are working at a nuclear plant in Switzerland as well as the success of Dr. Reem and Dr. Hayat El-Sendi....We have so many great things going on. But there is this feeling that if one person gets acknowledged (for their success) then it means less for the others.” I think most men and women in the kingdom - who work extremely hard and receive some recognition - become less likely to help out their fellow citizens. It is a part of human nature but it is very pronounced in Saudi Arabia. Blatant examples are found in the Saudi medical establishment. I think it's that we don't know how to work as a team. We need to acknowledge the team when we got honored for anything.” Having recently completed her fellowship at Yale, she acknowledged that proper management is key to resolving this problem. After six months of engagment in world issues and professional development for executive managment in developing world, Sulayman believes she is ready to get her hands dirty. The fellowship “The fellowship was very interesting. It is one of the most prestigious fellowships in the world and the one I'm at in Yale is about global leadership. Things like how to overcome localization problems and how to look at it from a larger perspective,” she explained. “I want to see people (in the Kingdom) talking about the climate change debate; I want to see people talking about vaccination and autism which is a huge problem in the Kingdom,” she explained. “I want to look at lo-cost housing, for instance. We are building homes for over a 250,000 Saudi riyals in the Kingdom for the poor, but I want to learn how can you can build a house for about 35,000 riyals with the help of innovation.” She also spoke about the obstacles one faces in social work. “One of the two main problems with philanthropy is corruption. Being around needy people after some time starts making you feel disaffected. And that is something we have to be careful about because it is unlawful. And if one is stealing from the poor then that is the worst that can happen. But it happens. And its not so obvious as you would think,” she claimed. From MBC to philanthropy Sulayman's show on MBC “Kalam Nawaem” - often called the Arab version of “The View” - launched her spectacular career and made her the recognizable figure she is today. “I learned a lot from it. I am very grateful to MBC. It gave me exposure and credibility. Because I was on TV, people talk to me openly. One of the best things about the program is that it introduced me me to some subjects that I am not personally interested in and would never have studied if not for ‘Kalam Nawaem', like alternative medicine, honor killing, the control of women and inheritance, people using drugs etc.,” she remarked. However, these days Sulayman is completely involved in her role in the Alwaleed Bin Talal Foundation. “I started in the foundation as a manager, helping to fulfill the vision of making Islamic studies a standard in the west and helping the East understand the West,” she said. “It combined a lot of things for me: Interest in Islam from my father who is an Islamic scholar, my personal academic inclination and my interest in the West. I was consultant then a manager then executive manager then deputy of the foundation and now finally, the head of it. All of this happened in five years in a very accelerated cycle of learning.” She added: “We have three foundations: in the Kingdom, in Lebanon and one for the rest of the world. In Saudi, we provide low-cost housing for poverty-stricken people and we also we look into how to change that poverty. We do a lot for women. We are always looking at arts and crafts that women are involved in. For example, we introduced Sulaislah to the world and they are now selling their Saudi dolls all over the world. If you want to change philanthropy, you have to solve the missing link. The missing link is: how do you deliver aid? We have to solve that. since we have foundations that have money and individuals who have money but we have to have the right organization that delivers the right aid to the right community.” – SG Editor's note: In part two next week, Muna Abu Sulayman talks about her personal life, future plans and education in the Kingdom. __
