An activist who takes pleasure in pleasing pilgrims NAILAH ATTAR, Deputy Director General of the Dar Al-Huda Umrah service and hotel management company, inherited her management ability from her family which has for years worked during the Haj season to serve pilgrims in the holy city of Makkah. She feels that her 15 years working in the service of pilgrims helped her to acquire skills that she has benefited from in her career. “Serving pilgrims, which is called “twafah”, is something that certain families in Makkah have done for hundreds of years with the job being passed down from one generation to another. When we were young, we learned how to help pilgrims with all their requirements from the time they arrived in the holy city. We provided them food and housing and when a group of pilgrims were unable to find a place to stay, we used to invite them to stay at our house. In this way we built up close relations with pilgrims from all over the world,” Attar explained. When she was growing up in Makkah, Attar used to look forward to the Haj season every year just so she could meet new pilgrims or renew acquaintance with those she had met in previous years. She feels that this experience helped to improve her communication skills and taught her to be aware of cultural differences. Attar earned a BA and MA in economics from King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah and a Ph.D. in management and leadership of organizations, profit and nonprofit, from Columbus University in the United States in 2008. She became involved in women's issues establishing and working as the head of the female section of a Makkah social services organization that provides direct aid to the poor and helps the needy to help themselves. Attar also established the first consultancy office owned by a woman which she named “Estisharya”. “I chose this name for my office” she said, “because I felt that the wife of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) Khadija Bint Khwalid was the first female consultant.” Attar's office provides consultancy services and training, and in addition deals with market studies and economic feasibility plans which can be used to start or develop businesses. “I am particularly concerned with the status of women in the Kingdom, but my office provides services to both male and female clients,” she said. Her office prepares research on the work of Saudi women and the establishment of home-based businesses and plans to organize conferences, exhibitions and events in collaboration with specialized agencies. “From 2001 to 2004 during my work with the Makkah organization, we organized the first and second women's work exhibitions in Jeddah in which we brought together women entrepreneurs, businesswomen and women interested in starting their own small business enterprises. Our aim was not to hold a typical exhibition but to provide an environment in which all of these women could share ideas and make useful contacts,” Attar said. Attar is a member of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) and prior to the 2009 JCCI elections, she held a two-week workshop for 400 people in an attempt to increase awareness of the importance of conducting elections in the Kingdom. “I attended programs on the way that elections are conducted in various Arab countries which made clear to me the importance of developing a culture of election behavior in society,” Attar said. “The workshops which I organized at the time of the JCCI board member elections were held with the help of Saudis and Arabs who had themselves had the experience of running an election campaign.” Apart from running her consultancy business, Attar is a wife, the mother of six children and a member of many professional and volunteer organizations. “Trying to combine my career and personal life is often difficult, and I could not do it without the tremendous support that I receive from my family, especially my husband and children and my mother, brother and sister,” she said. “My father played an enormously important role in my life, as starting from childhood, he always encouraged me to depend upon myself.”
