On 8 February 2018, the Pearl Initiative held its first Student Advisory Board meeting at the Westin hotel in Dubai, UAE. Members of the board consisted of elite students from the American University of Sharjah, Effat University, Ahlia University, Abu Dhabi University and Prince Sultan University.

The Student Advisory Board was established by the Pearl Initiative’s Board of Governors to provide a voice to the region’s youth and to gain their perspective on ways to foster awareness of the Pearl Initiative and it’s programmes amongst the future generation of business leaders. Their role as members of the board is to act as vocal supporters for the Pearl Initiative to the wider student community, raising awareness on our values and principles and to act as ambassadors, facilitating outreach within their respective universities and countries.

The Student Advisory Board Meeting began with a brief introduction on the Pearl Initiative and its various programmes as well as to introduce the members to their roles and responsibilities as Student Advisory Board members. The meeting then went on to provide a detailed introduction on Pearl Initiative’s student focused programmes and initiatives which include the Gulf Region Wide Student Case Study Competition, The Business Pledge and The Young Leaders Network. The dialogue provided the Board Members with the opportunity to discuss the programmes and PI more generally and share their ideas and suggestions as well as provided recommendations to potentially improve the programme implementation and communication plans.