Meet the US women who have just opened a PR office in Saudi Arabia

Gwen Wunderlich and Dara Kaplan have entered Saudi Arabia’s changing landscape to open a new office in Riyadh at Jax district. (Supplied)
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Gwen Wunderlich and Dara Kaplan have entered Saudi Arabia’s changing landscape to open a new office in Riyadh at Jax district. (Supplied)
Meet the US women who have just opened a PR office in Saudi Arabia
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Gwen Wunderlich and Dara Kaplan have entered Saudi Arabia’s changing landscape to open a new office in Riyadh at Jax district. (Supplied)
Meet the US women who have just opened a PR office in Saudi Arabia
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Gwen Wunderlich and Dara Kaplan have entered Saudi Arabia’s changing landscape to open a new office in Riyadh at Jax district. (Supplied)
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Updated 19 March 2023

Meet the US women who have just opened a PR office in Saudi Arabia

Gwen Wunderlich and Dara Kaplan have entered Saudi Arabia’s changing landscape to open a new office in Riyadh at Jax district.
  • Kaplan told Arab News that she had a misconception about the Kingdom on her first trip. “Women’s empowerment is really rooted in our mission”

RIYADH: With New York savvy, Miami flair and a Saudi spirit, Gwen Wunderlich and Dara Kaplan took a chance on themselves and entered the ever-changing space of Saudi Arabia’s women empowerment.

With more than two decades of experience and a solid friendship, they launched the Riyadh branch of their first women-led US-based PR firm Wunderlich Kaplan Communications.

“This will be our global expansion and the MENA division, based in Riyadh at Jax,” Wunderlich told Arab News.

“We partnered this time for this division with Noor Taher, she is partners with Good Intentions and she brought us over here and agreed to partner up with us so generously to bring big projects to us, to guide us and to be a lead here to make sure things go smoothly,” she said.




Being from Saudi Arabia, there are a lot of stories the world has yet to hear, says Noor Taher Co-founder, Good Intentions

With so much happening in the Kingdom’s capital, Riyadh felt like the right fit as it is the center of the country and a magnet for talent. It is also easily accessible via air or land.

“It just feels right.”

The two women expect to work on PR communications, marketing branding for local companies that are looking for national exposure, but also US companies that are looking to come into Saudi Arabia and find exposure and benefit.

Women’s empowerment is really rooted in our mission. I thought I’m going to go to Saudi Arabia because the narrative we’ve always been fed is that women are lesser than and they need our help. When I came here, I realized that these women do not need me to empower them. They are already amazing, strong, educated, kick-ass women ... it made me think like, wow, what else do I have wrong?

Dara Kaplan, Co-founder, Wunderlich Kaplan Communications

They started their first official project in the country in December 2022, with the Jeddah Art Project that took place during Formula One.

“It felt very fantastical to do, because we were kind of breaking barriers and bringing new kinds of information and content from a country that really hadn’t been heard of in that light when it came to culture and creativity.

“Those were not two words that really were related to Saudi Arabia in the mind of where we come from. So we worked on the Formula One project, I worked on the Alicia Keys’ concert and Women to Women event,” said Wunderlich.

While sitting in AlUla with Keys, Princess Reema and other women, Wunderlich knew that she was “being part of a great piece of time. History is being made here. That event was probably one of my favorite things . . . I would say in my entire career.”

Kaplan told Arab News that she had a misconception about the Kingdom on her first trip. “Women’s empowerment is really rooted in our mission. I thought I’m going to go to Saudi Arabia because the narrative we’ve always been fed is that women are lesser than and they need our help.

“When I came here, I realized that these women do not need me to empower them. They are already amazing, strong, educated, kick-ass women. That, to me, was a real eye-opener and I talked to so many local women. It made me think like, wow, what else do I have wrong?”

They were appalled at Western media outlets’ perceptions of Saudi women.




From left: Dara Kaplan, Gwen Wunderlich and Noor Taher. (Supplied)

While women in Saudi Arabia still have a long way to go, they wanted to ensure that people had a clearer and more accurate picture of women in the Kingdom.

“I think that, unfortunately in the past, how it’s been positioned is so wrong and I think there’s a lot of value in repositioning that story and the narrative that’s been force-fed to everyone and they just don’t know better, and if they knew better, I think there’ll be a lot of support. You know, if the average person knew what we knew about Saudi, I think it would be you having a very different conversation right now with us.”

Wunderlich has visited the Kingdom five times and Kaplan twice. But they plan to visit frequently once their Jax office opens in few months.

“We’re bringing our passion at the end of the day. We run our own business — we do it from our heart. We love storytellers and we love people with great narratives,” said Wunderlich.

FASTFACTS

• With more than two decades of experience, Gwen Wunderlich and Dara Kaplan have launched the Riyadh branch of their first women-led US-based PR firm Wunderlich Kaplan Communications, with Saudi partner Noor Taher. They started their first official project in the Kingdom in December 2021, with the Jeddah Art Project that took place during Formula One.

• The two women expect to work on PR communications, marketing branding for local companies that are looking for national exposure, but also US companies that are looking to come into Saudi Arabia and find exposure and benefit. They are also launching a new hospitality division in the country — and are recruiting.

The pair want to join the fun and shift the narrative alongside Saudi women who are making that change.

“We want to take meetings with Saudi women, we want people to contact us with interesting projects. We want for the country to start digging deep. We already worked with the Royal Commission of AlUla, which is amazing. And we’ve worked with Craft and we’ve worked with Good Intentions and the people that we’ve worked with so far we have great relations,” Wunderlich said.

“I think what’s unique about us — and correct me if I’m wrong — I know there are local PR firms and then there’s corporate American PR firms, but I don’t think there’s the blend of the boutique firm that’s having startup experience to publicly traded experience with global experience and local experience. So I feel like we do bring celebrity and pop culture and Fortune 500 companies and everything in between. With having a Saudi partner, I think that we are delivering something that’s really different,” Kaplan said.

Their Saudi partner Taher has been at the forefront of the change that has been sweeping the Kingdom.

Taher is the co-founder of Good Intentions along with US legend Swizz Beatz, the husband of Alicia Keys. Good Intentions recently hosted their second Women to Women dialogue in AlUla.

They are a trusted voice in the digital world and they are beyond influencers — they are visionary women who want to go past smartphones and into the IRL space.

While hosting such lavish events in AlUla and Riyadh is something they have a knack for, they are adamant about integrating and inviting motivated Saudis to come together alongside them to build a metaphorical sand castle in the Kingdom together.

They are not trying to hog the mic, take the spotlight or speak for anyone. They want to be in the Kingdom because they simply fell in love with the country and its people.

The women are here for Vision 2030 and everything else before it and after it. And Taher, who is native to Riyadh, is excited to see it go ahead.

“I have known these women for years and there hasn’t been one project or client — no matter how big or small — they haven’t put their absolute all into. What sets them apart is the passion and courage they have to share the untold stories, that’s why I decided to enter into a partnership with them.

Being from Saudi Arabia, there are a lot of stories the world has yet to hear, it took a couple of trips to AlUla together to realize the inevitable. No one tells a story quite like them — they can sell sand in the desert,” Taher said.

Wunderlich and Kaplan were also guests on the Pass the Kabsa podcast, in which talent in Saudi Arabia is at the center of conversations.

They are also launching a new hospitality division in the country — and are recruiting.


Bisat Al-Reeh festival returns to Jeddah for 22nd year

Bisat Al-Reeh festival returns to Jeddah for 22nd year
Updated 19 sec ago

Bisat Al-Reeh festival returns to Jeddah for 22nd year

Bisat Al-Reeh festival returns to Jeddah for 22nd year
  • More than 170 exhibitors from 15 countries including Kuwait, Qatar, UAE, Oman, Bahrain, Lebanon, Turkiye, Egypt, London, India and Jordan are taking part

JEDDAH: One of the biggest festivals in the Islamic world dedicated to women is holding its 22nd event in Jeddah as part of the Kingdom’s Ramadan Season.

The National Charity Foundation for Home Health Care, also known as We Care, is holding its ‘Bisat Al-Reeh’ event for six days starting on Monday at the Jeddah Superdome under the slogan “Everlasting Goodness.” 

The annual exhibition this year has two days for families and four dedicated exclusively for women to promote their creativity in fashion, jewelry and furniture and nurture young talent.

Bisat Al-Reeh is held under the patronage of Princess Adelah bint Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz and in the presence of Queen Rania Al-Abdullah of Jordan.

More than 170 exhibitors from 15 countries including Kuwait, Qatar, UAE, Oman, Bahrain, Lebanon, Turkiye, Egypt, London, India and Jordan are taking part. Uzbekistan will also be represented for the first time. 

We Care said Bisat Al-Reeh encourages entrepreneurs to exchange knowledge and experience with elite society members and promotes the display of various related industrial sectors.

Proceeds have supported We Care charitable programs and activities in home healthcare and hospitals.

Princess Adelah, the chairwoman of the foundation’s board of trustees, told Arab News at last year’s event: “The foundation works for noble goals, as today it serves ten different regions of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

“Its goals fall within providing home health care in addition to providing patients’ psychological and social needs and supporting them with medical equipment and supplies, as well as enhancing the functional capabilities of the patients and supporting them until they regain their independence.”

Ramadan Season also offers a series of cultural experiences and events in Riyadh, Jeddah and Makkah organized by the Saudi Ministry of Culture.

The season aims to celebrate areas of the Kingdom’s historical and cultural heritage that relate to the holy month.


Saudi Arabia participates in Global Children’s Designathon to create sustainable environmental solutions

Saudi Arabia participates in Global Children’s Designathon to create sustainable environmental solutions
Updated 26 March 2023

Saudi Arabia participates in Global Children’s Designathon to create sustainable environmental solutions

Saudi Arabia participates in Global Children’s Designathon to create sustainable environmental solutions
  • The children focused on innovative stories and solutions for protecting the existing ecosystems and tackling some of the environmental issues facing the planet

RIYADH: The Global Children’s Designathon, a competitive program championing design thinking and sustainable environmental solutions, took place on March 25 at King Abdullah Financial District in Riyadh.

The Saudi Rukun Creative Exchange partnered with Designathon Works, a developmental and knowledge institution based in Amsterdam concerned with issues of sustainable development, to bring the event to the region.

Princess Noura Turki Al-Saud, co-founder of Rukun Creative Exchange, told Arab News: “As a certified design thinker myself, I see the power in this tool and this method, and I believe in empowering children from as early as possible.

“If we include them in the conversation from early on, they become the change-makers of the future.

“The designathon works in enabling and empowering the ability of all children, no matter their background or their abilities or their race, to be part of this conversation.”

Designathon Works launched the international competitive design program in 2014, and since its inception it has been characterized by its wide geographical scope and diversity of participants.

The task at hand on Saturday was to find ways to restore and enhance biodiversity within the Kingdom.

The children focused on innovative stories and solutions for protecting the existing ecosystems and tackling some of the environmental issues facing the planet today.

The designathon awarded categories based on values rather than a ranking system: problem-solving, the clever mind, the young innovator, and team spirit.

The children, aged 8 to 12, were put into nine groups, launching first into a research and ideation phase, and then determining the main idea and creating a tangible prototype demonstrating its functionality in the real world, before presenting their work to a panel of judges.

Princess Noura said: “I was so impressed by the ideas that [the children] showed, and their enthusiasm more than anything.

“I knew they were very happy and open, and they were very receptive to working together.”

Hussam Al-Saud won the young innovator award after creating a robot that helped with planting seeds across farmlands. Generated by solar panels, his solution utilized the Saudi sun.

He said: “I chose this so I can fulfill the Saudi Vision 2030 for a greener future.”

The problem-solving champions were team one, who prioritized the preservation of wildlife in the desert.

Ibrahim, one of the team’s members, said: “There’s no food for animals in the desert, like snakes and camels. Over 50 animals die of heat exhaustion. We came up with this [idea] where there are seeds on the drone.”

Their theory was that seeds are planted and watered using drones, and the children predicted that in just a few months, the seedlings would sprout, providing a sustainable food supply for the desert animals.

Group six triumphed in the team spirit award, with members inventing a tube that connected rivers in the desert to cities, acting as a main water source.

The children equipped their project with solar panels which chimed in the event of a power outage.

Judges commended the students on their excellent presentation skills and strength in team collaboration.

Team five took the clever mind award after members designed an area, powered by a windmill, where polluted water is treated.

Their study showed what the choices are: neglecting or nurturing the environment.

One of the team’s members said: “Our project shows what happens if you care or do not care about the environment, and informs people to take care of the environment, maybe even make a podcast and show how you can stop this from happening.”

The GCD contributes to developing children’s skills and gives them the space to participate in thinking toward building a better future.

Its values are in line with both the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and initiatives.

Rukun Creative Exchange has revealed plans to make the GCD an ongoing event.

Princess Noura said: “[We’re] looking at doing more throughout the year so it’s not just a one-time thing, but actually keeping it going throughout the year and collaborating with schools and other entities.

“Seeing this today just reinforces how much this needs to become systemized throughout schools and in part of the programs, and even teaching teachers this kind of method.”


KSrelief continues to clear land mines, rehabilitate Yemeni people

KSrelief continues to clear land mines, rehabilitate Yemeni people
Updated 26 March 2023

KSrelief continues to clear land mines, rehabilitate Yemeni people

KSrelief continues to clear land mines, rehabilitate Yemeni people
  • 400k removed from 2018 to mid-March 2023 in the country
  • 45,588 people helped with prosthetic and rehab services

RIYADH: The King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center has continued to provide humanitarian aid to nations across the globe, including education, health, shelter, water, and demining operations, which has recently focused on Yemen.

The Masam project and the prosthetic limb program in Yemen have been able to provide much-needed support for those injured by explosive devices in the country.

Despite the danger, the Masam project teams have cleared 400,000 mines in Yemen from its launch in 2018 to mid-March 2023.

The prosthetic centers have provided over 142,000 services including physical and psychological counseling for those affected. It has benefited 45,588 people in Taiz, Aden, Marib and Seiyun from Jan. 1, 2020, to Feb. 28, 2023.

On the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action on April 4, KSrelief, along with the international community, UN and global organizations, will raise awareness of the dangers of these devices. They will seek collaboration with countries worldwide to help people.

Yemen is among the top beneficiaries of KSrelief assistance. The center has implemented 797 projects in Yemen worth over $4.2 billion.

Its programs include food, health, emergency relief, water, sanitation, shelter, education and telecommunications.


Career guidance on the agenda at Saudi human resources fund, Diriyah workshop

Saudi Human Resources Development Fund’s workshop, held in cooperation with the DGDA, saw participation of 15 education offices.
Saudi Human Resources Development Fund’s workshop, held in cooperation with the DGDA, saw participation of 15 education offices.
Updated 26 March 2023

Career guidance on the agenda at Saudi human resources fund, Diriyah workshop

Saudi Human Resources Development Fund’s workshop, held in cooperation with the DGDA, saw participation of 15 education offices.
  • The workshop aimed at reviewing vocational guidance initiatives and analyzed needs in the education sector
  • It focused on developing plans to be presented to school students and mentors

RIYADH: The Saudi Human Resources Development Fund’s workshop, which was held in cooperation with the Diriyah Gate Development Authority, saw the participation of 15 education offices.

The workshop aimed at reviewing vocational guidance initiatives and analyzed needs in the education sector. It focused on developing plans to be presented to school students and mentors.

Those in charge of the education offices were briefed on the ideas at the event, which took place at the headquarters of the DGDA.

Discussions were also held regarding the skills and needs of the labor sector to help equip students with the necessary capabilities.

Career guidance initiatives aim to empower students through integrated counseling and training, in order to help develop their skills and increase their readiness to enter the labor market.

The workshop was an extension of efforts to consolidate the concept of vocational guidance and its methods to serve the country and society in line with Saudi Vision 2030, which stipulates in its programs and objectives the promotion and development of human capabilities.


European Moroccans to compete in Qur’an recitation contest

European Moroccans to compete in Qur’an recitation contest
Updated 26 March 2023

European Moroccans to compete in Qur’an recitation contest

European Moroccans to compete in Qur’an recitation contest
  • The show, supervised by the GEA and broadcast on MBC1 and the Shahid digital platform, has a total prize pool of SR12 million ($3.2 million)

RIYADH: The third episode of the “Otr Elkalam” TV show’s international Qur’an recitation and adhan competition witnessed a rivalry between European Moroccan contestants in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, on Saturday.

In the recitation section, Ahmed Al-Hasnawi, based in France, competed with Mohammed Al-Habti, who lives in Spain, where he leads the prayers at a mosque and teaches children the Holy Qur’an.

Al-Habti, with his voice consistent with the words of the Qur’an and its verses, qualified for the next stage at the expense of Al-Hasnawi, who has participated in several Qur’an recitation competitions in countries including Morocco and the UAE.

In the adhan section, Rayan Hawsawi, a Nigerian who resides in Makkah, emerged victorious over Tariq Deeb, an electrical engineer from Syria. Deeb has regularly raised the adhan in mosques in his country from a young age, but was overcome on Saturday by Hawsawi, whose voice imitates the muazzins of the Grand Mosque in Makkah.

The “Otr Elkalam” competition is designed to highlight the rich diversity of cultures in the Islamic world, and the vocal methods of reciting the Qur’an and raising the call to prayer.

The show, supervised by the General Entertainment Authority and broadcast on MBC1 and the Shahid digital platform, has a total prize pool of SR12 million ($3.2 million).

More than 50,000 entrants from 165 countries were whittled down to just 50 for the finals, held in Riyadh.

The latest stage, overseen by the main jury, has left just 32 remaining contestants — 16 for each competition.