Attracting and Retaining Talent in MENA panel at IFAC Connect 2025

 

At IFAC Connect MENA 2025 in Riyadh, four inspiring women came together to share a message that resonated deeply with audiences across the region: advancing women in the accountancy profession is not just about opportunity, it is about sustainability, credibility, and impact.

Moderated by Layla Al Khalefah of SOCPA, the session “Attracting and Retaining Talent in MENA: Advancing Women in the Accountancy Profession” brought together Kholoud Mousa (KPMG and ASWA), Mona El-Chami (World Bank), Dr. Graziella Hobeika (LACPA), and Nawel Rabahi (PAFA). Each shared practical strategies and personal reflections on how professional accountancy organizations (PAOs), firms, and policymakers can help unlock the potential of women across the region.

Their collective message was clear: women’s advancement in the profession is essential for the future of the profession itself. Below are key themes and insights from their discussion and a call to move from advocacy to action.

Creating Systems That Work for Everyone

Mona El-Chami speaking at panel at MENA Connect 2025

For Mona El-Chami, Senior Governance Specialist at the World Bank, inclusion must start at the systems level. “Advancing women in the accountancy profession works best when inclusion is embedded in systemic reforms rather than treated as an add-on,” she emphasized.

Mona shared how countries that integrate inclusion within governance and accountability reforms often see tangible results. “Creating enabling environments through capacity building, digital tools, and institutional accountability, ensures that policies translate into action and open doors for women to thrive,” she noted.

She highlighted that when governments and regulators link fiscal transfers or reporting incentives to inclusion targets, the impact becomes measurable and sustainable. “Policy levers such as equity indicators make gender inclusion both visible and achievable,” Mona said.

Her message was direct: for meaningful progress, inclusion must be intentional, measurable, and built into how institutions operate. “PAOs, firms, and development partners must move beyond advocacy and embed inclusion into their core strategies and governance frameworks. By aligning talent development with systemic reforms, we can create pathways that advance women and ensure sustainable progress.”

Building Credibility, Confidence, and Sponsorship

Dr. Graziella Hobeika speaking at panel at MENA Connect 2025

Dr. Graziella Hobeika, Managing Partner at HBK Audit Advisory and the only woman currently serving on the Board of the Lebanese Association of Certified Public Accountants (LACPA), knows firsthand that leadership rarely comes by invitation.

“Based on my own journey, to be in a leadership position, a woman doesn’t have to wait to be invited. She has to seek new roles, ask for opportunities, and keep investing in herself,” she said. “Credibility is essential. As a woman in this profession, you often have to work harder to be heard and taken seriously. But once credibility is established, I never felt that being a woman held me back.”

Dr. Hobeika emphasized that the journey to leadership requires both persistence and advocacy. “Mentorship is guidance, but sponsorship is advocacy,” she explained. “It’s when someone with influence puts their reputation behind you and opens doors.”

Her call to PAOs is clear: go beyond training and create structured sponsorship programs that identify and prepare women for leadership positions. “Our initiative at LACPA shows that many women have both the skills and the desire to contribute… they simply need someone to put their name forward and create space for them to lead.”

Mentorship, Partnership, and the Power of Regional Networks

Nawel Rabahi speaking at Connect MENA 2025

Nawel Rabahi, Director at Cabinet Rabahi in Algeria and Advisor to the Pan African Federation of Accountants (PAFA), spoke passionately about mentorship and partnership as catalysts for sustainable change.

“Advancing women in the accountancy profession is not just about creating opportunities; it is about ensuring sustainable growth and impactful change for future generations,” Nawel said.

Drawing on her work with PAFA and regional networks, she explained that strong links between PAOs, firms, and universities can create a “chain of empowerment” that helps women progress into leadership positions. “Mentorship programs have dramatically closed the gap between ambition and achievement, making it possible for young women to truly get ahead,” she noted.

Her advice to PAOs and firms was both practical and hopeful: “Take the message from advocacy into action by developing strategies that embed inclusion into governance frameworks. When we make the contributions of women visible and valued, we build stronger, more resilient institutions.”

From the First to the Future: Building Communities of Inclusion

Kholoud Mousa speaking at MENA Connect 2025

Kholoud Mousa, Saudi Arabia’s first female CPA, Audit Partner at KPMG, and Founder of the Association of Saudi omen Accountants (ASWA), brought a perspective that combines personal experience and institutional impact.

Through ASWA, she has built a platform that empowers women in accounting and finance from university classroom to Board room through mentoring, training, and community engagement. Her leadership demonstrates how one individual’s initiative can ripple across an entire profession.

For Kholoud, inclusive leadership is not about quotas; it is about creating spaces where women can contribute meaningfully. She believes that firms and PAOs must cultivate visibility and networks that allow women to see themselves reflected in leadership. “Community matters,” she often says. “When women see others leading, they believe they can too.”

Her vision extends beyond Saudi Arabia. “We are no longer talking about ‘firsts.’ We are talking about what comes next… building systems where women’s participation is the norm, not the exception.”

A Collective Call to Action

Across the region, the conversation is shifting from whether to include women, to how to sustain and expand their leadership. As these panelists made clear, the future of the profession depends on it.

Professional accountancy organizations, firms, and development partners each have a role to play:

  • PAOs can embed gender inclusion into their strategic plans, create sponsorship programs, and measure progress transparently.
  • Firms can cultivate inclusive leadership pipelines and ensure women are represented in decision-making roles.
  • Development partners and regulators can provide the policy and financial incentives that make reform sustainable.

As Layla Al Khalefah concluded during the session, “attracting and retaining talent, particularly advancing women in leadership, is not a ‘nice to have.’ It is a critical success factor for the sustainability of the profession in this region.”

The women of IFAC Connect MENA 2025 showed what leadership looks like… collaborative, resilient, and committed to the public interest. Their stories remind us that every barrier removed for one woman opens the door for many more to follow.

Because when women rise, the profession rises with them.

A woman in a blue headscarf smiling at the camera
Layla Al Khalefah

EY Director in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Layla Al Khalefah is a Certified Public Accountant in Saudi Arabia and the State of New York, and a member of SOCPA and AICPA. She holds both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in accounting. With over 12 years of experience in auditing and accounting across diverse industries in Saudi Arabia and the United States, she has developed strong knowledge in IFRS accounting standards and international auditing standards.

A woman wearing a black headscarf and a tan jacket
Kholoud Mousa

Kholoud Mousa was the first female Saudi Partner in Saudi Arabia and was also the first Saudi woman licensed to practice as a certified public accountant in the Kingdom. She has 20 years of audit and advisory experience across various industries, and is a certified family business governance advisor. She was a member of the governance committee of the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA), during which she led projects relating to governance frameworks for major Saudi family businesses and for non-for-profit institutions. In 2019, she was named as one of the leading 20 Saudi Women in Finance, Economy, and Commerce. In addition to her business responsibilities, she serves as the Head of Impact for KPMG Middle East. Kholoud has over 16 years of Audit and Finance experience across various industries and possesses a thorough knowledge of Saudi accounting and financial reporting standards(SOCPA) as well as International Financial Reporting Standards(IFRS).

Throughout her professional career at  KPMG and other financial services firms, Kholoud gained a wide range of industrial and professional experience in accounting , audit and Zakat &Tax advisory. Her experience covered different sectors; Manufacturing, Construction, Medical &Healthcare, Trading, and Investments. She has been also involved in providing financial advisory services, development of accounting system and Policy & Procedures manual, etc. During her membership of the Governance committee of the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) she led projects relating to Governance frameworks for Major Saudi family businesses and for non for profit institutions. This involved alignment of Family constitutions and shareholder values with Management and incorporating diverse expectations of individual shareholders with transparency and efficiency and allowing for good governance without hindering decision-making at operating levels. As a  passionate advocate for diversity and inclusiveness she has been engaged in leading country-wide nationalization strategy, women empowerment and gender diversity within her previous employers. As well as promoting audit and financial advisory as a profession to Saudi graduates, especially females.    

Mona El-Chami, MBA, CPA, CIA

Mona El-Chami is a Senior Governance Specialist at the World Bank Governance Global Practice. She is a recognized trainer and assessor of International Organization for Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI) Supreme Audit Institution Performance Measurement Framework (SAI PMF). She has over 20 years of experience in the areas of governance and financial management, including accounting, and internal and external auditing. She is a core member of the World Bank Accountability and Oversight Institutions Community of Practice contributing to many studies aimed at assessing and supporting Supreme Audit Institutions. She has been leading a number of accountability and oversight engagements in the MENA region providing support to Supreme Audit Institutions, parliaments, ministries of finance, and other. Prior to joining the Bank, she worked with KPMG, managing consulting engagements in both the private and public sectors, including corporate governance, risk assessments and business process improvement. She has been, as well, a developer and lecturer of professional training courses in internal audit in cooperation with the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA). Mona holds a Master’s in Business Administration and is a US Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and Certified Internal Auditor (CIA).

A woman wearing a light blue blazer smiling at the camera
Graziella Hobeika

Graziella Hobeika is a finance and taxation professional with extensive experience in audit, taxation, and financial strategy, complemented by a solid background in the banking sector. She is the Managing Partner at HBK Audit Advisory, where she advises leading companies in Lebanon on financial governance and sustainable growth. An elected Board Member of the Lebanese Association of Certified Public Accountants (LACPA), Graziella contributes actively to shaping the Association’s strategic plan and international cooperation initiatives. She has been recently elected to serve on the board of FIDEF, the international federation for French speaking CPAs.

Graziella holds a PhD in Management Information Systems from Paris-Nanterre University, with a research focus on the impact of AI and emerging technologies on the public sector. She is a founding member of the Lebanese Association for Information Sciences (LAIS) and a lecturer at Notre Dame University, where she teaches management and entrepreneurship.

Dana Jensen
Dana Jensen

Head of Engagement for MENA & the Caribbean, IFAC

Dana Jensen is the Head of Engagement for MENA & the Caribbean at the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), where she works closely with professional accountancy organizations (PAOs), regulators, and development partners to advance adoption of international standards, strengthen governance, and support sustainable growth of the profession.

She also leads IFAC’s PAO Development & Advisory Group, which provides global thought leadership on strategic planning, value proposition, and good governance for PAOs worldwide.

Trilingual in Arabic, French, and English, Dana brings a global perspective shaped by her earlier work with the United Nations Department for Peacekeeping Operations. She holds an MSc from Columbia University and a Diploma in Islamic Finance from CIMA, and has contributed to IFAC’s initiatives on Islamic finance, sustainability, and the ethical implications of emerging technologies such as AI.

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