With 18 years of experience, Abla Darwish has mastered the full arc of strategy, transformation, and execution. She has shaped organizational performance and leadership development across diversified businesses in the Middle East and GCC.
Abla Darwish represents a new generation of regional leaders who bridge consulting rigor with corporate execution to deliver enterprise-wide transformation. By the age of 40, she had led strategic initiatives that spanned the entire value chain, from designing long-term corporate strategies and forging strategic partnerships to executing complex transformations and embedding organizational capabilities that endure.
Her career began in Big Four consulting, where she built a foundation in strategy design, corporate development, and operational excellence. Working across multiple industries in the MENA region, she advised executive leadership on portfolio optimization, organizational health, and performance improvement. These early experiences shaped her ability to translate strategic vision into tangible results.
Transitioning into senior executive leadership, Abla applied her consulting expertise to drive transformation from within. She worked on multi-year strategies that reshaped operating models, improved financial and operational performance, and unlocked synergies across diversified portfolios. She is known for designing transformation roadmaps that balance business imperatives with people-centric leadership, aligning culture, capabilities, and governance with strategic and financial goals.
“Strategy only creates value when it’s lived every day, not just written in plans.”
Abla’s influence extends beyond corporate mandates. She has advised boards, incubated ventures, and established strategic partnerships that fuel innovation and strengthen market competitiveness. Her work spans both the business and people dimensions of performance, integrating leadership development, organizational design, and change management to sustain long-term success.
Committed to advancing leadership in the region, she has actively mentored women executives and emerging entrepreneurs. She shares her experience in strategy, transformation, and corporate development to nurture the next generation of leaders. Abla has also contributed to global forums, including participation as a Village Partner in a World Economic Forum initiative on collaboration and future leadership.
An alumna of the American University of Beirut, with executive education from Oxford, Wharton, MIT Sloan, and Duke, Abla combines strategic foresight with hands-on transformation expertise.
“Transformation is less about changing structures and more about enabling people to lead differently.”
Today, Abla Darwish is recognized for her ability to connect vision with execution, helping organizations navigate complexity and build capabilities that last. Her journey reflects a self-driven leadership path. From consulting foundations to shaping strategic and organizational transformation at scale, it is marked by continuous learning, collaboration, and a commitment to empowering others to lead change.
“The most rewarding part of leadership is seeing others grow into roles they once thought were out of reach.”