Alaa Al-Mizyen: The Next Generation of Saudi Leadership

By: Moniza Khokhar

Alaa Al-Mizyen is Saudi Arabia’s future. She’s a young woman, who’s engaged with her community, is active with various international organizations and quite frankly is a force to be reckoned with. Only 21, she’s established her own publication, is a youth ambassador and can school anyone in finance. Saudi Arabia’s future is looking very strong, cultivating independently fierce women. Elan had a chance to talk to Alaa.

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself academically and professionally?

Sure. I’m a senior at Dar Al-Hekma College, majoring in banking and finance. I also write for the Middle East Youth Initiative, an organization launched by the Brookings Institute and the Dubai School of Government, where I communicate my insights on the social and economic inclusion of young people in the Kingdom as the Saudi Arabian youth ambassador (www.shababinclusion.org). Apart from that, I am the founder of Istathmir.org, an organization geared towards the advancement of smart youth investments in Saudi Arabia.

What interests you about the finance field?

Well, my interest in the field of finance stems from the fact that I’ve always had a keen interest in macroeconomics, studying the ins and outs of a nation’s transactions if you may. The world of finance basically provides somewhat of a backbone to any economy as it is practically applied throughout the financial system of any said nation. Saudi Arabia’s economy, being one of the fastest growing emerging economies, is one to keep an eye on and as women are holding more and more jurisdictional roles in policy-making, I have found that studying finance and later capping it with post-graduate studies in financial economics would equip me with the knowledge and experience needed to take up such an executive role in the future.

Can you tell us a little bit about your new endeavor, Istathmir.org?

Istathmir.org was founded October 2010 and is made up of a dynamic team of young professionals who believe strongly in youth as catalysts to driving the economy of Saudi Arabia. As such we strive to instill prudent investment practices by advocating youth involvement in the capital market as well providing guidance in identifying market opportunities for entrepreneurs. Essentially our work falls under development of human capital via entrepreneurship and the building of financial literacy among the Kingdom’s youth. We work under a framework that connects youth-to-youth, youth-to-market, and investors-to-youth all the while enabling the channeling of energy and potential into development of human capital. In its first few months of operations, Istathmir was able to successfully incubate a full-motion social enterprise and launch a podcast consisting of interviews with some of Saudi Arabia’s most prominent entrepreneurs, business officials, academics, and experts.

It is often said that, “The most important kind of capital, is human capital.” How would you elaborate on that statement?

I couldn’t agree more. Saudi Arabia and the Middle East region in general, are experiencing a “youth bulge”, where the majority of the population consists of young people between the ages of 15-29. With such young demographic profiles it is compulsory for these nations to acknowledge the pros and cons that come with the youth bulge, the biggest positive factor being untapped human capital. Needless to say that the development of human capital is one of the key variables of any developed economy.

What has been your greatest challenge with Istathmir.org?

The biggest challenge so far has got to do with time management. What with being a full-time college student, time hasn’t always been on my side and I’ve had to learn a thing or two about prioritizing properly the hard way.

How supportive has the business community been in Saudi Arabia?

I must say the business community in Saudi Arabia has been nothing short of encouraging. I do tend to face skepticism here and there due to my young age and gender but, all in all, I’ve found that local business officials, leaders, and experts have been very helpful especially in terms of guidance, counseling, and financing.

You are quite young. What are your plans for the future?

I’m not sure what’s in store for me later down the line but I do have a couple of things on my bucket list that I want to cross off sooner or later. I’d definitely like to pursue post-graduate degrees with a focus on either economics or finance. I’m also working towards publishing my first book within the next year or so. Travel the world, experience and live the beauty of diversity…I’ve still got a long way to go in life so we’ll just have to wait and see what I end up making of it.

Alaa Al-Mizyen can be reached on her twitter account @almizyenalaa