Recommendation Letter for Noora Al Braiki

16 October 2016

To whom it may concern:

My name is Seda Mansour and I am an education advisor currently working in the emirate of Ras al
Khaimah. Before becoming an advisor, I worked for over 15 years with Stanford University Graduate
School of Business in multiple capacities but primarily as Admissions Director (Assistant and Associate)
for the MBA Admissions Office. In that role, I was privileged to work with some of the worlds brightest
and committed prospective leaders being prepared for a life of impact back in their respective countries.
As an advisor in the UAE, my work continues to be with the development of future leaders but my focus
now is specifically on the GCC and MENA regions.
I first met Noora when, as a volunteer mentor to the inaugural Promise of a Generation Initiative, e7
Daughters of the Emirates, I was assigned to her as one of the young women selected from Ras Al
Khaimah to participate in the year-long leadership program. I was delighted to serve as Nooras mentor
and we connected right away as she was very eager to get her year started and to learn and absorb as
much as she possibly could.
There are three very specific things about Noora that make her stand out, not only as a mentee, but also
as a young professional, demonstrating great potential for leadership.
First of all, Noora is action oriented in all she does and takes initiative whether in a group needing
direction or in her own personal life. Results drive her and push her to reach big goals. When she sets
her mind to do something, she considers what it will take to accomplish it, she plans for success and
then she executes. She is one of the most driven young Emirati women Ive ever worked with. Right out
of high school, she enrolled herself into an intensive English language program because she knew that
her success at university was going to be dependent on a strong and effective grasp of academic English.
As a result of that foresight and then ensuing commitment, Noora is very fluent in English and able to
participate fully in all activities in both English and Arabic.
Second, Noora is an excellent communicator and I dont mean just linguistically. Noora knows how to
listen, to ask questions to strengthen her comprehension, to negotiate and compromise when its
needed and to express ideas and positions that are consensus building and reflect on the opinions of
others, even if they are at odds with her own. This is something that was very important to us at
Stanford and always predicted which MBAs would become the stronger more effective leaders the
ones who could listen well to their teams. Noora demonstrated this exceptionally during her year with
e7 as she turned to me for help with navigating her team during a point of crisis. She confessed that
sometimes women from her background did not like to confront others but she was convinced that the
situation necessitated her leadership and she wanted to learn how to communicate into the tense
situation and still keep the team intact and highly motivated. We discussed what options she might
have with the women on her team and she listened and applied what she thought would be the right

approach for her team. She knew it wouldnt be easy and she felt a bit uncomfortable with having to
lead the conversation but she knew it was the right thing to do and went forward. I was very proud of
her taking the stand she did and could see her confidence and humility grow as she realized how
challenging managing people could be and yet how empowering it was to be able to lead, have an
impact on a group and still work towards common goals.
Finally, the third characteristic I see in Noora that will lead her to be successful as an educational leader,
is her obsessive openness to feedback and to taking risks in what she does. Because she is not shy to
grow and learn, to be at a baby stage in a skill or area of expertise, Noora is open to input and advise
and whatever is necessary to learn something well and to expand her knowledgebase and skillset.
Whether it be in learning a foreign language and making grammar mistakes or being an intern at a local
school where she has only a matter of weeks to satisfy not only course requirements but also teacher
and student expectations. With this attitude towards learning and not being too proud, ashamed or
self-conscious to be starting from the bottom, Noora will be an excellent role model in education and
will be able to incorporate great innovative ideas into her teaching because shes willing to take risks
and not be afraid to fail. Her students will be lucky to have her.
In conclusion, I can thoroughly endorse Noora Al Braiki as a young professional, having prepared herself
excellently during her time at HCT and before, to be a strong, effective and committed teacher and
leader, even before she graduates. Noora has proven herself as a woman of great potential for
leadership in education and I for one am so happy she has picked the field she has. She will be a
national asset to the UAE as our leaders continue to drive education reform in the months and years
ahead.
Sincerely,
Ms. Seda Mansour
Siena Advisory, Managing Director