Joelle Khouri

Our culture, heritage, and upbringing moulds us as humans. Growing up in the UAE, in an environment with a diverse melting pot of nationalities, has made me a global citizen, with a deep connection to my Arab and Levant roots. I came to the country when I was only two months old. My mother travelled to the Middle East from Lebanon in 1986 to visit her sister, who was opening an international school in Sharjah.

Metaphorically speaking, I’ve been nurtured by this beautiful country, like a Sharjah-planted seedling that’s blossomed into a conscious being. I’ve organically adapted to the surroundings in the developing desert of Dubai. Evolving in the desert’s expansive environment has allowed me to develop a deep-rooted system to access subsurface water, drought, tolerance, and resistance mechanisms. The changing times in the UAE has allowed me to appreciate the country’s history, adapting from an old world into a modern society.

I was raised by parents who instilled in me the values of honesty, justice, and modesty. My mother comes from a well-educated family with strong views on women and independence. My father is a businessman, a trader by nature, he passed on family values of togetherness and compassion. These principles of honesty, justice, and modesty continue to guide me, both in my personal and professional life.

MUSIC

Music is my medicine! When I am overwhelmed and exhausted, music is my haven. It can aid in the healing process, the breaking down of barriers, reconciliation, and education. Music is now being used as a vehicle for social change and community building all over the world. Expo 2020 in Dubai was a prime example of this.

LOVE

Love is powerful and beautiful, when combined with ethics, values, and respect, it becomes permanent and rooted. I grew up in a small but very loving, close-knit family and I have a very strong faith in love. You go through many ups and downs, but your ethics, values and respect keep you on track.

TRAVEL

My love for travelling is connected to learning new cultures and traditions. Learning different cultures, strengths and differences makes me feel like a pin drop in the ocean. It teaches me to value what I have and yearn for things I didn’t know existed and to be grateful, thankful, and humble.

CHARITY

For me, charity isn’t about money; it’s about a genuine desire to help in any way. My upbringing living in the UAE has instilled this in me. Charity work is my inner strength. This is what the Late HH Sheikh Zayed taught his nation. Regardless of citizenship, his influence will only be passed on to the next generation.

SUSTAINABILITY

The first job I had was in energy conservation during a period of rapid growth and change in the country’s direction. It was the era of lead certification and green building ratings being reformed to fit the environment and ambient temperature of the GCC region. This was novel for the region as it had not been integrated into our daily lives. My generation, the millennials, were a part of this transition. We adapted quickly to the changes to improve the environment to lead a more sustainable lifestyle. Today, I am proud to be working for a world-class utility corporation, Dubai and Electricity Water Authority LLC, which recently went public on the international stock exchange. With climate change, we pledged to make a big change as a country. Working at DEWA has given me the opportunity to be a part of some of the most incredible sustainable events and achievements.

My responsibilities include bringing these events to Dubai and ensuring that they are logistically feasible. From pitching, to hosting events to bringing in speakers and handling all security clearance, hotel stays, protocol, and event execution from start to finish. I’ve gained massive exposure with the best and most well-known speakers, ambassadors, presidents, and associations, all of whom are committed to sustainability. My primary responsibility at DEWA is the WETEX and Dubai Solar Show exhibition, a leading exhibition in the GCC region for energy, water, and sustainability. My focus over the last ten years has been on building bridges with international countries to bring their technologies and innovation in these areas to Dubai and showcase them. To achieve our long-term goals, we need technologies and innovators to invest in young start-ups that see our vision for a sustainable future.