Bentley Empowers Students From UK And Qatar In Third Extraordinary Women Initiative

The third instalment of Bentley Motors' Extraordinary Women initiative has come to an end, with students from universities in the UK and Qatar spending a week at the luxury car maker's Crewe headquarters. The participants engaged with Bentley experts and executives, explored the manufacturing facilities, and completed individual tasks as part of a specially designed programme.

The 2024 edition of the Extraordinary Women programme aimed to nurture and develop young female leaders. Over the past three months, students received one-on-one mentorship from inspirational Pioneers in technology, engineering, design, and business. The students were chosen through a structured selection process focused on these four fields and represented various universities, including the University of Doha for Science and Technology in Qatar, and the Universities of Bath, Loughborough, and Manchester Metropolitan in the UK.

Noora Al-Hajri, a student at the University of Doha for Science & Technology, said: "This experience has been nothing short of life-changing. Through the programme, I have gained invaluable knowledge and skills that will significantly impact my personal and professional growth... Thank you, Bentley, for believing in us and for creating such a transformative programme."

The Pioneers who provided mentorship were also carefully selected. In the UK, Sara Davies MBE, founder of Crafter's Companion and TV personality from BBC One show Dragons' Den, mentored in business; Cecilia Harvey, founder of Tech Woman Today, mentored in technology; Titi Oliyide CEng MIET, Senior Process Safety Engineer and winner of the 2023 Young Woman Engineer of the Year award mentored in engineering; Ilse Crawford, renowned interior designer and Founder of Studioilse provided design support.

Qatari Pioneers included Muna Al-Bader (design), Dr Noora Fetais Al Marri (technology), Dr. Hanan Farhat (engineering), and Dr. Buthaina Al Ansari (business).

Dr. Karen Lange, Member of the Board for Human Resources at Bentley Motors, said: "With every year, the Extraordinary Women programme grows stronger... It has been a great honour to meet and engage with such talented young women during their visit – witnessing their energy and ability fills me with great optimism for the future."

The Extraordinary Women initiative was launched in 2022 in the UK and Middle East as part of Bentley's wider commitment to diversity under its Beyond100 strategy. The initiative aims to encourage women to explore career paths in STEM and automotive sectors.