Your Favorite TV Broadcaster Mona Abu Suleiman

Mona Abu Suleiman is considered one of the brightest personalities in the Arab media world. She was the first Saudi TV presenter, which helped her build a shining and respected reputation. Her fame and popularity increased during the time she spent presenting the famous Kalam Nawaem program on MBC. Who is Mona Abu Suleiman? Let’s talk about her.

Who is Mona Abu Suleiman?

Mona Abdel Hamid Abu Suleiman was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, on the sixteenth of May 1973, during the period when her father was attending to obtain a doctorate in international relations from the University of Pennsylvania.

During her studies, Mona Abu Suleiman moved between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United States of America, and Malaysia, due to the work of her father, Dr. Abdul Hamid, a famous Islamic thinker in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Islamic world.

Mona Abu Suleiman obtained a BA in English literature from George Mason University in Virginia in 1995, after which she continued to obtain a master’s degree from the same university in 1996.

Then she moved to Saudi Arabia to prepare for a doctorate in English literature from King Saud University, where she completed a study, but she did not submit her doctoral thesis.

Mona was ranked among the 30 most powerful Saudi women in 2014 by Arabian Business magazine. Many newspapers ranked Mona Abu Suleiman at the forefront of the most influential and effective women on the Arab and Islamic levels from 2009 to 2015.

Mona’s Greatest Achievements:

Mona Abu Suleiman started her career as a broadcaster on MBC. At that time she was nominated to be a host for the program Kalam Nawaem, but she found that her appropriate place was as a broadcaster, and indeed she started her career in this way.

She didn’t find any difficulties in convincing her father, who is considered one of the most important Islamic thinkers in the region, as she tried to help Saudi women and a mirror that reflects their concerns and problems.

Mona Abu Suleiman is a member of the advisory board of the Muslim Women’s Fund, which works to raise the status of Muslim women and provide assistance to poor families, in addition to being a member of the Solia Organization, which works to improve communication between East and West through university studies.

Mona holds a position on the advisory board of Meydan, which is one of the leading international websites for content translation services for Arabic, in addition to her work as a volunteer director at the Friends of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia since 2004, as well as her membership in the Saudi Media Association.

Mona Abu Suleiman began working with Al-Waleed bin Talal in 2005, where she handed over the position of Executive Director of Strategic Studies and Research Initiatives. In one of her meetings, she stated that she had asked Prince Walid to obtain training in the executive field, and she was sent to attend training courses in this field. She added during her speech that the real executive training was during her work with His Highness Prince Walid. She also contributed to the establishment of the Kingdom Holding Company, owned by Alwaleed bin Talal, and assumed the position of General Secretary and the position of Executive Director. The multiple tasks she carried out in the institution ranged from managing the daily activities of research, managing the budget, and setting long-term goals.

In 2006, Mona Abu Suleiman was responsible for building the Al-Waleed Bin Talal Foundation, formerly known as the Kingdom Foundation, and this institution is the charitable wing of the Kingdom Holding Company.

The lectures that Mona Abu Suleiman gives at European and American universities are an important part of her work, as she strives to improve the image of the Islamic world in the eyes of the West.

Mona’s Personal Life:

Mona Abu Suleiman is the mother of two children from her ex-husband, with whom she has a good relationship with him. Despite the divorce, she does not consider it as  a failure in the absolute sense, according to her statements.

Finally:

Mona Abu Suleiman is the first Saudi female announcer to appear on Arab satellite channels, and this is what caused her a lot of criticism, which amounted to death threats from extremist Islamists. Nonetheless, she continued to pursue her dreams with courage, and she did not allow anyone to determine her life path.