TheFace: Noura Alruwaitea, a Saudi youth with high aspirations

AN photo by Ziyad Alarfaj

• We are working hand in hand to achieve the objectives of Vision 2030, which will show the world that Saudis are doers as our dreams become reality

I aim to have a meaningful life. Thanks to a passion for meeting people from all over the world, and having attended conferences organized by UN for Youth, I believe in connectivity and being inspired by those around me.
I pursued a career in marketing and after graduating from college I started working for Careem. It is a fast-paced environment where you need to be agile and you get to develop skills very quickly. Working for Careem makes me feel empowered; it encourages creativity and offers the scope to work beyond the normal limits of a job.
My story is a three-generation story; I am my mother’s daughter and my grandmother’s granddaughter. I inherited aspects of both of them, and they see the future and world through me.
I was always given the opportunity to speak my mind and give my opinion as my mother was keen on encouraging this trait in me from an early age. This helped to develop my confidence, which paid off when I was chosen to take part in a panel discussion at a marketing conference, represent my university as an alumna, and was recently a judge in a Hult Prize on-campus competition.
All this success can be traced back to childhood and my mother’s support. I learned the importance of values from my mother and grandmother, on personal and professional levels.
I am a big believer in community and the ways in which dialogue connects us. I see inspiration in everything, and that led me to become part of the Riyadh chapter of Creative Mornings, a monthly meet-up group that aims to encourage the development of a creative community. This is also a form of giving, as I am a volunteer, giving back to my community.
As an avid advocate of community engagement and a marketer by profession, I find that these two fields complement one another. In marketing, you learn how to target and engage with people so that they can be provided with what they need. Marketing has helped me better understand people and recognize different personality types, and so I am able to tailor whatever I am trying to promote to the person I am trying to convince.
One of my fondest memories is of my grandfather. I saw a black and white photograph of him that was taken when he attended a conference at the UN, and it inspired me.
I wanted to be part of that kind of experience. Two years later, I was attending a UN youth conference alongside university students from around the world. This taught me that everything is possible if you believe in it.
After that experience, I attended several youth conferences in a number of countries, and at the last one, in London, I was the head of the first women’s delegation from Prince Sultan University to attend a Model UN meeting.
At the age of 24, I am blessed to be part of the youth that is living the Saudi dream, where our voices are being heard. We are working hand in hand to achieve the objectives of Vision 2030, which will show the world that Saudis are doers as our dreams become reality. Being a young woman in this nation at this time has unlocked so many opportunities for me, for which I am very grateful.