The WFE's Women Leaders 2022 - Dr. Rasha Dayyat, Director of Planning and Institutional Development, Amman Stock Exchange

Member: Amman Stock Exchange

Nominee’s name: Dr. Rasha Dayyat

Nominee’s job title: Director of Planning and Institutional Development

1. - Brief description of nominee’s role/job:

My job includes the following:

Supervising the employees in Planning and Institutional Development to accomplish all the work and tasks required.

Seeking to develop the department's business.

Supervising the preparation of the annual report of the Stock Exchange and the statistical reports issued by the department and reviewing them.

Supervising the preparation and drafting the ASE’s strategic plan and the annual operational plans stemming from it.

Supervising the preparation of the policy, plan & manual for the risk management that the Stock Exchange may be exposed to and act if necessary.

Supervising the work quality assessment processes in the Stock Exchange.

Following up on local and international economic reports and news.

Deepening the relationship of the stock exchange with external parties such as the Federation of Arab and International Stock Exchanges by representing the Stock Exchange in the committees stemming from these federations.

Following up on implementing the projects in the strategic plan, and implementing them according to the best practices and international standards.

Being a coordinator From Amman Stock Exchange for EBRD projects. (European Bank for Reconstruction and Development).

Being a Secretary for the Risk management committee, which is one of the committees of the ASE’s board.

2. - Short bio (career highlights, education, interests/hobbies):

I have PhD in finance from Coventry University/UK, masters and bachelor’s degree in economics from Mu’tah University/Jordan. At that time, I have been considered the youngest lady in Jordan who got the PhD, and it was published in the newspaper. I have been an assistant professor in finance specializing in monetary policy and capital markets. I also have more than ten years of professional experience including being an advisor to IMF executive director to the Middle East region, in which I analysed the country and policy papers produced by the staff for the board, read and reviewed working and research papers prepared by the IMF staff, and prepared the monthly report for the Middle East region.

I have been a vice-dean of faculty for Business Administration, and a head of the Accounting Department in Princess Sumaya University and Mu’tah University in which I did different tasks such as discussing all department members’ issues including the schedule and courses, and students’ issues, representing the department on different committees in the faculty, and participating in different regional economic and finance conferences and seminars. I have been an economic consultant at the Delegation of the European Union in which I drafted the public financial management report/an internal report for the EU. I have been a program director at Talal Abu Ghazaleh Organization in which I contacted international universities and organizations for preparing different online courses and programs with Talal abu Ghazaleh University, and been a coordinator of the Economic Policies Development Forum in which I prepared different economic reports and analysed reports. I have been a member of the IMF Winter Internship Program in the Middle East and Central Asia Department in which I wrote a report titled "Monetary Transmission Mechanism in the Caucasus" using econometric analysis.

Now, I’m the director of planning and institutional development at Amman Stock Exchange, which works on preparing the ASE’s strategic plan and submitting related reports; preparing statistics for Amman Stock Exchange; following up, updating and developing indices continuously in line with the latest international practices; preparing the annual report for the stock exchange; and preparing studies, research, and reports, in addition to managing the risks that the stock exchange may be exposed to. Recently, I had a professional certificate in sustainability, in which I will be an accredited trainer in sustainability accredited by Social Value International (a partner with UNDP in the sustainability project).

Regarding my professional and voluntary activities; I supervised accounting students and been the winner of CFA Research Institute Challenge among Jordanian Universities for two years, have been a board member in the IRB committee supervised by USAID at Princess Sumaya University, represented the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan at the Youth Development and Peace Conference organized by the World Bank in Paris, have been a member in the Executive Committee for Excellence and Innovation for the King Abdullah II Fund for Development and involved in training and career counselling of the fund members.

Recently, I trained employees from the biggest companies listed in Amman Stock Exchange for three days on sustainability and the importance of sustainability as one of the steps for helping the companies write their sustainability reports.

As for hobbies and interests, it is difficult to imagine life before our personal and professional worlds were so dominated and “switched on” via smartphones and the other devices that make us accessible and, crucially, so easily distractible and interruptible every second of the day. Therefore, I have to get myself sometimes out of this world by reading. One of the reasons why reading is the best hobby is because it expands my horizons. It gives me something new and different to enjoy. Reading causes my mind to work differently than when I am watching TV or using phone or PC. It is a way to stretch my mind to grasp new concepts. It also makes my mind work to interpret images.

When I read a book, I feel that I visit a different world every time I read a book. Reading makes me sympathetic because I gain a better understanding of people and the world. All book lovers and readers know the true power of a good book and the experience that comes along with it. Jacqueline Kennedy said: “There are many little ways to enlarge your world. Love of books is the best of all.”

3. - What were your professional highlights and challenges of 2021 (ie why should you be on this list):

There’s nothing magical about the number 2021, unfortunately. Despite the hopes of millions, this year was likely had many challenges as the same as 2020. 2021 was a critical year for all of us — a test of our resolve to eradicate COVID‑19 and our commitment to addressing its long-term impacts. In 2021, getting COVID‑19 vaccines to everyone who needs them will require an unprecedented effort to build trust within communities and was a big challenge. And in light of all these challenges, ASE was doing its best to implement its strategic plan projects. And for me, it is really a big challenge as part of my tasks is to follow up the accomplishments of achieving the projects in the strategic plan in general, and achieving projects related to my department specifically.

One of these projects is to commit companies included in the ASE20 index to issue sustainability reports as of 2022. In this regard, ASE in cooperation with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the United Nations Global Compact Network in Jordan (UN Global Compact Network) held a training course organized by Social Value International (SVI) for representatives of ASE20 index companies to familiarize them with the importance of issuing sustainability reports and how these reports are prepared according to the latest initiative of the UNDP (SDG Impact Standards).

I participated in organizing this training and made it concurrent with the “World Investor Week” in which ASE also rang the bell for a financial literacy event. Moreover, I attended sustainability training and had an exam, passed it, and became one of the accredited trainers who trained the companies during this event. And I consider it as a chance for me to know more about sustainability and a new experience which is totally different than anything else I had before. I talked about several topics during the training, mainly: The importance of adopting sustainability practices and their impact on the global economy, recent global trends in investment, sustainability practices in Jordan, understanding the relationship between the ESG Factors and sustainable development goals and impact management (SDG Impact Management), and how to prepare reports in accordance with these standard. And I’m working now with UNDP and SVI to help ASE20 companies write their sustainability reports.

And it was my opportunity to prove myself and develop my achievements from the concept and a quote by Albert Einstein that says: “In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.” Therefore, I recognized that it was my opportunity.

Moreover, I communicated and cooperated with all my colleagues in the department. Through our teamwork, we successfully finished the ASE annual report, started working on a new project in my department which is Automating the strategic plan, which will be ready soon.

I prepared the economic report that is published monthly with the ASE report, reviewing all reports done by EBRD and presented to ASE, in addition to writing other reports required by the management. I attended many important events held in 2021 such as the launching “Women Empowerment Principles” event organized by UN Women, “Ring the Bell for Gender Equality” organized by ASE, and “Ring the Bell for Financial Literacy” organized by ASE. I discussed important issues with the executive management related to the stock exchange such as collaborating with international and regional organizations and institutions in different areas with ASE which will have a good impact on the investment in ASE.

4. - What and who inspires/has inspired you to achieve your professional success:

I find my motivation and inspiration in different things. I am inspired by the fact that every day is a new day. I really think that there is an opportunity in every day. You never know what is going to come. Success is what motivates me to do a good job. Knowing the fact that my hard work and perseverance will help me achieve greater professional success is what keeps me going. Also what keeps me going is being around passionate people, people who contribute to their communities, people who possess great intelligence and depth with an equal amount of humility. That combination is really an effective one.

Therefore, I came up with some main points of inspiration, such as: making change and empowering people, taking risk if necessary, and thinking out of the box.

5. - What advice do you have for other women who aspire to be in leadership positions:

I have some key pieces of advice for young women who aspire to be in leadership positions:

Love what you do.

Stop repetition tasks - make something new or find a new way to do it.

Work smart not hard.

Never underestimate your goals.

Implement time management.

Learn new things - update yourself in your field - never remain the same.

Deliver more than expected and never expect rewards in return.