Areije Al Shakar

Areije is a 'third culture person,' born in Bahrain and raised in Geneva, New York, and London. She holds a Master of Science in Public Policy and Management from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London; a Bachelor of Commerce in Finance from the John Molson School of Business, Concordia University; and is a Certified Business Coach and Mentor from the Chartered Management Institute, UK. Areije is fluent in English, Arabic, and French. She enjoys reading, writing, long walks, and functional movement.

Areije Al Shakar has over 16 years of experience in banking and entrepreneurship. In her current role at Bahrain Development Bank (BDB), she is a Senior Vice President heading the Development Services Division and leads the fund management team of the Al Waha Venture Capital Fund of Funds (Al Waha Fund), with $100M in assets. Her role and involvement at the bank includes coaching, mentorship, startup seed funding, and entrepreneur and ecosystem development. She has been involved in the development of several support services for entrepreneurs, namely in establishing BDB's Rowad Program, a holistic entrepreneur support platform; and SeedFuel-Rowad, a startup funding program. 

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Areije has worked in other organizations in Bahrain, including Investcorp, Citibank, and BNP Paribas, as well as at Lehman Brothers in London and Dubai, where she served on the treasury, investment management, and advisory side.

Areije is a member of Class 24, serving her fellowship at Al Waha Venture Capital Fund of Funds, under the mentorship of Fadi Ghandour (Mentor Class 15), Executive Chairman of Wamda Group, and Marc Benioff, Chairman and Co-CEO of Salesforce.