Zainab Wadood was eight years old, growing up in South Africa, when an audiologist recommended hearing aids\u2014huge devices, at the time, that would have encircled her head. \u201cWhen he showed my parents, my father was like, no,\u201d says Zainab, who progressed through elementary, secondary and even higher education, consumed by the constant effort to catch up. A college professor and supervisor noticed the issue and asked her to see an ENT. \u201cAfter I got out of the booth, the technician said to me, \u2018How did you get through your life?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
She offers the story to explain her intense discipline and passion for education that considers the needs of its learners. \u201cI want people to understand why tools and interactions are so necessary,\u201d says Zainab. Fitted with a high-tech hearing aid, Zainab went on to earn a Master\u2019s degree in Business and graduated at the top of her class.<\/p>\n
Today, Zainab is the head of Health and Welfare for the Americas at WPP, the advertisement agency known as the \u201ccreative transformation company.\u201d With 150 subsidiaries that comprise a huge, global network of advertising companies, WPP relies on Zainab to design a harmonized benefits strategy across the network. She balances design and operational capability with cultural acumen and strategy to bring the company ahead of market trends.<\/p>\n
While the mission of Global Nomads drew her attention, the organization\u2019s authenticity and welcoming approach held it. \u201cThey connected to my core values,\u201d Zainab says. \u201cThe connectivity they foster speaks to my own experience of being from a developing country and wanting to use what tools and technology I could to learn about the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
Global Nomads welcomes her leadership and curiosity about every aspect of how the organization creates change. \u201cI look at who I\u2019m working with on the board and their passion is very humanizing to me,\u201d says Zainab. \u201cI will learn from them and, hopefully, they\u2019ll learn from me.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":1697,"template":"","class_list":["post-3923","board_of_directors","type-board_of_directors","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gng.org\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/board_of_directors\/3923","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gng.org\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/board_of_directors"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gng.org\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/board_of_directors"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gng.org\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1697"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gng.org\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}