Hi All -
While several of our board volunteer chairs (chairman of the board, chair emeritus, etc.) have been "touring" the U.S. visiting many local chapters and councils, VP of International Business Development Jim Gurowka and I visited Jordan, Qatar and Dubai where IMA continues to grow in influence, respect and size. This demonstrates at least two points - 1) that IMA is truly global, reflecting the footprint of our profession and b) IMA/CMA has many ambassadors to call on, volunteers and staff alike, at the local and global levels - a true IMA competitive advantage!
Special thanks go to many local volunteers, including Dubai Chapter President Karim Abd Elhay and chapter officer (and recent winner of an IMA Young Professional Award) Iyad Mourtada for successful chapter events, both in person and via live webinar. Our educational sessions included how CMAs help enhance organizational capability in turbulent times, and a leadership development session. During our multi-country visits, we met with the regional CFOs of Qatar Telecom, Qatar Airways, IBM, Daimler, and Ericsson, not to mention meetings with our valued CMA review course providers. We also met with the president, dean of business and department chair of Qatar University, which is one of the top ranked MBA programs in the Middle East. Special thanks also to Ammar Khayyat, president of the Jordanian Association of Management Accountants which serves as IMA's local chapter in Jordan. JAMA's innaugural annual conference was a huge success, with many notable CFOs and CMAs participating!
All in all, a great trip and demonstrates once again the power of IMA's global community and the intense interest in the CMA program. IMA's local staff in the Middle East continues to show how local products and services, including a IMA Middle East website partially in Arabic, helps to advance the profession and enrich careers, organizations and society.
Thanks,
Jeff