What I Know For Sure About Shamma Al Mazrui, Our Minister of State for Youth Affairs and President of the Youth Council

Who is Shamma Al Mazrui, and what do we know about her? The author shares her personal experience and knowledge about our newly appointed Minister of State for Youth Affairs and President of the Youth Council.

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai has just announced today on his twitter account the new UAE cabinet, and has announced the appointment of Shamma Al Mazrui as the Minister of State for Youth Affairs and President of the Youth Council. Not many had the pleasure of knowing Shamma, and because I had, I feel obliged to share with everyone why I believe her appointment as the Youth Minister is in its right place.

I first met Shamma as a fellow delegate to the Academy of Achievement in the US, back in September 2014. The UAE embassy in the US has nominated us along with few more high achieving Emirati youth to be part of this amazing Achievement Summit in San Francisco. The other UAE delegates that year were: Amal Al Agroobi (film director), Hafsa Al Habsi, Khalifa Al Jaziri (founder of e-Home), Reem Al Marzouqi (granted a patent in the US for designing a car that can be driven without hands), and Saud Al Nuwais (founder of Gold Cleats). We were joined by amazing set of achievers from across the world, and talk sessionss were given to us by a number of Nobel laureates and winners of other awards in all industries.

Shamma at the time had just finished her undergraduate studies from NYU, and was just awarded the well-esteemed Rhodes scholarship to attend Oxford University and study an MA in Public Diplomacy.

We spent about 3 days in the summit of intense back-to-back talks, networking sessions, and we had our own time together as a group. In this short time I got to know how brave she is, she would go and talk with different politicians and actually carry long conversations comfortably with them. I got to know how sweet-hearted and genuine she is by the way she carries her self, interested in everyone’s conversation and story, and cares for everyone’s well being. I also got to know how smart she is, and how she believes in preparation always. I clearly remember her saying: anyone can get a Rhodes scholarship only if they get the right training and mentorship in how to handle themselves in the shortlisting interviews, little did she know that not everyone was as well informed and prepared as she was.

I am extremely happy with her appointment, and I know in my heart that she deserves it well and will excel in it.