Bodour Al Qasimi

Bodour Al Qasimi is President of the International Publishers Association. Her work has already led to Sharjah’s recent success as the UNESCO World Book Capital in 2019/20, where the emirate has created a number of initiatives that utilize books as a way to unite people, break down barriers and help understand other cultures and other points of view. She is a moderniser with a desire for change – particularly when it comes to the empowerment of young women and the position of all women in publishing – and in 2019 established PublisHer, an informal networking body that seeks to increase the number of women in leadership roles within the publishing industry. She sees publishing as a conduit that connects people, places, and ideas.

She is a trailblazer in the global publishing scene, Bodour Al Qasimi is creating a positive impact on the world through freedom to publish, enlightenment of children, and empowerment of women. She encourages human expression through creative arts, and publishes works from different authors who push the boundaries of social conversations. She is an avid advocate of the role of books and literacy to enlighten children, and has led, through her own Kalimat Foundation for Children’s Empowerment, a number of campaigns to provide thousands of books for refugees and children affected by conflicts and hardship around the world.

Passionate about supporting entrepreneurship, she established Sheraa (Sharjah Entrepreneurship Centre) in UAE in 2016 as a platform to cultivate a generation of changemakers in her community positioning it globally as a vibrant start-up hub. Bodour has a Bachelor’s degree in Archaeology and Anthropology from Cambridge University and a Master’s degree in Medical Anthropology from London’s University College London.