Durdana Saiyid Rizvi, MBA (Schulich School of Business, York University)

Durdana combines nearly four decades of professional and teaching experience with a passion for sharing her knowledge and dedication with her students that is unparalleled. After seven years working with accounting firm KPMG and a decade spent in the corporate world, Durdana made the transition into the education sector. In addition to her position as a business faculty member at the Higher Colleges of Technology, Dubai Men’s campus, for nearly ten years, she founded the Financial Training Centre at Dubai Men’s College (FTC@DMC) at HCT. Durdana has called the UAE home for over three decades and has taught and worked with Emiratis for the last 18 years. Her extensive experience, both personal and professional, have made her acutely aware of the challenges faced by the public and private sectors in the UAE in their Emiratization initiatives and programs and also cognizant of the issues faced by young Emiratis in finding appropriate jobs. By developing close mentoring relationships with each of her students and taking the time to learn how to guide them to success, Durdana has been able to consistently and effectively help her students to learn challenging concepts and to take the necessary steps to be personally and professionally successful in achieving their goals. She founded DSR, known affectionately as the Learning Majlis, with the intention of providing her students with a nurturing environment where teaching and learning takes place in a social and collaborative way and where relationships are cultivated to foster a life-long love of learning.