Martyna luanched the first women’s driving event in the region, which attracted huge support from enthusiastic female motorists. She is also a successful race driver!
You staged Yalla Banat (Go Girls) the first women’s driving event in Bahrain following on from the decision to allow women to drive in Saudi. What drove you to take on this challenge?
As the Founder of Yalla Banat, which was an initiative established in 2018, we were able to formulate a dream team of very talented and passionate people who all contributed to building this rich ecosystem of support across corporates, volunteers and figure heads who were excited to connect and make Yalla Banat happen.
I have always been inspired by the incredible contribution and strength of women in our community across Bahrain, which reflects the leading role Bahrain plays across the region in innovation and empowerment.
With the historical news of the ‘she drives’ movement in KSA happening we felt the energy to create a moment to celebrate and promote all the phenomenal successes of women in the Middle East to further inspire the next generation to target their dreams.
This moment quickly transformed into a platform under our ‘Women in the Driver Seat ‘ mission to celebrate, connect and inspire the next generation of women across the exciting, modern, fast-paced Middle Eastern social and economic landscape.
What better way to celebrate than by organising the largest All Women Car Parade in the Middle East at world-famous Bahrain International Circuit F1 track, during a great day packed with leading keynote panel discussions from women in business, social influencers and women sports celebrities.
We are also proud of the community that came together to establish a market place built for SMEs and accelerators to drive innovation with a backdrop of entertainment for the whole family to enjoy, including VR games, the launching of the Ride Nation concept, art galleries and the incredible car show which all attracted an attendance of more than 3,000 visitors from Bahrain and across the GCC.
A year ago we all made it happen together, a very special day with purpose!
What’s next?
What’s next for Yalla Banat? Stay tuned as we are excited to announce the next steps in our continuous drive to celebrate, connect and inspire the next generation of women innovators from across the region.
The response from organisations, corporations and communities to support Yalla Banat has been phenomenal and 2020 is another big year for us with Yalla Banat establishing two exciting new projects to take place in Bahrain which we are aiming to announce before the end of the year. And we are excited to build on our network and invite new partners to collaborate further with a mission to break new records, achieve new highs and contribute to the building of the next generation of innovators and achievers.
