Faces of Ford: Ghenwa Habbal

Ghenwa Habbal is not the sort of person who sits still for very long. Whether she’s at the beach connecting with nature, nurturing her knowledge as a HR professional, or cultivating her skills at dried flower arranging, Ghenwa is always busy.

Ghenwa joined the Ford team in Dubai in 2015 and is a regional talent management lead for the Middle East and North Africa.

It’s a job she cares deeply about, and she credits her family and her upbringing in Lebanon as the catalyst for her passion for helping others and her entrepreneurial mindset. 

“Watching my father build his travel business more than once, and the way he empowered his staff to succeed, was inspirational,” Ghenwa said. She also credits her mother for equipping her with “a resilience toolkit, that powered my path and made me ready to manoeuvre any volatile, uncertain, complex or ambiguous environment.”

Ghenwa says that sparked a genuine interest in understanding workplace dynamics, which led to a degree in business management from the Beirut Arab University followed by her journey of obtaining a master’s degree in business and organisational psychology in 2024.

Prior to Ford, she worked for environmental services agency Sukleen in 2006, before joining Sukleen’s parent company, Averda in 2009 and moving from Beirut to Dubai.

Joining Ford’s Dubai team was a step change for Ghenwa – moving from a regional environmental services company to a global automotive brand with a multi-cultural roster of employees.

“We’re proud of the workplace culture of inclusivity, growth, learning and empowerment that we’ve been able to develop in the UAE and our Middle East Markets in general,” Ghenwa said. “I believe that no matter the challenge, our resilient team can overcome it.’

Outside of work, Ghenwa says reading provides her with a great escape, while writing enables her to absorb and communicate complex ideas clearly. She contributed to the self-help book Shaken Stirred but Not Deterred and has provided articles for several organisations in the region.

She loves to exercise and dance to relieve stress and creates dried flower arrangements to improve focus and attention to detail. Yet it’s her desire to help others that keeps her motivated.

“I’m so passionate about helping people perform at their best in their chosen fields, but the thing I’m most proud of is being able to give back – the ultimate satisfaction.”