Full Biography
Ghada Qaisi Audi
Ghada Qaisi Audi is a lawyer and independent arbitrator, advocate for women's empowerment, social commentator, public speaker and mother of two. A central theme of her work is building bridges between cultures, an art that she acquired having lived and worked on three continents.
Ghada is as passionate about the law as she is about women's rights. As a lawyer, she's worked in the private and public sector. She recently completed a six-year tenure as General Counsel of a Dubai-based leading luxury retailer, a role that took her across the globe to South Korea, United Kingdom, Switzerland and Saudi Arabia. She also helped shape the growth of the Dubai International Financial Center Courts in the first decade of its inception.
As a thought leader and women's advocate, she frequently speaks before legal forums, corporate boards, and professional organizations worldwide on women in the law and leadership and has written scholarly articles and conducted academic research on the topic of personal status laws in the Arab world. She uses her platform to nurture talent, engender diversity, and empower women to excel to their fullest potential.
Ghada is currently completing her first book, The Modern Arab Woman’s Guide to Life. Set in the backdrop of Arab culture, the book provides inspiring, curated advice to women to find their strength, the confidence to use their voice and navigate life’s major milestones in the modern day.
Further Education
Ghada graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Kentucky in 1994 with a BA in Political Science and Spanish and was awarded a two-year Gaines Fellowship in the Humanities.
She earned her MA degree in Modern Middle Eastern and North African Studies from the Rackham School of Graduate Studies, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in 1997.
Ghada earned her JD at the University of Richmond School of Law in Richmond, Virginia in 2000 and served as Associate Editor of The Richmond Law Review. She is a licensed attorney in New York and Virginia.
In 2003, Ghada was awarded a German Chancellor's Fellowship by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. She researched international law, conflicts of law, and personal status law at the University of Cologne Institute for International and Foreign Private Law in Cologne, Germany. She taught courses for students in the LLM program and to undergraduates.
She has obtained certification in alternative dispute resolution (ADR) from several organizations including, International Commercial Arbitration Certificate, GCC Commercial Arbitration Centre, May 2012; International Commercial Arbitration Certificate, University of Cologne Academy-CENTRAL, September 2011; and Mediation Training Certificate, Singapore Mediation Centre, January 2011.
Activities
Ghada actively sits as an arbitrator and mediator to decide a wide-range of commercial disputes across the globe. Ghada stays engaged in the practice of law and accepts appointments as an arbitrator and mediator to decide a wide-range of commercial disputes across the globe. She remains active in professional legal organizations and as an alumni of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. She is member of Women’s Angel Investor Network (WAIN), the first investor network for women in the MENA region supporting women entrepreneurs.
Hobbies
Ghada enjoys a wide variety of reading, in particular books and digital resources on wellness, coaching, and self-improvement. She recently took up ballet and enjoys tennis and yoga. Since taking her first flight at the tender age of nine months, Ghada has traveled the globe extensively and loves incorporating habits, foods and items she has collected from the cultures she visits into her life. She enjoys opera and has attended performances at La Scala Milan, Semperoper Dresden, as well as in Bonn, Cologne, Dusseldorf, Berlin, Muscat, and Dubai.
Awards & Recognitions
BA POLITICAL SCIENCE & SPANISH
University of Kentucky
Lexington, 1994
AM MIDDLE EASTERN & NORTH AFRICAN STUDIES
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, 1997
JURIS DOCTORATE
University of Richmond
Richmond, 2000
BUSINESS IN HOUSE LUXURY TEAM AWARD
Luxury Law Summit
London, 2018
INDUSTRY ROLE MODEL AWARD
Seddiqi Holding LLC
Dubai, 2017
DIFC COURTS CHIEF JUSTICE AWARD
Dubai International Financial Centre Courts
Dubai, 2010
2003-2004 GERMAN CHANCELLOR FELLOWSHIP
Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
Bonn, 2003
ASSOCIATE EDITOR, UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND LAW REVIEW
Richmond, 1998
FOREIGN LANGUAGE & AREAS STUDIES FELLOWSHIP (FLAS)
Ann Arbor, 1997
PHI BETA KAPPA
Lexington, 1993
GAINES FELLOWSHIP IN THE HUMANITIES
Lexington, 1992