After the inauguration of President Donald Trump, the Egyptian Dina Habib promisingly entered the halls of the White House. Trump chose Dina as a Senior Counselor for Economic Initiatives in his new administration. Despite Trump’s anti-immigration rhetoric, he chose a woman born in Egypt and raised in Texas to occupy the post of “Senior Counselor for Economic Initiatives”.
The new US president said of 43-year-old Dina Habib Powell, a business executive at Goldman Sachs who served in the George W. Bush administration, “Dina Powell has a great talent with an excellent record in the field of public service as well as a great future in the private sector.”
Dina studied at the Orsoloni College for Girls in Dallas before graduating from Texas University which qualified her for her first job in politics. She has supervised major programs and initiatives related to economic development and the empowering of women in development and the entrepreneurship fields.
Dina Powel and George Bush
Under George W Bush she served as assistant for personnel affairs, helping to choose members of his administration and ambassadors; at only 29 years old she was youngest person to ever hold this post. During her tenure at the US State Department she succeeded in forging partnerships between businessmen and government in different development fields and in responding to disasters. She also worked with American universities to enroll international students in their study programs.
In 2005, Dina Powell was appointed as Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs under Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice who also appointed her as Under Secretary for Public and Diplomatic Affairs. This allowed Dina to become the voice of the Bush administration in the Middle East. She was described by Liz Cheney, member of Congress for Wyoming State and daughter of former vice-president Dick Cheney, as a key element in the US administration, because she speaks Arabic. She added Dina is a role model who could help to deconstruct misconstrued ideas. “She has the potential of defining our policies and their effective elements”, Liz said in a statement to the Washington Post.
Goldman Sachs
Dina was recruited by Goldman Sachs in 2007 and rose to supervise investment and charity programs. Now she also supervises the housing program and urban development planning tiered at $4 billion.
Dina has also been behind the success stories of others, such as the Nigerian lady from Lagos whom she encouraged to open a restaurant in her own kitchen with only $8 as capital, and which now employs more than 40 people.
