ShareKUWAIT: As part of its ongoing efforts to lead Kuwait’s progress toward realizing Vision 2035, Burgan Bank announced its strategic sponsorship of Academy X, the biggest women’s empowerment initiative in Kuwait’s tech industry, led by CODED Academy with the support of Kuwait University (KU). This sponsorship comes as part of Burgan’s yearlong comprehensive social responsibility program, further aligning with its commitment to women’s empowerment and embedding the highest standards of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) into its practices and operations.
“Following the great joint success, we achieved with Burgan Lab Academy, we are delighted to renew our partnership with CODED as strategic sponsors of their outstanding women in tech and entrepreneurship empowerment initiative, Academy X, which echoes our devoted strategy for investing in Kuwait’s aspiring talents through innovative learning and development programs,” said Bashar Al-Qattan, Executive Manager – Learning & Talent Development at Burgan Bank.
He added: “As a business that grows around the market’s evolving modern needs, our success relies greatly on leveraging our tech-driven national talents’ innovative creativity and problem-solving prowess. Nonetheless, our envisioned success cannot be fully realized until we guarantee a fair opportunity for talents of both genders to lead our technology and digital transformation efforts — a fair opportunity that begins with early access to advanced tech education and training.”
Fatma Ahmad, Senior Manager – Learning and Development at Burgan Bank, said: “We believe that holding spaces where women can learn together and inspire one another can have a fundamental long-term impact on the sustainable development of our institution, sector, and economy. That’s why, as part of our Empower Her program, and in compliance with the UN’s sustainable development goals (SDGs) and Kuwait’s Vision 2035, we strive to continue playing an active role in achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls in Kuwait through valuable partnerships and forward-looking learning and development initiatives, such as Academy X. Our sponsorship of Academy X also comes as an extension of Burgan’s ‘Teach Them Young’ initiative for preparing future tech leaders.”
Hashim Behbehani, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer at CODED Academy, said: “We are proud of our partnership with Burgan Bank in supporting Academy X, which represents a true alignment between our mission to empower young women and the bank’s unwavering commitment to supporting women through its initiatives. Burgan’s contribution to the program reflects a genuine dedication to creating meaningful social impact and opening new development opportunities that support the ambitions of Kuwaiti girls in tech and entrepreneurship. This partnership paves the way for promising career paths in an evolving digital world, and we take pride in working with an organization that places women’s empowerment at the heart of its social strategy.”
Building on the success of its first edition, Academy X, with the support of Burgan Bank, is preparing to roll out its 2025 round where it continues to inspire and guide young women with an aptitude for IT development and entrepreneurship. The one-year program, which includes six-day sessions for each cohort, is designed to introduce the 2025 applicants to the principles of successful user interface and user experience design (UI/UX), the latest artificial intelligence (AI) tools, the foundations of entrepreneurship, as well as leadership and soft skills.
The program’s interactive hands-on nature guarantees that participants have an opportunity to translate their newly acquired knowledge into individual and group projects that rely on tools such as TelePort, UiZard, Gamma, Adobe Logo Maker, and Adalo. In addition, the program’s 2025 edition will also include engaging talks delivered by some of Kuwait’s most prominent female leaders in tech innovation and entrepreneurship, for a chance to relay their experiences first-hand to the Academy X participants and give them personalized feedback on their startup ideas and how they present them to the market.
As part of its sponsorship, Burgan Bank aims to aid Academy X in achieving its goals of increasing the program registrations from 340+ in 2024 to 500 in 2025, as well as encouraging more students to launch their startups through post-program mentorship and introducing more AI tools to fully utilize participants’ innovative and creative energy.
As a certified Great Place to Work, Burgan Bank has a long track record of initiatives and programs dedicated to enabling women in the workplace and preparing young women for a prosperous career in banking and finance. These efforts include, but are not exclusive to, the Lean-In Circle for Women Empowerment program, which explores and addresses women-specific challenges in the workplace; and the Empower Her summer internship program for undergraduate young women wishing to pursue a career in banking.
