Michigan Ross Announces Winners of its GCC Women's Empowerment and Leadership in Sustainability Scholarships

Scholarship winners were announced by the Head of Operations - MEA at Ross Executive Education, Jay Srage

Dubai, UAE: 20 March 2023 – The Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan, named a Top 10 global executive education provider by the Financial Times, today announced the winners of its 2023 Executive Education GCC Scholarship. The first scholarship category, GCC Women’s Empowerment, aims to advance and empower aspiring executives committed to gender diversity and women’s empowerment who wish to enhance their leadership skills. The second category, newly launched this year, GCC Leadership in Sustainability, is designed to raise awareness of the impact of sustainability on the entire economic ecosystem and recognizes a scholar who successfully and effectively drives sustainability as a corporate strategy. 

The Women’s Empowerment Scholarship recipient is Nikita Kandath, Regional Marketing Manager, EMEA Emerging Markets at CommScope in the UAE. The Leadership in Sustainability Scholarship recipient is Nityashri Bhatt Shah, Founder of Aevitas Corporate Maternity Wellness in the UAE. 
“We are pleased to offer this scholarship opportunity again after its success in 2019 to these two leading women in the GCC region that are championing women’s empowerment and sustainability,” said Jay Srage, Head of Operations - MEA at Michigan Ross Executive Education. “We have selected these women to receive the scholarship because of their notable contributions and commitment to advancing women in leadership and ESG initiatives within their workplace and communities. We look forward to seeing how they will benefit from Ross Executive Education programs to further develop their skills and expertise and continue positively impacting their organizations and the region.” 

Outside of her role at CommScope, Kandath serves as the Deputy Chair for Communications for the Women in Technology Network (WICT), a non-profit organization that furthers women's careers in the technology, media, and entertainment sectors. Through WICT, Kandath and her team were able to successfully spearhead mentorship programs in 2022 that matched industry leaders with aspiring women seeking to chart their professional career roadmaps. She also holds the role of Marketing Ambassador for CommScope’s Diversity Inclusivity Business Network (DIBN), which provides a platform for women and other groups to share their experiences within teams. In 2022, Kandath was named Most Innovative Go-To-Market Strategist of the Year by the inaugural Women In Tech (Pride of Tech) Forum & Awards. 

Bhatt has developed and implemented various mentoring programs and workshops to support working women within an organization, focusing on sustainability as part of the ESG “Social” framework. Often she consults organizations by incorporating the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) framework to create a sustainable employee engagement strategy with long-lasting value for the generations to come. As a UN WEP (Women Empowerment Principle) Signatory, a member of the Dubai Business Women Council, and the Canadian Business Council of UAE, Bhatt frequently meets with decision-makers, CEOs, CHROs, and DEI experts of the companies who are also invested in providing services that meet ESG initiatives. 

Both awardees will receive a scholarship to one of the Michigan Ross Executive Education’s Open Enrollment Programs, which draws executive leaders from various sectors and geographies, and primarily focuses on leadership, management, HR leadership, and other critical areas for executives. Ross also partners with organizations to co-create and deliver comprehensive custom solutions tailored to support client-specific initiatives. The programs are delivered by the University’s world-renowned faculty and provide transformational learning experiences to participants by incorporating a variety of action-based learning strategies and simulations. 
Named the #1 Executive Education provider in North America and the only American School in the Global Top 10 by the Financial Times 2022, Michigan Ross has provided programs to over 20,000 participants around the globe, with over 3,000 companies served and over 95 countries represented.