Mashal Waqar is the co-founder and COO of The Tempest, a global women’s media company bringing forward real conversations. The Tempest has quickly grown to become one of the fastest-growing women’s media companies globally; in 2018, The Tempest’s articles were read over 45.2 million times. Mashal has experience in scaling, building effective content experiences, and in building diverse teams. She was featured in the 2019 Entrepreneur Middle East’s Achieving Women, and in 2019 Forbes Middle East 30 Under 30 for her work. She has also been awarded the Young Leader of the Year award at the 19th Global WIL Economic Forum.

Mashal is passionate about accessibility and intersectional growth for entrepreneurs in the startup ecosystem. She has given two TEDx talks, and is a frequent speaker on topics related to entrepreneurship, accessibility and inclusion, mental health, and women in tech. Mashal also sits on the advisory committee for NOMAD (A project by Al-Ahli Holding Group) and mentors founders at Sheraa (Sharjah Entrepreneurship Centre) and Startup Weekend.