FOUNDER · SPEAKER · INVESTOR مؤسِّسة · متحدثة · مستثمرة
Malak
Alsaffar
The first woman to lead a Visa market in MENA. A decade building Bahrain’s digital economy. Now founding, speaking and investing across the Gulf.
ABOUT · نبذة
From corporate law to country lead, and out on my own.
I joined Visa’s legal team in 2014 and left a decade later having run its Bahrain business, negotiating the partnerships behind the Kingdom’s shift to digital payments, from the first arcade cards to Tap to Phone for small merchants.
Today I work for myself: building The Elevate Collective, mentoring young leaders, and backing founders across the GCC. If you’re building something in this region, we should talk.
WORK WITH ME · اعملي معي
Speaking
Keynotes and panels on digital payments, fintech in the Gulf, and women in leadership, in English or Arabic.
Advisory
Market strategy for fintechs, banks and brands entering or scaling in the GCC. Legal-trained, commercially led.
Mentoring
Leadership development for women and young professionals: one-to-one, or in-house through The Elevate Collective.
SPEAKING · محاضرات
Topics I speak on.
- The cashless Gulf: what’s actually next FINTECH
- First in the room: leading as a woman in MENA LEADERSHIP
- From employee to owner: breaking the golden handcuffs CAREER
- Backing women: mentorship and capital in the GCC INVESTING
“How do I
work with you?”
Tell me the date you have in mind, what you’re building, or the room you need someone to speak to.