Documentarian, athlete, go-getter, and McLean trusteeFaiza El-Hibri ’08
Director of Operations Management, East West Resources Corp.
MBA, American University
BA, Film, UNC-Wilmington
Faiza El-Hibri’s ’08 resume is impressive and eclectic. A decade out of high school, her career ranges from helping produce high profile TV dramas such as Sleepy Hollow, to supporting the Greater Washington Board of Trade’s bid for Amazon HQ2, and managing sales conversions at Johnson & Johnson. Still only 29, she credits McLean with giving her the confidence and openness to take on the unfamiliar.
“If I had to sum up my experience at McLean I would describe it as boundless,” she says. “The school is an incubator—helping students embrace creativity and capitalize on their strengths and differences to develop into confident, capable, and determined people.”
When Faiza arrived at McLean as a nine-year-old, she was far from confident. As a young girl, she struggled in public school and wasn’t able to match the learning pace of her classmates. “I had word retrieval issues which made it difficult to articulate my thoughts. I was tested for learning disabilities, but test after test, I wasn’t diagnosed with anything – it was very frustrating.”
After transferring to McLean, which her older brother and sister had attended, Faiza quickly benefited from the small class sizes and child-centered, Abilities Model ® approach to learning. “The small class sizes encouraged me to participate in class and made me more comfortable hearing my own voice. I discovered that I am a kinesthetic learner and the issues I had with word retrieval just went away.”
As her confidence grew, Faiza spread her wings. Over her nine years at McLean she opted to study Latin, American Sign Language and creative writing, sang in school musicals, played soccer, basketball, and lacrosse, captaining all three teams, and sat on the student council. “The confidence and openness to try different things has been instilled in me since 4th grade, by teachers who treated us like equals,” she says. “While students at many schools tend to narrow down their choices by focusing on sports, or the arts, or academics, McLean encouraged us to do them all.”
Since she left school, this expansive approach to life has served Faiza well. After studying film at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington she landed her dream job in commercial TV production. She later took these skills to the non-profit world, joining Unity Productions Foundation in Silver Spring, which promotes peace and religious and cultural pluralism through media. While there, she oversaw production for an Emmy-nominated historical docu-drama, but also discovered an affinity for the business side of non-profit management.
Her next step was to enroll in an MBA at American University, where she was handpicked to work on several high profile consultancies, including the Greater Washington Board of Trade’s Amazon HQ2 bid. “We had to produce competitive intelligence on competing cities and present our findings to stakeholders, including the directors of the region’s major airports,” she explains. “It was pretty challenging and exciting.”
At every step along the way, Faiza says, her experience at McLean prepared her to succeed. “The school teaches you that there are no limitations on what you can do, and does an excellent job at helping you understand who you are. For me, that support has meant that when I walk into a new job or city or college, I feel prepared to succeed.”
Today, after a brief stint at a medical device subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson in Philadelphia, Faiza works for East West Resources Corporation in Rockville. As Director of Operations Management, she has a pivotal role at the life sciences-focused investment and business development firm.
For now, she is settled there, although there is no doubt she will take on new challenges and responsibilities—including joining McLean School’s Board of Trustees. “I am ecstatic to be able to give back,” she says. “Thanks to McLean, I took on the unfamiliar and unknown and will continue to do so. I attribute so much of my professional confidence to the school where I learned how to embrace who I am.”