The Future Leader

15The Global Citizen

Ilham Kadri is the CEO of Solvay, a materials and specialty chemical company with about 24,500 employees globally. Ilham was raised in Morocco by her illiterate grandmother, who was also her first role model. As a child she was told that girls in Morocco have two exits in their life. The first is from their parents' home to their husband's home and the second exit is to the grave. Ilham's grandmother encouraged her to find a third exit, which she did in the form of education, majoring in mathematics and physics. She received her master's degree in 1991 and her PhD in 1997.

Ilham has negotiated large contracts in Japan and Latin America, managed projects in the Middle East and Africa, overseen expansions of projects in Kenya, Ghana, and Nigeria, led marketing projects in Belgium, helped open a new office in North Carolina, studied in Canada and France, and the list goes on. She's lived in more than 15 locations around the world.

She learned the importance of patience when working in Japan, that a verbal commitment is just as important as a written one in Saudi Arabia, the importance of going slow to go fast in Africa, that nothing is impossible in China, what entrepreneurship is in the United States, and the importance of balancing a healthy life in Europe.

During our interview Ilham shared a great story of how she earned the nickname “Water Lady” while ...