Follow The Leader: H.E. Najla Al Midfa H.E. Najla Al Midfa, Vice Chairperson of Sharjah Entrepreneurship Center (Sheraa), and Vice Chairperson and Managing Director of Emirates Growth Fund (EGF), proposes a new model of leadership - "kindness with a spine."

This article is a part of the 2025 edition of Entrepreneur Middle East's annual Follow The Leader series, where the region's business leaders share strategies, sector insights, and the professional challenges they navigate on the path to success.

As Vice Chairperson of Sharjah Entrepreneurship Centre (Sheraa) and Vice Chairperson and Managing Director of Emirates Growth Fund (EGF), H.E. Najla Al Midfa straddles two worlds of entrepreneurship: one focused on planting seeds in fresh soil, the other on scaling forests already deeply rooted.

Yet across both, her leadership ethos remains constant—cultivating an unshakeable culture, setting the bar high, and clearing obstacles so founders can move faster than they ever thought possible.

"Different stages, different contexts. But in both, my responsibility is the same: build keystone teams who connect unlikely allies, bridge silos, and keep the mission non-negotiable," Al Midfa says. "Because at the end of the day, these aren't just companies. They are the engines of a nation's economic resilience."

Her leadership at Sheraa has resulted in the Centre supporting over 450 startups and incubating more than 180, enabling them to generate US$372 million in revenue, raise US$297 million in capital, and create 2,690+ jobs. Al Midfa adds that 95% of incubated startups in the past three years remain operational, with 51% led by women, underscoring Sheraa's inclusive ecosystem. At the core is the Sharjah Entrepreneurship Festival (SEF), uniting 44,000+ attendees, awarding over US$200,000, and inspiring 93% to launch their own ventures.

H.E.Najla Al Midfa at the Sharjah Entrepreneurship Festival (SEF). Source: Sheraa

Reflecting on her role at Sheraa, Al Midfa explains the complexity behind building an entrepreneurial hub, "At Sheraa, the challenge is orchestration. We are architects of an entire ecosystem in Sharjah, cultivating founders, designing programs, convening investors, and shaping a city's entrepreneurial identity." Keeping the momentum, Al Midfa adds, demands polymath teams. "One week they are culture builders, the next they are mentors, the next they are conveners of global networks," she says. "The leadership task is to align those moving parts into a single, coherent rhythm without diluting standards."

At the Emirates Growth Fund (EGF), the UAE's flagship growth capital platform that was launched with AED1 billion by Emirates Development Bank to scale high-potential SMEs with revenues above AED10 million, her challenge shifts to precision. "We partner with SMEs that have already proven themselves," Al Midfa explains. "The stakes are higher, the timelines sharper. Here, leadership is about pairing ambition with stewardship –unlocking exponential growth without destabilizing what is already strong, and opening the right doors at exactly the right time."

EGF invests through ticket sizes ranging from AED10 million to AED50 million, typically taking minority stakes of 20%–40%. Since launching, EGF has closed its first transaction with Tarmeem Healthcare Holding LTD, which employs 150+ people and serves 20,000 patients annually in Abu Dhabi. In just three months, the fund has attracted interest from over 1,000 SMEs and is on track to close another deal this year. Over its lifecycle, EGF aims to deploy its AED 1 billion across more than 30 SMEs, generating an estimated AED3 billion contribution to the UAE's GDP.

With these two prominent leadership roles, her true test of leadership lies in shifting gears—adapting mindset and decision-making from nurturing founders at the ideation stage to guiding those primed for rapid scale. Al Midfa describes the early-stage founders supported by Sheraa as explorers. "They move through uncharted territory with curiosity as their compass," she says. "They will try, break, and rebuild – sometimes in the same week."

Her role is to fuel that momentum. "Push them to test, learn, and iterate with short cycles and clear hypotheses," Al Midfa explains. "At this stage, I am in the trenches with them, a co-founder in spirit, pressure-test- ing assumptions and expanding their solution space beyond the obvious." When it comes to EGF, she sees scaling founders as navigators charting a very different course. "They have mapped their terrain, proven their model, and earned credibility. Now they need to grow without losing stability," Al Midfa explains. "With them, the pace becomes more deliberate, the scrutiny sharper. These conversations are about focus – what to double down on, what to let go of, and where they themselves might be the bottleneck. Here, I am less disruptor, more strategic co-pilot, scanning the horizon for opportunities and risks they cannot see yet."

In both worlds, Al Midfa highlights that connection is the constant. "One introduction can change the trajectory of a company; one conversation can change the trajectory of a leader," she says. "And in a country where SMEs contribute more than half of non-oil GDP, those micro-shifts matter not just to founders, but to the nation's economic trajectory."

H.E. Najla Al Midfa is the Vice Chairperson and Managing Director of Emirates Growth Fund (EGF).
Source: EGF

When asked about the toughest leadership decision she has faced, Al Midfa doesn't point to budgets, strategy, or market shifts. Instead, she emphasizes that the hardest choices are always about people—and the uncertainty that comes with guiding them through change. "A few years ago, I faced a choice that would reshape a leadership team I had built from the ground up," she says. "On paper, the numbers were fine. But under the surface, the culture was fraying. Trust was eroding. I knew that if I did not act, the damage would compound. I still remember sitting across the table from someone I respected, the weight of silence between us. Every instinct in me wanted to soften the truth, to postpone the inevitable. But leader- ship does not allow that luxury."

Al Midfa adds that it was a decision that unfolded over weeks of listening, gathering perspectives, and carefully weighing the cost to individuals against the cost to the mission. Ultimately, her choice came down to protecting the mission and the culture she had promised to uphold. "In moments like that, you have to lead with clarity and compassion: clarity to make the call, compassion to execute it in a way that preserves dignity," Al Midfa explains. "The uncertainty never disappears, but integrity becomes your anchor."

As the world moves deeper into an era of disruption, leaders are again being pushed to evolve. Al Midfa acknowledges that leadership has shifted from a relentless, top-down chase for growth to a more human-centric model, but she maintains that true balance has yet to be achieved. "In some cases, the pendulum has swung too far. In the name of care, we have sometimes let accountability slide. And without accountability, growth – for both the business and the individual – stalls," she explains. "The leaders who will thrive in the next decade will master the balance of high care and high standards. They will create environments where people feel safe to experiment and fail, but also know that excellence is the baseline, not the aspiration."

Ultimately, she argues for a leadership style defined by "kindness with a spine." Al Midfa concludes, "That is the future. And in our region, it is not just an organizational imperative but a national one: resilient economies require leaders who model both compassion and uncompromising standards, because that is what ultimately scales trust across societies and institutions."

TREP TALK Najla Al Midfa's Advice for First-Time Leaders
"Lean into the conversations you are tempted to avoid. Leadership is not about waiting until you have perfect information – you never will. It is about acting with what you have, in the moment you have it. The instinct to sidestep discomfort is human. You will want to postpone feedback, soften truths, or maintain surface harmony. But the defining moments of leadership live on the other side of discomfort.

"When you face those moments with honesty, empathy, and respect, something powerful happens: trust deepens, culture sharpens, and you start to see yourself not just as a leader of tasks, but as a leader of people. And in our region, entrepreneurship is nation-building. Every honest conversation strengthens not just a company, but the foundations of an economy. That is where real leadership begins."