Dr. Kate O’Neill, Assistant Professor, Abu Dhabi continues to be busy connecting the College of Business with the Abu Dhabi business community.

In March, Dr. O’Neill facilitated the Education forum at the annual AmCham-Abu Dhabi Roundtable Summit. The event was attended by government and private sector leaders such as US Ambassador Michael Corbin; H.E. Mohammed Omar Abdullah, Undersecretary of the Department of Economic Development; and H.E. Ali Rashed Al Ketbi, Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Tawteen Council. Dr. O’Neill moderated the roundtable discussion on the education challenges US and UAE businesses, NGOs, and government agencies face in improving trade and investment in Abu Dhabi. Following this, she authored the report that proposed solutions and identified key stakeholders. Special emphasis was placed on initiatives to support Emiratization. The report is the official ‘voice’ of the US business community and will be used by US and UAE government and private sector leaders in decision-making and policy formulation.

In April Dr. O’Neill’s expertise was called upon by the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development where she gave a lecture on organizational development and the creation of organizational culture. This was the latest in a series of lectures and speeches that Dr. O’Neill has given throughout the Abu Dhabi community. Topics of her presentations have included Khaleeji Leadership, socio-cultural factors impacting successful Emiratization (recruiting, onboarding, training, development), cross-cultural management, intercultural employee relationships, and culturally appropriate management communication practices.

Dr. O’Neill’s dedication to bridging the gap between the College of Business and the Abu Dhabi business community extends to her research. As a 2012-2013 Provost Research Fellowship recipient, Dr. O’Neill is using her fellowship to continue and to expand her research on Khaleeji Leadership, the culturally implicit leadership theory of the Arabian Gulf. She selected this topic not only to fill a gap in the scant academic literature on business and leadership practices in the region, but also to provide practitioners with practical knowledge to apply to the workplace. By understanding what effective leadership looks like in the Gulf region, Dr. O’Neill will help businesses improve productivity, support recruitment efforts, and enhance the process of onboarding, training, and development of expatriate and Emirati managers.
Brief Bio of Dr. Kate O’Neill: Dr. O’Neill has been a faculty member at Zayed University since 200. In 2006-2007 she was honored as Faculty Member of the Year and she is one of two 2012-2013 recipients of the prestigious Provost Research Fellowship award.

Dr. O’Neill’s formal education is in leadership, change, organizational behavior, adult education, and organization development. Her specializations are Leadership & Management Communication, Emirati-expatriate workplace relations, Khaleeji Leadership, and leadership development. She has written and consulted extensively on socio-cultural issues impacting communication and leadership in the Arabian Gulf region. She is the co-author of the chapter Leadership Cultures in the reference book Political and Civic Leadership (Sage, 2010). 
Dr. O’Neill has worked in Japan, Qatar, Guatemala, Argentina, the United States, Jamaica, and the Central Pacific nation of Kiribati. She has provided research and consulting services to governments and private organizations, including the Japanese Ministry of Education (MONBUSHO), the United States Immigration Department, the Qatar Foundation, MashreqBank, the Emirates Foundation, ADNOC, and RasGas. 
She is a long-time member of the Academy of Management, Association for Business Communication, the International Leadership Association, and AmCham, the American Chamber of Commerce in Abu Dhabi. She is active in their Women in Business (WiB) group – a collection of UAE- and US-based female leaders from the private, government, SOE, NGO, and education sectors.