Ruwaida Abela Northen

Founder and Chief Executive Officer

Ruwaida Abela Northen is a Libyan-born communications executive with more than two decades of leadership experience in luxury hospitality. Raised in Tripoli, she began her career with the Corinthia Group in Libya, then moved through Starwood in Malta, The Ritz-Carlton in Bahrain and Accor, before serving as Vice President of PR and Corporate Communications at Shangri-La Group, where her remit covered the Middle East, India, the Indian Ocean, Europe and the Americas. In 2021 she founded JRN Consultancy, a boutique luxury hospitality and travel communications firm headquartered in Dubai with in-country teams in Riyadh, Jeddah and Doha. The consultancy is senior-led by career hoteliers and advises ultra-luxury independent resorts, global hotel brands, hospitality groups, maisons and aviation clients, among them Banyan Tree AlUla, Raffles, Fairmont Riyadh, Six Senses Southern Dunes, JOALI Maldives, Accor and Hyatt, with work spanning pre-opening campaigns, crisis communications, corporate communications and brand partnerships. She built the firm as an all-women team operating on a four-day week, and is a columnist and contributor to Harper's Bazaar Arabia, Hia, Sayidaty, Arabian Business and Entrepreneur Middle East. She moderates panels and gives talks regularly across industry conferences and executive summits, and is a mother of four based in Dubai.