• Writer
  • Strategic communications advisor
  • US + Middle East
  • Georgetown alum

Narrative strategy and thought leadership

I help high-growth businesses and leaders articulate who they are, where they’re going, and why - especially when navigating profound change and complexity.

Amal Farooqui
  • Podcast · Global4.8★Listener rating · out of 5Conceived and launched a podcast for a global cybersecurity forumNow in its third season, in my original format
  • Investor · New York$180B+Assets under managementLed narrative and executive positioning for a global investorThrough a period of market volatility
  • IPO · Riyadh$29.4BIPO proceeds raisedSupported the Saudi Stock Exchange through Aramco’s IPOThe largest listing in history at the time
  • Start-up IPO · Riyadh$2.4BValuation at listingLed communications for Saudi Arabia’s first homegrown start-up listingFrom founder story to public-market story
Experience across FGS Global PwC Hill+Knowlton Strategies
Featured · Editorial product

A podcast I conceived and launched for a global cybersecurity forum, now in its third season

  • Concept & format
  • Host & guest booking
  • Research briefings
  • Final editorial approval
  • Campaign & budget management
  • Project management
  • Paid / social

Rated 4.8 out of 5. Guests included a world-renowned physicist and futurist, Interpol’s director of cybercrime, and senior leadership from Kearney and BCG.

Read the case study →
I’ve advised
C-suite
  • CEOs
  • CCOs
  • CMOs
Government
  • Ministers
  • Governors
Founders & private clients
  • Startup founders
  • UHNW individuals
Selected work

Helping organizations tell the story of what comes next.

Selected agency engagements. Client identities and confidential materials withheld.

Change communications · Mining

Making safety culture part of everyday work

Connecting a company-wide safety ambition to everyday understanding and action.

ResultGreater awareness and more consistent use of safety practices, contributing to declining incidents and fatalities alongside the wider program.

Transformation & positioning · Telecom

Bringing a telco into the future

A new narrative for a telecom operator’s evolution into a digital enabler.

ResultStronger key-message penetration, better communications deliverables and funding for a continued, multi-year transformation.

More highlights

  • Thought leadershipPitched and led a firmwide thought leadership initiative, interviewing senior firm leadership; founding member of an Executive Advisory practice and a global task force
  • Executive voiceLed executive briefing and thought leadership planning for Davos each year, including an investor’s first-ever Davos
  • Science → storyHelped the scientists who brought us the Covid vaccine articulate their story through the pandemic
  • Function buildingBuilt teams and scaled communications functions from the ground up
  • MediaWorking relationships with deals, tech and markets reporters at the likes of Bloomberg, Reuters and CNBC, in New York and the Gulf
  • NowAdvising an early-stage healthtech venture on content strategy, alongside writing Write Like a Human
Ideas & writing

What I’m thinking about

My writing on communications, leadership and the craft of telling a business story.

03

Leading change in the age of AI

Change management was built for one transformation at a time. AI makes change continuous, and the organizations that grow fastest will bring their people with them.

How I help

Business context.
Clear narrative. Thoughtful delivery.

  • Executive communications & thought leadership

    For leaders with something meaningful to say: shaping a point of view and translating it into briefings, content and public positioning. I’ve advised senior executives, interviewed leaders and board members, and helped establish an Executive Advisory practice.

  • Narrative & positioning

    For businesses defining their next chapter: a clear account of what you do, what makes you distinctive, and why it matters to the people you need to reach. My experience includes corporate repositioning, technology investment narratives, IPO communications, and change narratives.

  • Change & transformation

    For organizations asking people to understand and act on change: communications that explain the direction and make its implications clear - especially in the age of AI. My work spans business transformation, safety culture and organizational change, including workshops for executives and managers. I apply change management principles to develop practical strategies shaped around each organization and its people.

  • Integrated content & campaigns

    For a strategy that needs to reach people: connecting messaging, editorial planning and delivery across channels. I’ve led integrated, multimillion-dollar campaigns, launched a podcast, managed paid/social budgets and held final editorial approval of written content.

  • Start-up communications

    For founders building something new: a foundational communications strategy shaped around your vision. I partner with founders to put the building blocks in place, define where to show up and how, and develop the investor-facing story. Employee communications help bring that vision inside the business, attracting and retaining the talent needed to build it.

My story

I’m a New York-based strategic communications advisor with a decade of experience across the US and Middle East. I’ve advised ministers, governors, CEOs, ultra-high-net-worth individuals and startup founders; built teams and scaled communications functions from the ground up; and helped some of the world’s most sophisticated companies tell their stories.

Read my full story

I began my career at Hill+Knowlton Strategies in the Middle East, before subcontracting for PwC’s People & Organisation practice, where I focused on change management. The scale and scope of the work - from mega- and giga-projects reshaping economies to newly created entities defining their purpose - offered opportunities unlike those in any other market. I helped shape the stories of organizations contributing to national visions and led multimillion-dollar integrated marketing and communications campaigns.

At FGS Global in Dubai, I worked at the intersection of business, government and transformation. Among the highlights: supporting the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) through Aramco’s $29.4 billion IPO - the then-largest listing in history; leading communications for the $2.4 billion listing of Saudi Arabia’s first homegrown tech startup; and helping the scientists who brought us the Covid vaccine articulate their story through the pandemic.

At FGS Global in New York, I helped leaders make their voices heard at consequential moments: preparing executives for Davos and major investment conferences, supporting the positioning of a private equity firm with more than $180 billion in assets under management, and advising clients navigating a tumultuous political and regulatory landscape.

I bring together the structured thinking of management consulting, the audience understanding of strategic communications and the editorial judgment of a writer - whether the task is introducing a new institution to the world, launching a generational start-up, or helping an established business navigate its next chapter.

I'm a Georgetown alum, and I remain an English major at heart. Outside work, I am passionate about mentoring youth. I serve as the Marketing Chair of the Associate Board at South Asian Youth Action (SAYA), a nonprofit that supports underserved New York City youth. I'm also a member of Arab Bankers Association of North America (ABANA). You’re most likely to find me in a bookstore, museum, or art gallery.

The places I call home

Photo credits →
  • Empire State Building, New York City
    New York City
  • Burj Khalifa, Dubai
    Dubai
  • Kingdom Centre, Riyadh
    Riyadh
  • Ithra, Dammam / Dhahran
    Dammam / Dhahran
  • Faisal Mosque, Islamabad
    Islamabad
  • Royal Opera House Muscat
    Muscat
On my coffee table

What I’m reading

The full autumn reading list
  • Essays · memoir

    A Field Guide to Getting Lost

    Rebecca Solnit

    On the difference between losing something and being lost. A case for treating uncertainty as a place to explore, which is most of what leading through change asks of us.

  • Novel

    Whereabouts

    Jhumpa Lahiri

    Lahiri’s first novel written in Italian. Watching a writer rebuild her voice in a new language is a lesson in how constraint sharpens style.

  • Essays · interviews

    On Women

    Susan Sontag

    Feminism, aging, beauty and class, argued with total clarity. A masterclass in taking a clear position and holding it across an essay.

  • Memoir

    The Pilgrimage

    Paulo Coelho

    The walk to Santiago that became The Alchemist. A reminder that the best stories come from transformation actually lived, not described.

Contact

Let’s talk about what you’re building.

If you’re looking for someone who can connect the business context with the story, and help bring it to life, I’d love to hear from you.