About Khawat
We are daughters of many homelands, carrying more than one story. We are women balancing the East and the West, tradition and ambition, family and leadership. We understand what it means to grow up between cultures and then step into professional spaces that were not always built with us in mind.
The word Khawat means “sisters” in Arabic, and that is exactly what we are.
Khawat is a multicultural sisterhood community for women of the diaspora aged 21 and above. Including women navigating careers, building businesses, and living between cultures.
The Director behind Khawat
Khawat is led by Eman Ghandour, a career practitioner and community leader creating space for women of the diaspora navigating identity, culture, and belonging.
Growing up, her sisters were her community. They were the ones who guided her, and that sense of connection shaped how she understood belonging. Khawat was built to create that same feeling for other women, a space to find your people and build genuine friendships.
The idea came to life when Eman left her home city of Dunedin and started again in Auckland. In that transition, she experienced what it means to rebuild community from the ground up, and Khawat was born from that moment.
Her work in career development is grounded in identity. Through Khawat, she focuses on building strong connections and creating opportunities in ways that feel natural, not transactional.
Eman is a recipient of the Otago University 20 Under 20 Award and contributes to wider change through her roles on the Sir Robert Jones Refugee Daughter Scholarship Board and the AUT South Campus Steering Group.