Shaping communities at home: Elsie Gebara on contributing to the future of the UAE

A personal journey behind the projects transforming the UAE

Elsie has spent her career helping deliver complex developments across the UAE and the wider region. Born and raised in Abu Dhabi to Lebanese parents, she is driven by the country’s rapid growth and the opportunity to contribute to projects that support sustainable growth as well as meaningful community impact.

Can you tell us a bit about your journey into engineering?

I studied construction engineering, which is essentially civil engineering with an emphasis on management. To be honest, I didn’t really know where it would take me at the time. Most of my family are engineers and contractors in the Middle East, so following that path felt quite natural.

As a graduate, I started out in project controls before moving into project management, and I’ve now been working in the UAE professionally for over 11 years. Along the way, I completed my Project Management Professional qualification during COVID – alongside a full-time job, which wasn’t easy.

What I love is that the UAE is full of ambitious, community-focused projects that are grounded in sustainability, inclusion and a desire to create places where people genuinely feel they belong. Being part of that vision makes the work deeply fulfilling.

One of the most special moments in my career was working on Yas Acres straight after university and eventually calling it home. Seeing my very first project become the neighbourhood I live in today is a powerful reminder of the real-world impact of what we do, and the responsibility that comes with shaping future communities.

What brought you to Mott MacDonald?

I joined Mott MacDonald in 2019 as an assistant project manager. At the time I sat within the project, programme and commercial management (PPCM) practice and mostly worked on built environment and transport projects, including the regional land use plan for NEOM, the giga-region in northwest Saudi Arabia.

What stood out about Mott MacDonald straight away was how flexible the business is. In other consultancies, you can get pigeon-holed into one discipline. At Mott MacDonald, you’re encouraged to get involved across different markets and services wherever your interest lies. That flexibility has shaped my career –  it’s allowed me to move from master planning projects into technical advisory and large-scale buildings delivery, and to keep growing into new types of work as my interests have evolved.

Why do you enjoy working on UAE projects and what sets them apart?  

Working on UAE projects carries a very personal meaning for me. It feels like giving back to the place that shaped who I am. There’s something incredibly moving about watching the country grow into the diverse, vibrant and inclusive nation envisioned by its founding father, the late Sheikh Zayed, while still holding tightly to Emirati heritage and values.

Over the past decade, I’ve seen development designs become more thoughtful, integrated and people-focused. Sustainability, climate resilience, wellbeing, cultural identity and smarter design are no longer treated as separate ideas, they’re now part of every major project; shaping how communities and destinations come to life. Being able to play a meaningful part in that progress, on projects that contribute to the UAE’s ongoing story of growth and transformation, means a great deal to me.

Working on major projects can be stressful. How have you learned to cope with the pressure?

I worked on a development on the Red Sea coastline that was a huge learning curve. I started as an assistant project manager and ended up taking on the roles of project manager and design coordinator. It was intense and very fast-paced.

That experience taught me a few things that have stayed with me. The first is to trust my own decision-making. In high-pressure environments, it’s easy to second-guess yourself, but over time I’ve come to trust the experience and judgement I’ve built up. When you’ve done the thinking and consulted the right people, you must back yourself.

The second is to surround yourself with capable people you trust. You can’t carry the whole load yourself, and knowing you have a team to delegate to, align with and lean on makes all the difference. Recognising when you need support isn’t a weakness, it’s what makes you a better project manager and a better team player.

And finally, self-compassion. There will always be more to do, more to fix, more to chase. But at the end of the day, if you’re showing up, doing your absolute best and giving the project everything you reasonably can, that has to be enough. It’s just as important as celebrating the wins.

What do you enjoy most about the client facing side of your role?

The project manager is essentially the conductor of the project. You’re not playing every instrument, but you’re responsible for making sure everyone is playing in time, in the right key and building towards the same piece of music. That means holding the client’s vision, the design team’s expertise and the commercial realities all in balance, and knowing when to push, when to challenge and when to bring people together.

I enjoy wearing multiple hats and really understanding where the client is coming from, but my role isn’t just to translate their requirements. It’s to guide the project, advise honestly and sometimes push back when I think there’s a better path. Our teams are naturally focused on their own disciplines, so part of my job is helping everyone step back and see the project as a whole.

When you get that right – when the client feels genuinely understood and the team is working in concert – it’s incredibly rewarding. You also build strong, honest relationships over time and that’s what makes the work most enjoyable.

How do local and global teams work together in practice?

It genuinely feels like one team, even though we’re spread across different regions. We have a clear appreciation of what UAE clients expect and what future end-users need, and from there we collaborate with specialists from across the world. Culturally, it doesn’t feel any different to working with someone in the same office.

You just reach out to the right person for the challenge at hand – it could be facade and lighting experts in Australia or sustainability, marine engineering, acoustics and waste management specialists in the UK. Finding the right person often comes down to experience and asking, “Who have you worked with before?” It all feels very natural.

That global reach is what allows us to deliver to international standards while tailoring solutions to the UAE’s unique context.

What advice would you give to someone starting out their career?

Ooof! Where do I start! Stay curious and challenge what you think is the truth. Just because something has always been done a certain way doesn’t mean it’s the right way, or the only way. Ask the questions that feel obvious, they’re usually the ones nobody has stopped to answer. And don’t be afraid to test your own assumptions either – the best ideas usually come from people who are willing to interrogate their own thinking, not just accept what they’re told. 

Even when you’re doing something that feels small or routine, don’t just go through the motions. When I was a graduate, one of my tasks was printing documents. Instead of treating it as admin, I read everything I printed. That’s how I learned what the project was really about and how everyone contributed. Curiosity adds up over time.

Have you had any mentors or support along the way?

I’ve been lucky to have a lot of informal support throughout my career through managers who took the time to coach me, peers who became sounding boards and family members who understood the demands of the industry because they’d lived them too. I don’t think I’ve had one single mentor in the traditional sense, but rather a network of people I’ve turned to at different points for different things, and that’s been just as valuable.

What I’ve learned is that support doesn’t always look like formal mentorship. Sometimes it’s a colleague who challenges your thinking, a manager who gives you room to stretch or someone who simply tells you honestly when you’ve got something wrong. Being open to that, and recognising it when it happens, has shaped me as much as any qualification or training.

Outside of work, what helps you switch off?

This might sound simple, but I really enjoy quality time with family and friends. Family is a big part of my life – my husband, my parents, my brother, my in-laws, our niece, and the wider extended circle of grandparents and cousins who are always close, even when we’re not in the same place. Lebanese families tend to be loud, warm and tightly knit, and ours is no exception.

I also love travelling and exploring new countries. That includes Lebanon itself, where I love exploring different towns and villages, and especially going back to our hometown in the south. There’s something grounding about being there and enjoying the simple life – slower mornings, home-cooked food, time with family.

Closer to home, I love resistance training at the gym and reformer Pilates - and I’ve recently picked up tennis again. Weekends are usually for the beach, reading or happily doing absolutely nothing. And whenever we can, we build the day around our dog Mishmish (Apricot in Arabic), whether that’s a dog-friendly hike or heading to a dog beach or dog park.