EO Saudi Arabia recently held a "knowledge economy" conference that focused on building bridges between Saudi Arabia and EO members in other locations. It provided a chance to learn about Saudi Arabia’s history, culture and future business opportunities. International attendees included myself, David Galbenski (EO Detroit) Carlo Santoro (EO Melbourne), Fletcher McKenzie (EO New Zealand), Mark Yu (EO Philippines), Samuel Lim (EO Singapore) and George Gan (EO Malaysia).

When I was asked by EO Saudi Arabia to attend the conference, my U.S.-based colleagues asked me to report my perceptions of the country and the culture from three different perspectives: as an American, an entrepreneur and a woman. Here is what I learned …

… as an American:
I would love to find ways to open the dialogue between America and Saudi Arabia— and not through governments or media. Misunderstandings would be so easy to bridge if we could simply get people to talk to one another with open hearts and minds.

Most of the Arabic people I spent time with blame the media and governments for anti-American and anti-Saudi sentiment, but what we quickly realized was that the "anti-x-sentiment" was mutual and equally underserved. There is a deeply emotional, overwhelming desire to eradicate misconceptions about the Saudi Arabian people, an obvious appreciation for openness, and a willingness to listen and learn.

… as an entrepreneur:
I came to realize that many of the things we take for granted as part of entrepreneurship represent a whole new set of challenges in Saudi Arabia. Unlike most societies, their region is their culture, and their culture is their business environment— it is all intertwined.

Islamic law includes extensive instructions on how to conduct business there. Government, social and fiscal policies have been established according to Islamic law. Unlike Western nations, this creates a fine line of criminal, business and moral law that is interconnected in the Muslim world. The Quran clearly sets forth a requirement to "do useful things" and seek knowledge and advancement to open hearts and minds for the betterment of society. There is a perception and concern that the advancement of knowledge in other societies has been without consideration of spiritual or societal impact, resulting in poor distribution of wealth and corruption.

… as a woman:
My eyes were opened to another way of seeing things. Yes, the women fully cover— women from various regions or communities with varying degrees of religious conservatism cover their faces, more or less. And yes, there is segregation. Women are separated from men in almost every public place. Even in the conference – which was about progress and economic development – there was a solid, smoked-glass divider between the men and the women.

But the women I met were beautiful, open-minded people with successful careers and outgoing personalities. According to them, they do not feel oppressed. It is illegal for them to drive, but they have personal drivers. They generally feel as though they have the freedom to do what they wish. They have shopping days and dinner dates with their girlfriends. They have their own independent lives.

To these women, segregation is a religious choice and a cultural custom, not oppression. While they admit it seems silly to have all of these rules, and sometimes they wish the culture would grow past it all, it is their culture and somewhat romantic that they are kept separate like precious, protected jewels.

Women and men are equally apologetic for the segregation. They are fully aware of how it is perceived, but they try to explain how their complicated cultural background works for them. It is one of tradition and of choice.

The overwhelming feeling I left with was clear: Saudi Arabians have such a strong desire for understanding and communication, and they welcome outside perspectives. If at any time I hesitated because I wanted to be sensitive, they quickly said, "No, please! Tell me what you think, feel or see." Almost every time I connected with someone, the common request was, "Please, go home and tell others in America that we are good people, and we want to know them, too."