1537: The Inspirational Female CEO Story and LED Lighting Technology

While the number of female CEOs increased to over 25 percent in 2020, there are still many industries where women leaders are under-represented, including industrial lighting/manufacturing.

Dialight is the world leader in industrial LED lighting technology, and its solutions are supporting over 2 million LED fixtures globally. But this tech company wanted to change the narrative when it comes to the gender gap. In 2020, the company announced the permanent appointment of its first-ever female CEO, Fariyal Khanbabi.

Fariyal Khanbabi has already demonstrated great success in her early months in the C-Suite. One example is the creation of the Dialight Foundation, the nonprofit arm of Dialight aiming to transform the lives of people in need in local communities where the company does business, focusing on supporting children and youth causes. In 2020 alone, the foundation raised over $61,000, more than tripling its initial fundraising goal.

Fariyal attributes much of her leadership skills to her early childhood years, where she lived on a shipping vessel as the only eight-year-old amongst a crew of primarily adult men. Through this unique upbringing, she learned to thrive as the "only" woman in a male-focused workplace, but also where she experienced her first of many C-level management lessons that have made her the business leader she is today.

About Dialight
Dialight is a global leader in improving sustainability, safety and operational efficiency for its customers by providing high-efficiency, long-lasting LED lighting technology for industrial applications. With over a million fixtures installed worldwide, Dialight's class-leading technology reduces energy use, cost and environmental impact for customers and is certified to a broad range of international standards. The company's operations are headquartered in the U.S., and it is listed on the main market of the London Stock Exchange under the ticker DIA.