Manal al-Sharif

Manal al-Sharif (born 1979 in Mecca, Saudi Arabia) is a Saudi IT security expert and author. She worked for the Saudi oil company Aramco and was among the first Saudi women to work alongside men in an office there. In 2011, she publicly protested Saudi Arabia’s ban on women driving and subsequently had to leave her job. Her first book, “Losfahren,” recounts her engagement for women’s rights. She received several honors, including the Václav Havel International Prize for Creative Dissent. Time magazine also named her one of the 100 most influential people, Foreign Policy included her among its 100 Global Thinkers, and Forbes listed her among the ten women who rocked the world.