Manal al-Sharif

Manal al-Sharif is a Saudi women's rights activist, cybersecurity expert, and author known for her work advancing gender equality and cybersecurity in the Middle East. Al-Sharif began her career as the only woman working as an IT security specialist at Saudi Aramco, where she founded the company's first in-house ethical hacking project and led ongoing penetration testing to secure the organization's network and systems. She also chaired the committee that reviewed the first GCC Cyber Law, contributing to the development of cybersecurity policy in the region.

Al-Sharif gained international attention when she defied the ban on women driving in Saudi Arabia, posting a video of herself behind the wheel and launching the Women2Drive campaign. Her actions inspired widespread participation and advocacy for women's rights, leading to her arrest and subsequent release after nine days. Her activism has been recognized by organizations such as Amnesty International for challenging discriminatory laws and policies.

Al-Sharif has been named among the Top 100 Global Thinkers by Foreign Policy and one of TIME's 100 Most Influential People. She is a Václav Havel Prize for Creative Dissent Laureate and has received the PEN Pinter International Writer of Courage Award and the Freedom Award from the Norwegian Authors' Union. Her speech at the Oslo Freedom Forum, which addressed the role of technology in empowering individual voices, is featured in "Speeches of Note" by Sean Usher.

In her memoir, "Daring to Drive: A Saudi Woman's Awakening," al-Sharif details her experiences growing up in Saudi Arabia and her journey to becoming a leader in the movement for women's right to drive. The book was nominated for the Alex Awards, Best Book.

Al-Sharif is the founder of Women2Hack Academy, an initiative dedicated to equipping women with cybersecurity skills and addressing the gender gap in technology. She has served as Cybersecurity Director at Gridware and as Chief Information Security Officer at UNSW, with experience managing cybersecurity teams and developing strategies across sectors such as education, finance, and energy. Al-Sharif has been recognized by Forbes as one of the Top 50 Women in Tech and by Newsweek as one of the Top 10 Digital Revolutionaries. She is a frequent speaker at events including TED, WIRED, the United Nations, Harvard, SXSW, the Sydney Opera House, and the Obama Summit.