Dr. Rola Dashti is a Kuwaiti activist advocating democratic reform, gender equality and increased roles for women in public life. Dr. Dashti lobbied for the May 2005 decree permitting Kuwaiti women to vote and run for parliamentary elections for the first time. She was the first woman to file her papers at the election department, when the registration opened, and she herself was a candidate in the 2006 parliamentary election. In the 2009 parliamentary elections, she and three other women won seats to become the first women to enter the Kuwaiti parliament. Rola Dashti was listed among the world’s 100 most influential Arabs for 2007 and 2008. She was the first woman elected to chair the Kuwaiti Economic Society, which was founded in 1970. In addition to serving in this position, Dr. Dashti heads an international consultancy firm in Kuwait focusing on privatization and activation of SMEs. She is a member of the executive committee of Young Arab Leaders and is the founder of the Women Participation Organization. She holds a PhD in Population Economics from John Hopkins University.