Dr. Hanan bint Abdulrahim Al-Ahmadi, an academic who specializes in economics and health management, has been appointed the assistant speaker of the Saudi Shoura Council. She is the first woman to assume a leadership position in the consultative body. Al-Ahmadi was also part of the first batch of women to be elected to the Shoura Council seven years ago. Al-Ahmadi obtained a bachelor’s degree in economics at King Saud University in 1986. She did a master’s in health administration from Tulane University in the US in 1989. Al-Ahmadi did a Ph.D. in health administration from the University of Pittsburgh in the US in 1995. She is the director general of the women’s branch of the Institute of Public Administration (IPA). Al-Ahmadi is also a professor of health services administration at IPA. She is a member of the board of trustees of the Riyadh Economic Forum, the editorial board of the Journal of Public Administration and the Scientific Council of IPA, and a board member of the Saudi Management Association. Al-Ahmadi also serves as an evaluator at the Sheikh Khalifa Government Excellence Program. She is a visiting fellow at the National Primary Care Research and Development Center of the University of Manchester, UK. During her tenure at the Shoura Council as a member, she served in several committees such as the economic and energy committee, health and environmental affairs, and the Fifth Parliamentary Friendship Committee. Al-Ahmadi is also a member of the advisory board of the Center for Promising Research for Social Research and Women’s Studies at Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University. She has represented Saudi Arabia at several regional and international conferences and seminars. Al-Ahmadi has authored many research papers published in several scientific journals. Commenting on her appointed as assistant speaker of the Shoura Council, she said the decision showed the Saudi leadership’s keenness to boost women’s role in the decision-making process.