Najla Al-Awadhi
Member of the Federal National Council

Her Excellency Ms  Najla Al-Awadhi is a member of the United Arab Emirates Federal National Council (UAE Parliament).  Appointed in 2007, she is one of the first women in history to become a member and also holds a distinction as its youngest parliamentarian.

She serves on the Education, Youth, Media and Culture Committee; the committee for parliamentary affairs  of the FNC , as well as the FNC Steering Committee established to develop a scheme to modernize the parliament’s practices, and overall effectiveness.  She previously served on the Foreign Affairs, Planning, Petroleum, Mineral Wealth, Agriculture and Fishery Committees.

Ms Al-Awadhi is also the first woman from a Gulf Cooperation Country to hold a senior executive post  in a state run media organization.  The Dubai Government media group, Dubai Media Incorporated (DMI),   comprises a number of print, radio and TV channels includes: Dubai TV, Sama Dubai TV, Al Bayan newspaper, Dubai One TV, Dubai Sports TV, Dubai Racing TV, Noor Dubai TV , Noor Radio, Emarat Al Youm newspaper, Emirates Business 24|7 newspaper, and Masar Printing Press. Ms Al-Awadhi served as Deputy Chief Executive Officer of DMI, and was recently appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of Dubai Media Incorporated’s Television channels.

With a particular focus on television, Ms Al-Awadhi also acts as the General Manger of Dubai One, which she personally launched during her tenure.

Ms Al-Awadhi is a member of the Young Global Leaders (YGL). She is also a member of the Young Arab Leaders (YAL), in addition to being the  Vice Chairperson of YAL’s regional board. Ms Al-Awadhi heads YAL UAE chapter’s education initiative which seeks to provide higher education opportunities for talented UAE nationals.  She also sits on the Advisory Board of the University of Southern California’s Center on Public Diplomacy and is a board member of Dubai Women’s Establishment.

Since 2007 she has been a monthly columnist for Gulf News, the leading English news paper in the UAE. Her articles cover a range of socio-political  topics, including women’s rights, governance, social justice, cultural perspectives, and education challenges throughout the Middle East.

Ms Al-Awadhi graduated Magna Cum Laude with a BA in History from the University of New Hampshire, where she was President of the Muslim Student Association, the Human Rights Committee and also a judicial advisor.

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