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Leading Lady: First woman minister and a cabinet full of ideas

She has volunteered for Friends of Cancer Patients Society and is also on the Board of Directors for the Dubai Autism Center. The minister has been ranked as the 42nd most powerful woman in the world by Forbes.

A cabinet of the future. Younger ministers, the UAE's first woman minister; the country was way ahead of the times back in 2004, because the late President Shaikh Zayed was a man of foresight. He realised social and political change would happen only with more women at the helm of affairs. Shaikh Lubna joined the government as Minister of Foreign Trade and has not looked back since then. Now the Minister of International Cooperation and Development, she's a leading light for humanitarian and philanthropic activities.
She has volunteered for Friends of Cancer Patients Society and is also on the Board of Directors for the Dubai Autism Center. The minister has been ranked as the 42nd most powerful woman in the world by Forbes.
Our headline was direct and encapsulated it well. 'UAE cabinet restructured', it said with a three-line strap. What caught the eye was - 'First woman minister appointed', with the picture of a smiling Shaikh Lubna and that of Shaikh Mansour and Shaikh Saif.
Earlier in her career, Shaikha Lubna was a successful businesswoman and information technology professional. She was the CEO of a highly regarded firm, Tejari, the first business-to-business e-marketplace in the Middle East. She led the implementation of the Dubai e-government initiative that made public services available online.
She designed the software for the Dubai Ports Authority that dramatically increased efficiency - an innovation that earned her the UAE's Distinguished Employee Award in 2000. In fact, she was the first woman to earn that honor, according to Vital Voices, a website for women achievers.
The UAE's economy, financial markets, and monetary and investment policies have been modernized under her leadership. She has become one of the best-known ambassadors for the the country, regularly speaking on major stages, such as the World Economic Forum and the Council on Foreign Relations.