WIRE 2020: Meet our keynote speaker - Manal al-Sharif

The WIRE 2020 ‘Legacy’ event is the chance for you to define your mark. Hear from incredible women (and men) who carve out their legacies every day. 

This year we’re proud to have Manal al-Sharif joining us at WIRE as our keynote speaker.

Manal al-Sharif has been listed as one of TIME Magazine's 100 most influential people, as one of Forbes Top 50 Women in Tech and by Newsweek as one of the 10 tech-revolutionaries in the world. She is a prominent voice advocating for women's rights and empowerment and was one of the first Saudi women to specialise in Information Security, starting her career in 2002 with Saudi Aramco, the largest oil company in the world.

A tireless activist in her own country

In 2011, Manal co-founded and led the #Women2Drive movement, to challenge the ban on women driving in her home country of Saudi Arabia. She was arrested and imprisoned for "driving while female" and was released on the condition that she never drove again on Saudi lands and never to spoke about the experience or conducted any interviews about it.

Ignoring these conditions Manal continued campaigning for #Women2Drive and #IAmMyOwnGuardian with the aim to end male guardianship in her country and in June of 2018 the Saudi government lifted the ban on women driving. Manal also started #Faraj, a campaign to help domestic helpers leave jail, and #IAmLama which resulted in codifying the first anti-domestic violence law in Saudi.

As a result of her tireless activism, she was awarded the first Vaclav Havel Prize for Creative Dissent.

Worldwide writing success

A blogger and regular contributor to international media, Manal has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, Alhayat and many others publications. Her memoir, ‘Daring to Drive: A Saudi Woman’s Awakening,’ is an intimate story of her life growing up in one of the most masculine societies in the world and an Amazon best seller. It was voted by GoodRead as one of the top ten memoirs of 2017 and was listed as #1 book for the summer reading by Oprah Magazine.

With so many accomplishments to her name, all of us here at REINSW are so excited to include Manal is this year’s WIRE line-up of speakers.

Join us at WIRE 2020

Wire 2020 ‘Legacy’ is the chance for you to define your mark. Hear from other incredible women (and men) who carve out their legacies every day. WIRE 2020 will help you design your journey. Be the influence you know you can be. Make the moves you’ve been longing to make. 

This event SOLD OUT last year. Don’t miss out in 2020! We’re currently offering 20% off the ticket price. Click here to purchase your ticket now.