Fatima Baeshen
Saudi Arabia has just appointed Fatimah Baeshen as its spokesperson for the Kingdom’s embassy in Washington DC, making her the first woman to occupy the position.
The move follows a string of announcements increasing women’s opportunities in the conservative Kingdom, including a new decree that would allow women to drive by summer 2018.
Baeshen celebrated the news on twitter saying that she was proud and grateful for the opportunity.
Proud to serve the @SaudiEmbassyUSA as the spokeswoman. I'm grateful for the opportunity, the support, and well wishes #KSA
— Fatimah S Baeshen (@FatimahSBaeshen) September 26, 2017
The veteran consultant is well known in Washington, having served as the director for the Arabia Foundation, a think tank that supports dialogue between Arab countries and the United States.
The Arabia Foundation congratulated Baeshen on Twitter highlighting that she was the first ever “SpokesWOMAN” to hold this post.
Baeshen has previously held a handful of high profile roles including consulting for the World Bank, the Islamic Development Bank and the Emirates Foundation for Youth Development.
Arabia Foundation congratulates our former Director @FatimahSBaeshen on assuming the post of the first spokesWOMAN of the Saudi Embassy USA
— Arabia Foundation (@ArabiaFdn) September 26, 2017
She has also worked in Saudi Arabia, both for the Saudi Ministry of Labour and the Saudi Ministry of Economy and Planning in Riyadh, before being appointed spokesperson and returning to the United States.
The US-raised Saudi citizen holds a master’s degree from the University of Chicago with a focus on Islamic finance and a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
