Munirah Alaboudi has been director of the education sector at the Ministry of Investment, or MISA, since 2022. She works on investment development and attraction within Saudi Arabia, leading outreach and engagement in investment opportunities in all subsegments of education, training, research, development and innovation, in collaboration with line entities such as the Ministry of Education, the Technical and Vocational Training Corporation and the Research, Development and Innovation Authority, among others.
A priority for Alaboudi is to accelerate and enable collective action toward realizing Saudi Vision 2030 targets. She is also involved in developing projects that could inform public policy development with relevant entities and teams, internally within the ministry and externally with line entities.
Her achievements include the completion of the education sector investment plan facilitating a strategic partnership between MISA and the Ministry of Education with governance and steering structures to co-execute flagship projects. She also accelerated a memorandum of understanding between MISA and the University of Cambridge to collaborate on ecosystem development and the delivery of multiple reform projects.
She closed multiple flagship private sector attraction deals in 2022 and 2023 that had a positive impact on the sector.
Before joining MISA, Alaboudi worked in different academic roles where she was responsible for developing research and analytical skills in the context of public policy, human capital, education policy and development, with a strong capacity to conduct independent research, data analytics training and strategy development.
She worked on various education systems, policy publications and research papers that revolved around reform efforts and developing sector empowerment for both students and teachers.
Alaboudi received a doctorate in educational leadership and policy studies and a master’s degree in TESOL from Boston University Wheelock College of Education and Human Development. She is certified in the Women Leaders Program from INSEAD and earned a bachelor’s degree in English language and translation from King Saud University in Riyadh.
She has received several awards and scholarships, including the International Research Conference’s Best Presentation Award in 2019 and Dissertation Award for Academic Excellence in 2015.