Fatima Al-Othman has been general manager at the Saudi Heritage Commission in the Riyadh region since April 2022.
In less than a year, Al-Othman made substantial contributions, including implementing a national strategy to preserve Saudi heritage, developing the National Heritage Register for the Riyadh region, which includes over 1,800 heritage sites, and developing a governance model for craftsmanship, which has increased the number of registered craftsmen in the region.
Al-Othman has become a well-known figure in the culture and heritage sector, as she forged partnerships with Riyadh governorates to develop heritage sites in the region in order to make them accessible and ready to welcome tourists.
Recently, Al-Othman won the 2023 leadership figure award for Arab heritage bodies at ITB Berlin, the world’s leading travel trade show with participants from 150 countries.
Before joining the Heritage Commission, Al-Othman worked at Saudi Aramco, starting her professional career as a pharmacist at John Hopkins Aramco Healthcare and moving to different sectors within Aramco, from corporate planning to government affairs.
Al-Othman did not stop at administrative positions; she worked hard to gain technical expertise in analyzing the Kingdom’s policies and became a senior analyst in the oil and gas industry. Her work in public policy positively impacted the Kingdom’s economy and development plans, prompting Aramco’s senior management team to entrust Al-Othman with leading the government relations project for the initial public offering at Aramco.
With passion and vision, Al-Othman held several leadership roles, gaining experience in managing mega-projects and implementing governance models and strategies.
Her expertise laid the foundation for her next step: participating in the Kingdom’s official delegation at the International Labor Organization to study international labor laws.
This was not the only international event Al-Othman participated in. From 2018 to 2020, she served as an adviser for the G20, providing research, policy and coordination support to the G20 presidency to further align its agenda with the 2030 UN Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Al-Othman earned a master’s degree in business administration and management from Mays Business School at Texas A&M University and a bachelor’s degree in pharmaceutical science from King Saud University.
