Rola Dashti is the current state minister for planning and development, and the state minister for National Assembly affairs in Kuwait. Dashti is a former Kuwaiti parliamentarian and a leading Kuwaiti economist and women’s rights activist. Prior to becoming minister, she was the Chairman of the Kuwait Economic Society. On May 16th, 2009, she became one of the first women ever elected to Kuwait’s parliament. She has served as Manager of Economics at the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research.