Ameera al-Taweel

Ameera bint Aidan bin Nayef al-Taweel al-Otaibi (; born 6 November 1983) is a Saudi Arabian philanthropist and ex-princess. Born into the Tribe of Otaibah, she became affiliated with the House of Saud after marrying Al-Waleed bin Talal al-Saud in 2008. She was the vice chairwoman of the Al-Waleed bin Talal Foundation, a charity in Saudi Arabia, for the duration of her marriage, which ended in a divorce in 2013. Ameera is currently a member of the board of trustees at Silatech, a youth employment organization in Qatar. She has been a long-standing advocate for Saudi women's rights.

Biography Al-Taweel was born in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Her father is Aidan bin Nayef Al-Taweel Al-Otaibi. She was raised by her divorced mother and her grandparents in Riyadh. At age 18 she met Alwaleed Bin Talal, a man 28 years older than her, while conducting an interview for a school paper. Al-Taweel is a magna cum laude graduate of the University of New Haven with a degree in Business Administration. They have a son, Zayed, born in 2019.

Philanthropic career Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal al Saud appointed his wife Ameerah as vice-chairperson and head of the executive committee of the Alwaleed bin Talal Foundation in Saudi Arabia, the Alwaleed bin Talal Foundation - Global, (now known under the name Alwaleed Philanthropies), and chairperson of Time Entertainment.

Al-Taweel has inaugurated the Alwaleed Bin Talal Village Orphanage in Burkina Faso and traveled to Pakistan to provide aid and relief to the country's flood victims and to support education. Most recently she has spearheaded a relief mission to Somalia, where she and her ex-husband, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, oversaw the distribution of Foundation-sponsored aid.

Al-Taweel has spoken out publicly in the United States on NBC's Today, CNN International and NPR, as well as in Time magazine and Foreign Policy magazine in support of both women's right to drive in her country of Saudi Arabia and the broader issue of women's overall empowerment to contribute fully to Saudi society. She also says she wants to be among the first women to drive on Saudi roads. In 2012, Ameera was interviewed by Charlie Rose on Bloomberg and spoke about her work for equal rights and women's empowerment in Saudi Arabia through Alwaleed Foundations. Her former husband Prince Al Waleed was warned by his brother Prince Khalid to control Ameera's media appearances or next time they would be punished without prior warning. This tension led to their divorce.

She is a member of the board of trustees of Silatech, an international youth employment organization with a focus on youth empowerment in the Arab world through the creation of jobs and greater economic opportunities to deal with unemployment in the region. a non-profit organization that promotes social entrepreneurship.

In 2011, Al-Taweel received the ITP Special "Humanitarian Award" on behalf of the Alwaleed Bin Talal Foundation at the Arabian Business Achievement Awards ceremony. She also received the Woman Personality of the Year Award from the Middle East Excellence Award Institute.