Sara Akbar

Sara Hussein Akbar is a Kuwaiti chemical petroleum engineer, women's rights advocate, and co-founder and former chief executive officer of Kuwait Energy. Akbar is recognized as a "national hero" due to her involvement in the Kuwaiti oil fires which were later depicted in the Academy Award nominated documentary Fires of Kuwait. Akbar is one of the first women oil sector company executives from the Arabian Peninsula.

Career Akbar began her career working in departmental offices before attaining a position as a petroleum engineer for Kuwait Oil Company. Between 1981 and 1999, Akbar worked in the oil sector at Kuwait Energy, a company she co-founded and served as CEO. She is the first woman to hold a leading position in the Middle East oil and gas industry. During the 1990 invasion of Kuwait by Iraq, most of the oil wells in the country (80%) were attacked by Saddam Hussein's army. Akbar was the lone woman on a rogue team of petroleum engineers who acted against orders to take on the dangerous task of dousing oil well fires. Their efforts were later shown in Fires of Kuwait, a 1992 documentary that was nominated for Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. She resigned as the CEO of Kuwait Energy in 2017.

Accolades Akbar's awards include: Distinguished Member – Society of Petroleum Engineers, 2003 Charles F. Rand Memorial Gold Medal – American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers, 2013

Women's rights In interviews, Akbar speaks about the role of women in the workplace, especially in Middle Eastern countries. She notes that there is variation between the countries and should not be viewed as equivalent in their advancements of women's rights. Speaking about Kuwait and the women's rights movement, she argues, "Kuwait is top of the class in women’s rights, access to education, business and work. [At the same time], the country remains way behind in terms of political rights, which we finally got four or five years ago. I strongly believe in the 'power of women,' i.e., their ability to fight for what they are entitled to and to finally win the battle. In Kuwait, this movement is quite strong." Akbar does not believe Islam imposes "social limits" on women, instead, she believes there are larger socio-cultural factors that impact women's rights.

Personal life Akbar credits parental support as a key factor in her success, as well as the success of her siblings. She is currently married and living in Kuwait City with her husband and three children. Akbar is Shia Muslim. Sara Akbar currently resides in Rumathiya