Saadia Zahidi is a Managing Director at the World Economic Forum and a member of its Managing Board. She heads the Forum's Centre for the New Economy and Society, partnering with business, government, academics and civil society in advancing economic opportunity for all. She also oversees the Forum's engagement with universities, think tanks, and academics and its network of Global Future Councils.

She has previously led the Forum's Global Communications Group, Global Programming Group, and the Forum’s engagement with civil society and international organizations. She founded and co-authors the Forum's Future of Jobs Reports, the Future of Growth Reports, the Global Gender Gap Reports, and Chief Economist Outlooks. Saadia has been selected among BBC's 100 Women and has served on the UN Secretary General's panel for Women's Economic Empowerment and the European Space Agency's High-Level Advisory Group.

Her book, Fifty Million Rising, tracking the rise of working women in the Muslim world, won the FT/McKinsey Bracken Bower Prize and was longlisted for book of the year. She holds a BA in Economics from Smith College, an MPhil in International Economics from The Graduate Institute and an MPA from Harvard University.