Sofana Dahlan is a Saudi lawyer, arbitrator, social entrepreneur, and public-policy leader. Recognised as the first female lawyer licensed to practise law in Saudi Arabia, she has legal experience spanning Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, and Kuwait. She specialises in corporate and commercial law, intellectual property, arbitration, mediation, and mergers and acquisitions, with a particular focus on the creative industries. Most recently, she became a Partner at AMERELLER, leading the firm’s Saudi office.

She serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Al-Ittihad Club NPO. Her previous public-sector contributions include serving as the first female member of the Fee Assessment Committee at the Saudi Bar Association and as Vice Governor for Entrepreneurship Advancement at Saudi Arabia’s Small and Medium Enterprises General Authority (Monsha’at), where she became the country’s first female senior economic policymaker.

Sofana has founded and led several ventures at the intersection of law, technology, and entrepreneurship, including Mustanad, an AI-powered digital marketplace for Arabic legal documents, and Legal Digital Solutions (LDS), which develops accessible digital legal platforms for individuals, entrepreneurs, and SMEs. She also established Tashkeil, Kayanspace, and the Saudi National Creative Initiative (SNCI) to advance entrepreneurship and support the region’s creative economy.

The World Economic Forum named Sofana a Young Global Leader in 2015, and she was selected as a Misk 2030 Leader in 2024. She holds an LLB (Hons) from Cairo University, a master’s degree in Shariah from the Centre of Islamic and Legal Studies in Egypt, and an MBA from the American University of Technology. She has also completed executive programmes at Harvard University, the University of Oxford, and the Apolitical Academy, focusing on global leadership, negotiation, and public policy.