Elvira Nabiullina

Elvira Sakhipzadovna Nabiullina is a well-known economist who has excelled in a traditionally male-dominated field. She is the first woman to occupy a Group of 8 monetary authorities as to the governor of the Russian Federation’s Central Bank. She had a liking for numbers since she was a young girl, which helped her flourish in mathematics. Her passion for math provided the impetus for her to pursue a PhD in economics. This Russian-born economist’s strong financial knowledge, combined with her leadership skills, opened huge professional doors, allowing her to continue to bring economic reforms to her country. In 2016, Forbes ranked her as the world’s 56th most powerful woman. Elvira Nabiulina is a success story that continues to inspire girls and women around the world. She rose from humble beginnings to become one of the world’s most influential economists.

Background:

Elvira Sakhipzadovna Nabiullina was born on October 29, 1963, in Ufa, Bashkortostan, to a Tatar family. Sakhipzada Saidzada Yevich worked as a driver, and Zuleikha Khamatnurovna worked as a manufacturing manager. Elvira was an outstanding student at Ufa’s School No. 31. In 1986, she received her bachelor’s degree from Moscow State University. She was also chosen for the 2007 Yale World Fellows Program in succeeding years.

Social Impact:

After that, she worked at the USSR Science and Industry Union from 1991 to 1994. Nabiullina then worked for the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade as a consultant and top specialist for the Directorate of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs. Nabiullina was promoted to deputy minister of the economy in 1997. She left the ministry in 1998 and worked for two years as the Deputy Chairperson of Promtorgbank’s board of directors.

Executive Director of the Eurasian Ratings Service and Vice President of the Center for Strategic Research are among her other responsibilities. She rejoined the ministry in 2003 and served as the First Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade until 2003. She oversaw the Center for Strategic Development from 2003 to September 2007, as well as serving as an advisor to Russia’s G8 president in 2006.

Accolades:

When Russian President Vladimir Putin nominated her Minister of Economic Development and Trade in September 2007, she rose to prominence in her profession. When she was named Aide to the President of the Russian Federation in 2012, she continued her upward trajectory. Her selection as chairperson of the Central Bank of Russia in 2013 confirmed her reputation as one of Russia’s greatest economists. She is the bank’s second female governor and the first Russian woman to hold the role in the G8.

Nabiullina was named one of the most powerful women in the world by Forbes and Central Bank Governor of the Year by Euromoney Magazine as a result of her role. Her efforts in modernizing Russia’s banking industry earned her the Central Banker of the Year Europe award from The Banker, a British magazine, in 2017.

–Tanisha