Rubaba Dowla

Rubaba Dowla (; also romanized Rubaba Doula; full name Rubaba Dowla Motin) is a Bangladeshi businesswoman, corporate executive, and women's sports administrator. She is one of the most prominent female executives in Bangladesh's corporate sector, known for leadership roles in the telecommunications and technology industries, and currently serves as a director of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB).

Early life and education

Dowla is a niece of the artist Kamrul Hasan, and the Nazrul geeti singer Firoza Begum is stated to be her paternal aunt. She holds a BBA and an MBA from the University of Dhaka, and later completed higher studies at the Stockholm School of Economics and the London Business School.

Career

Grameenphone and Airtel

Dowla first attracted wider attention through her corporate-level career at Grameenphone, where she served as chief communications officer and chief marketing officer. During her tenure at the company from 1998 to 2009, she established herself as a leading female corporate executive in Bangladesh. Through Grameenphone's sponsorship ties with the Bangladesh Cricket Board — the company sponsored the Bangladesh national cricket team from 2003 to 2011 — she became a familiar figure in Bangladeshi cricket circles, and played a role in the 2007 joint Grameenphone–BCB establishment of the National Cricket Academy in Mirpur.

She subsequently held a senior position at Airtel Bangladesh.

Oracle Corporation

Dowla later joined the multinational technology company Oracle Corporation as country director (later described as country managing director) for Bangladesh, Nepal, and Bhutan. As of 2025 she remained in that role.

Sports and social involvement

Alongside her corporate career, Dowla was president of the Bangladesh Badminton Federation from 2009 to 2015, and a board member of Special Olympics Bangladesh over the same period.

Bangladesh Cricket Board directorship

Following the BCB board of directors' election on 6 October 2025, the National Sports Council (NSC) initially nominated businessman Isfak Ahsan as one of its two nominated directors. After questions arose over his political affiliation with the Awami League and his candidacy in Bangladesh's 2024 national election, the NSC withdrew his nomination and replaced him with Dowla. Her appointment was formally confirmed on 3 November 2025, making her only the second woman to serve as a BCB director, after Monowara Anis Minu in 2007.

In November 2025, the BCB reshuffled its standing committees, naming Dowla chairperson of its women's wing in place of Abdur Razzak; she was also named to a five-member committee investigating misconduct allegations involving members of the national women's team.

Awards and recognition

Dowla received the Anannya Top Ten Award in 2006, recognizing contributions by women in business and management.