Laila Iskander was appointed as the Minister of Urban Development, a newly formed ministry. Iskander has served as the Minister of Environment following the ousting of former president Mohamed Morsi. She is a social entrepreneur who graduated from the faculty of economics and political sciences at Cairo University, before obtaining a master's in teaching at UC Berkeley, California, and a doctorate in education at Columbia University, New York. Iskandar is the chairperson of the Community and International Development Consulting (CID), which received an award for Social Entrepreneur of the Year from the Schwab Foundation at the 2006 World Economic Forum. The CID works on garbage collectors in Cairo. During her term as environment minister, Iskander stood against the use of coal as a source of energy. In order to be "politically independent", Egypt should not depend on foreign energy resources to meet its needs, Iskandar has previously said, adding that using coal will cause health problems for Egyptians after 30 years. When the cabinet approved the use of coal in April, Iskander confirmed to the Daily News Egypt that "coal will not be used unless it conforms to environmental standards".
