People
Dr. Najat Saliba
NA. Saliba is a Professor in Chemistry and the Director of the Nature Conservation Center at the American University of Beirut. Saliba developed innovative methods to characterize smoke in tobacco and non-tobacco nicotine delivery systems. Her work on air pollution focuses on understanding the levels, sources, and transformations of air pollutants. Saliba leads several environmental projects that focus on engaging the community to co-find innovative solutions to local environmental challenges. She founded the Environment Academy (EA) in 2020. She was voted among the top 100 most influential women by BBC in 2019, is the recipient of the 2019 L’Oreal-UNESCO International Award for Women in Science, the National Order of the Cedar from the President of the Lebanese Republic, the Honorary Cedar Shield from the Speaker of the Parliament of Lebanon. She was awarded the Paul Harris Fellow Pin from the Rotary Club Beirut Cedars in 2019 and in 2016 she received the Lebanese National Council for Scientific Research Award in the Environmental Category.
Mr. Fadi El Khatib
Fadi is a professional Lebanese basketball player for the Champville SC in the Lebanese Basketball League. He is known as the Lebanese Tiger for his great achievements and success during his 25 years’ career. He joined Sagesse Beirut in 1997 by signing a 3-year contract, which was then renewed into 7 more. He won 7 Lebanese Basketball Cups, 2 Arab Club Basketball Championship, and 3 FIBA Asia Championships Cup titles while being with Sagesse. El Khatib was a main member of the Lebanon national basketball team that participated in the 2002 FIBA World Championship in the US. Then in the 2006 Championship in Japan and later in Turkey. He helped Lebanon qualify for its first FIBA Asia Champiosnhip ever in 1999, where Lebanon ended up being in the 7th place. He now continues to build his iconic career while opening successful businesses such as his Fitness Development Centre ‘Champs’ and his very well-known restaurant called ‘Tigers’.
Dr. Carmen Geha
Carmen is an Associate Professor of Public Administration, Leadership and Organizational Development, at the American University of Beirut. She is also a Research Associate and Founding Member at the Center for Inclusive Business & Leadership (CIBL) for women. Carmen has a BA and MA in Public Administration from the American University of Beirut, and a PhD in International Relations from the University of St. Andrews. Her research examines the nexus politics and public institutions with a focus on three areas: women’s political and economic participation, refugee policies, and civil society and protest movements. Geha has held Visiting Research positions at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University and the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University. Between 2018 and 2020, she was the Founding Director of “Education for Leadership in Crisis” Scholarship Program for Afghan women at AUB. Additionally, she is the 2018-2019 Fellow in the Program in Social Science at the Institute for Advanced Study. In addition to her academic track, Geha has an extensive experience advising and consulting in public sector reform and organizational development.
National Secretariat Members and Advisors
Dr. Lina Daouk-Oyry
Lina is an Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior at the Olayan School of Business (OSB) at the American University of Beirut and Visiting Researcher at Aalto University Finland. Lina specializes in employee assessment, development, and retention. She is specifically interested in personality and individual differences at work in relation to job variables relevant to today’s business context. Her focus is mainly in the Arab world, and the organizational context is predominantly hospitals. Daouk-Öyry has more than 15 years of experience in cross-cultural test adaptation and competency-based assessment. She was the leader of the team that developed the first model of personality in the Arab world along with its corresponding assessment tool. Daouk-Öyry’s research has appeared in several journals such as Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, International Journal of Nursing Studies, Journal of Research in Personality, and Annals of Emergency Medicine. She is also the Founding Director of the Evidence-based Healthcare Management Unit (EHMU), which is a cross-disciplinary unit based at AUB-AUBMC. Additionally, she actively engaged in consultancy for the public and private sectors in Lebanon and the region. Lina is also an activist fighting corruption and sectarianism, and calling for meritocracy, equality, and human rights.
Mr. Badih Abou Chakra
Badih is a Lebanese actor who first started studying architecture, but then his love for the theater and movies drove him to change his major and study acting in the Institute of Fine Arts at the Lebanese University. He then had his Bachelor’s degree in 1998 and then his masters from the Lebanese University. Abou Chacra participated in many workshops and courses between Beirut, France, Jordan, the US, and then moved to Canada to finish his MBA. In 2002, he received local recognition winning the Best Male Actor Award at the Murex D’Or. He also won the first place in the third season of Dancing with the Stars TV show. Abou Chakra became famous for his work in Lebanon and the Arab world, and as well as being an actor, he is also a writer and a poet. He is the author of the 2001 volume of poetry “Al Rajol Allazi Raqasa”.
Dr. Mosbah Majzoub
Mosbah is the Managing Partner and Chairperson of Nexia Majzoub and Partners, CPAs. Under his leadership, the firm has been providing assurance and management consulting services for the past 25 years and, since 1998, his firm has joined Nexia International, one of the Top 10 Audit Firms worldwide. As a founder of a successful family business himself, Mosbah was naturally inclined to complement his rich financial and management consulting expertise with a Doctoral Degree in Business Administration from ESA (Ecole Supérieure des Affaires and Ecole Doctorale de management Panthéon –Sorbonne) focused on family-owned enterprises (FOEs). Today, he is considered an expert in this area and is very active in working with FOEs to develop their governance structures and their organizations. In addition, Majzoub has a vast teaching experience having lectured at different universities and during various congresses and seminars including the Lebanese Association of Certified Public Accountants (LACPA), the Beirut Bar association, and the Institute of Internal Auditors. Besides his Doctoral Degree in Corporate Governance for Family Businesses, Mosbah is also a Certified Public Accountant (CPA from USA and Lebanon), holds a Diploma in International Financial Reporting Standards issued by the ACCA-UK and is an associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, UK. He is also Certified Board Director (IFC-World Bank Group) . In parallel, Majzoub serves as an Independent Board Member for several businesses and NGOs.
Dr. Charlotte Karam
Karam is the founding director of the Center of Inclusive Business and Leadership for Women and a tenured Associate Professor at the Olayan School of Business (AUB). Her work, as a scholar-activist, contributes to overlapping conversations in HR, Business Ethics, public policy, and feminist praxis. Dr. Karam has been recognized as a Global Gender Champion by the U.S. Department of State, and she and her team have secured over $10 million in international funding. In 2019, through Middle East Partnership Initiative grant she launched the development of The KIP Index- an organizational level measure of women’s recruitment, retention and promotion across the Arab MENA. Dr. Karam is also a highly engaged teacher and facilitator of executive education and university-level courses in her areas of expertise. She is also highly engaged as a member of various academic communities, including co-editing a number of international peer-reviewed journal special issues (on displacement, on gender and governance and on gender and careers in the Middle East), serving as the Area Editor at the Journal of Business Ethics for Feminisms and Business Ethics.
Dr. Nuhad Yazbik-Dumit
Nuhad is an Associate Professor at the School of Nursing at the American University of Beirut. She is the convener of the undergraduate division and coordinator of the administration and management MSN track at the School; as well as the co-director of the Continuing Medical Education Office of the Faculty of Medicine. Dumit had her Bachelor’s degree in Nursing and then her Master’s degree in Education Policy and Foundations both from the American University of Beirut. She then got her PhD in Nursing from the University of Colorado. Dumit plans and organizes continuing education programs, courses, and workshops for healthcare professionals from nurses to non-nursing faculty. Her research area focuses on nursing and health workforce issues. She was the President of the Order of Nurses in Lebanon from the year 2015 to 2018. She had several honors and awards from the university, national and international levels.
Dr. Iman Nouweihed
Iman is a Professor of Public Health at the Faculty of Health Science (FHS) at the American University of Beirut (AUB), where he formerly served as dean for 12 years (2008-2020). He received his MD from AUB and a Master of Public Health (MPH) and a DrPH in Occupational Health from The Johns Hopkins University. Nuwayhid is American Board Certified in Occupational Medicine and an elected fellow to the Collegium Ramazzini since 2004. He is co-editor of the landmark book on “Public Health in the Arab World” (Cambridge University Press, 2012) and a co-chair of the Lancet-AUB Commission on Syria. Nuwayhid applies a social and political lens of analysis in his research, which focuses on health of workers, including health of working children, environment and health, and conflict and health. Under his leadership as dean, FHS adopted a homegrown 360° system-network approach to public health teaching, research, practice, and policy, for which FHS received the “Global Health Leadership Award” in 2018 at the Arab Health Summit organized by the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS) in Washington, DC.
Dr. Rima Karami Akkary
Rima is an Associate Professor of Educational Administration, Policy and Leadership in the department of Education at the American University of Beirut. She is also the program advisor for the Educational Management and Leadership program. She holds a Bachelor in Science, Diploma for teaching science at the secondary level, and Master of Arts in Science Education from the American University of Beirut (AUB), and a Doctorate in Education from Portland State University with a specialty in Educational Administration and Supervision with a focus on school principalship, organizational change and educational policy. Karami is the director and the principal investigator of the TAMAM project launched in 2007 to initiate school-based reform and research on how to build leadership skills for sustainable schools where currently she is operating in 67 schools in 8 Arab countries. She also has many published journals related to professional development, principal role, and models for school-based reform in international and local journals.
Dr. Alain Daou
Alain is an Assistant Professor in entrepreneurship at the Olayan School of Business at the American University of Beirut. He worked for 10 years, before joining academia, with several organizations as a project manager, country manager, in house advisor and consultant in many places like Canada, Central America, Middle East and Africa. Daou completed his PhD at Laval University in Canada in 2014, and then moved to the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KU Levuven) in Belgium to complete a post-doctoral research project on social entrepreneurship. His main focus in his research is to try to understand how certain types of enterprises such as social enterprises, not-for-profit and small and medium businesses innovate, scale up and have a positive social and economic impact on stakeholders and on the society as a whole. Daou focuses on social entrepreneurship, SMEs, family business, project management, non-profit management, international development, and intellectual capital.
Ms. Celine Al Nemer
Celine is a graduate student with a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the American University of Beirut. During her last two years at university she was a volunteer at the AUB-Lebanese Red Cross, as well as being the event organizing manager for IBDAA2019 which is an annual poster forum competition, known as the International Biodiversity Day at AUB. She then became the leader of the organizing committee for the 14th edition of the IBDAA competition during her last year at AUB. Currently she is coordinating between all the initiatives within Khaddit Beirut and helping out with the website content.
Community Health
Dr. Nuhad Yazbik-Dumit
Nuhad is an Associate Professor at the School of Nursing at the American University of Beirut. She is the convener of the undergraduate division and coordinator of the administration and management MSN track at the School; as well as the co-director of the Continuing Medical Education Office of the Faculty of Medicine. Dumit had her Bachelor’s degree in Nursing and then her Master’s degree in Education Policy and Foundations both from the American University of Beirut. She then got her PhD in Nursing from the University of Colorado. Dumit plans and organizes continuing education programs, courses, and workshops for healthcare professionals from nurses to non-nursing faculty. Her research area focuses on nursing and health workforce issues. She was the President of the Order of Nurses in Lebanon from the year 2015 to 2018. She had several honors and awards from the university, national and international levels.
Team members
Dr. Gladys Honein-AbouHaidar
Gladys is an Assistant Professor at the School of Nursing at the American University of Beirut. Her research focuses on primary health care system and refugee health. She earned her Bachelor degree in Nursing in 1984, followed by her Master degree in Public Health in 1992 from the American University of Beirut. She then earned her PhD in Health Services Research in 2012 from the Institute of Health Policy in University of Toronto. Honein-AbouHaidar employs mixed method approach to improve community health. She examines gaps in policies and required strategies for a high performing community health system.
Dr. Angela Massouh
Angela is an Assistant Professor and Heart Failure Clinical Nurse Specialist at the American University of Beirut – Medical Center. She is also the President of the Sigma Theta Tau Chi Iota Chapter. She received her Bachelors of Science degree in Nursing in 2004, and then her doctorate degree in 2017 in Biobehavioral Nursing from the University of Colorado. She did her clinical training as an extensive internship at AUBMC in Cardiology and Heart Failure as well as an extensive training with Clinical Nurse Specialists in Heart Failure clinics at the John Hopkins University School of Nursing and hospital. Massouh won the Distinguished PhD Dissetation Award in 2017 because of her research which examined the Determinants of Self-Care in a Sample of Lebanese Patients with Heart Failure. Her interest in this area is driven by the need to narrow down the gap between research, theory and clinical practice. Dr. Massouh’s main focus in her research is on heart Failure Symptom Management and Self-Care.
Dr. Joseph El Khoury
Joseph is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Psychiatry at the American University of Beirut and the current president elect of the Lebanese Psychiatric Society (LPS). After he qualified in medicine in the United Kingdom in 2002, he trained in Psychiatry at St. George’s, University of London (UK), followed by membership in the Royal College of Psychiatrists and specialist training in Oxford. El Khoury is the founding director of the psychosis recovery outreach program (PROP) and the director of the psychiatry residency training program at AUB. He also acts as the Global Mental Health Scholar for the Arab region for a joint program by Columbia University and the World Health Organization. El Khoury’s main research interest is in the prevention and treatment of mental health disorders along with the prevention of substance abuse in youth and the implementation of specialist treatment programs for schizophrenia and related conditions. He was elected Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists (FRCPsych) in 2019 in recognition of his contribution to the field. In 2019 he also completed an MSc in War and Psychiatry from King’s College London.
Dr. Georgina Nouaime
Georgina is a Hospital Medicine Specialist in New Bedford. She graduated from St. Joseph University Medical School in 1996. She was the Internal Medicine Chief Resident graduate of Montefiore Medical Center in the year 2001. Then since 2001, she became the hospitalist director at Southcoast Hospital Group and she remains till now. She is currently the President of the Medical Staff at SHG. Nouaime completed a residency at Jacobi Medical Center and has over 24 years of experience in her medical field. She is board certified in Internal Medicine and currently is affiliated with Charlton Memorial Hospital. Nouaime is also a member of the Harvard Global Health Delivery Community and a member of the American College of Physicians, along with being a member also of the Massachusetts Medical Society, Global Health Committee. Currently, Nouaime is living in Falmouth, Cape Cod, MA with her husband and three kids.
Dr. Rita Tohme
Rita holds a PhD in Molecular Medicine from Cleveland Clinic and specializes in anticancer drug development for hematologic diseases, pancreatic and lung cancers. She is a founding member of the Environment Academy and the coordinator for the US and Canadian teams. She is also the president of the Northeast Ohio chapter of the worldwide alumni association of AUB and an active member of the activist groups Meghterbin Mejtemiin and Impact Lebanon. Rita is the recipient of several national US awards including the Bumpus Award for Young Investigators in Basic Science from Cleveland Clinic, the Lenore Kola award for community service, and the Excellence in Leadership award from the Case Western Reserve University.
Dr. Sasha Fahme
Sasha Fahme is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City and Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the Faculty of Health Sciences, American University of Beirut. Fahme has conducted several years of global health service and research, with prior experience in South Africa, Tanzania, and among Syrian refugees displaced in Lebanon. Her current research focuses on the sexual and reproductive health of Syrian refugee adolescents and women. Her research interests are in the syndemic effects of conflict and forced displacement on gender-based violence and women’s health. Fahme serves on the leadership committee of the Weill Cornell Women in Global Health Research Initiative and is the Co-Director of a training program for early-career women conducting global health research in low- and middle-income countries. Sasha holds an M.D. from the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.
Dr. Eveline Hitti
Eveline is an Associate Professor of Clinical Specialty and current Chairperson in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the American University of Beirut. She graduated with an MD degree from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in 2002. She then completed her Residency in Emergency Medicine at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Following that, she received her MBA from the same university and later joined AUB in 2009. Hitti’s administrative and research work has focused on evidence-based health management, lean and six sigma and quality and safety in the ED. Eveline received the ‘Dr. Cristina Costin International Emergency Medicine Award’ for her long-standing and profound impact on International Emergency Medicine.
Dr. Maya Romani
Maya is an Assistant Professor of clinical family medicine at the American University of Beirut. She graduated from AUB as a family physician specialist in 2010 then joined AUB as a faculty in 2011. Romani is currently the director of the AUB health and wellness center and the associate director of family medicine residency program. She is also a specialist in tobacco treatment and corporate wellness. Romani is certified in medical education and a credentialed Balint leader from the American Balint society. Her focus in research is on communication skills, burnout, smoking cessation, wellness, along with Balint and Family Medicine. Romani has published several book chapters and research articles in peer review journals.
Ms. Rassil Ghazzaoui
Rassil is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist in the Department of Psychiatry and in the Bariatric Unit in the Surgery Department at the American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC). She is Program Coordinator and Psychologist of the Psychosis Recovery Outpatient Program (PROP) and of the Treatment Outreach Program for Eating Disorders (TOP-ED). Rassil is also a board member of the Lebanese Psychological Association (LPA). She obtained her BA in Psychology from the American University of Beirut and an M.A. degree in Clinical Psychology from Columbia University, New York. Rassil has been actively involved in raising awareness abroad about Psychosis in Lebanon and in the Middle East and involved in initiatives that improve the mental health awareness in the community such as Psychological First Aid (PFA).
Education
Dr. Rima Karami Akkary
Rima is an Associate Professor of Educational Administration, Policy and Leadership in the department of Education at the American University of Beirut. She is also the program advisor for the Educational Management and Leadership program. She holds a Bachelor in Science, Diploma for teaching science at the secondary level, and Master of Arts in Science Education from the American University of Beirut (AUB), and a Doctorate in Education from Portland State University with a specialty in Educational Administration and Supervision with a focus on school principalship, organizational change and educational policy. Karami is the director and the principal investigator of the TAMAM project launched in 2007 to initiate school-based reform and research on how to build leadership skills for sustainable schools where currently she is operating in 67 schools in 8 Arab countries. She also has many published journals related to professional development, principal role, and models for school-based reform in international and local journals.
Team members
Dr. Tamer Amin
Tamer is an Associate Professor of Science Education and the Chair of the Department of Education at the American University of Beirut (AUB). He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from the American University in Cairo in 1991, and then his Master’s in Chemistry from Boston University in 1994, followed by another Master’s in Developmental Psychology from Clark University in 1998. Later in 2002, he earned his PhD in Developmental Psychology also from Clark University. Tamer is a member of the Science and Mathematics Education Center (SMEC) at AUB’s Department of Education. His primary area of research involves characterizing the cognitive underpinnings of scientific expertise, how scientific expertise is acquired and the implications of this for designing effective science instruction. In this work, he focuses in particular on the role that language plays in conceptual change. His secondary area of research addresses the challenges faced by learning science in multilingual contexts in the Arab world.
Dr. Suzanne Abdul-Reda Abourjeili
Suzanne Abdul-Reda Abourjeili is specialized in Educational Sociology. Currently, she is Professor at the Faculty of Education- Lebanese University. At the same faculty, she also was the coordinator of the research team on “Educational Reform in Lebanon”. She’s currently President of the Lebanese Association of Educational Studies LAES that is a scientific NGO gathering 40 reputable Lebanese researchers and Faculty members from different educational fields and universities. Abdul-Reda Abourjeili has previously worked as an educational expert with several famous organizations, institutions and projects some of which are: D-Rasati 1 and 2, Social Movement, Carnegie Middle East, World Bank, Center for Educational for Research and Development and others. Actually, her research interests focus on school climate and change in education. She coordinated a book on higher education and the labor market and edited numerous articles on educational reform in Lebanon, policies of teacher training, and the contribution of action-research to development of school practitioners.
Dr. Basma Faour
Basma holds a doctorate degree in primary education from the University of Leicester, UK. She is an educational consultant with over 25 years of professional experience in university teaching, research, teacher-training and working with children, community outreach and international consulting in Lebanon, UAE, KSA, Oman and Canada. Basma’s research and publications focused on the status of early childhood in the Arab countries. She was an external reviewer for journals and for quality assurance for early childhood education programs. She worked as a consultant on several projects in Arab countries with UNESCO, AUB and NGOs developing training manuals on active learning, critical thinking in early childhood, and creating preschool educational kits and an Arab community of practice. She was an associate professor in education and Chair of the Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Haigazian University, Lebanon. Prior to that, she was the director of the Center of Teaching and Learning at Dhofar University, Oman.
Dr. Julia Mahfouz
Julia is an assistant professor in the Leadership for Educational Organizations program, School of Education and Human Development at the University of Colorado-Denver. She has a Ph.D. from the Pennsylvania State University in Educational Leadership with minors in Comparative International education and Curriculum & Instruction. She is an American University of Beirut Alumna (BA, MA, and teaching diploma). Her research agenda has been shaped by her educational work as an international educator in the capacity of high school teacher, department chair, principal (K-12), and curriculum director. She is dedicated to work on educational reform in Lebanon along with students and scholars from the region. Her research explores the social, emotional, and cultural dynamics of urban and rural educational settings and their effects on school climate and school improvement utilizing qualitative and mixed methodologies. Her work seeks to deepen our understanding of social emotional learning (SEL) through lenses of intervention implementation, school improvement efforts, and preparation of school leaders to create spaces equitable for all where all could flourish utilizing policy as a lever for change and as a powerful context that shapes education at multiple levels of the system. Her research has been published in journals such as Journal of Educational Administration, Educational Management Administration and Leadership, International Journal of Leadership in Education, Education and Urban Society, Mindfulness, College Student Affairs Journal, and in practitioner outlets such as The Learning Professional and Education Canada. In 2019, she received the Don Willower Award of Excellence for her significant scholarly achievement in Educational Leadership. She is currently (2020-2021) the program chair of Social Emotional Learning Special Interest Group (SIG), Secretary/treasurer of International Studies SIG, and secretary of Leadership for School Improvement SIG under American Educational Research Association (AERA). She is also on the organization committee of the Consortium for the Study of Leadership and Ethics in Education (CSLEE)’s Values and Leadership Conference.
Ms. Salwa Ali
Salwa Ali is a graduate student in Science Education at the American University of Beirut (AUB). She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry in addition to a Teaching Diploma in Secondary Education from AUB. Salwa worked as a research assistant on several projects. She is a member of the Initiation/Steering committee of GESN. Her current research focuses on the role of language of instruction in relation to conceptual understanding chemistry in multilingual settings.
Mrs. Siline Itani
Siline Itani earned a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education and a Teaching Diploma from Haigazian University in 2015. She invested all this knowledge in teaching students from various backgrounds, across different settings, from PreK-7. Through these experiences, her passion, for attending not only to the intellectual needs of her learners but also their psycho-social emotional well-being, lead her to pursue a Master of Arts in Education (Educational Psychology – School Guidance and Counseling) from the American University of Beirut (AUB) and she graduated in 2019; her thesis focused on Academic Procrastination, Academic Self-efficacy, and Academic Achievement of the Lebanese Baccalaureate Program Candidates. During her graduate journey, Siline has interned as a middle school counselor and a community counselor. In parallel, she worked as a graduate assistant at AUB, research, translation, and interpretation assistant at Oxford Policy Management, content creator for a character education program abroad, and research assistant for various projects. By serving humbly the field of education, through research and practice, Siline formed the conviction of having a true educator to be, a researcher, teacher and counselor. She is currently a university instructor in the School of Education at the Lebanese International University (LIU).
Mrs. Shaghig Chaparian
Shaghig Chaparian has a Bachelor of Sciences in Biology and a Teaching Diploma in Secondary School Sciences from Haigazian University. She has a Master’s degree in Science Education from the American University of Beirut. She has worked on various research studies as a research assistant. Her research interests are science education for informed and active citizenship and sustainable development. Shaghig is an instructor in the Education department at Modern University of Business and Science (MUBS) in Lebanon. She has seven years of experience, teaching sciences in Middle schools, and she works on several developmental projects with local NGOs as an educational researcher, consultant and team leader. Recently, she initiated “Together for Lebanon 2020”, a post-disaster relief fund, with a group of friends to support families based on their needs.
Mrs. Stephanie Jureidini
Stephanie Jureidini holds a Master of Arts in Educational Administration and Policy Studies and a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education from the American University of Beirut. She also earned a teaching diploma with emphasis on Early Childhood from Haigazian University. She is currently a second-year doctoral student in the department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her research interests revolve around sustainable school improvement, building school capacity and building teacher leadership capacity.
Mrs. Ghada Feghali
Ghada has been affecting change through education since the 1960s in vulnerable communities, from local to refugee communities. A scientist and educator at her core, Mrs. Feghali has over 50 years of experience in the sector of education, non-governmental organizations, and community engagement. Graduating from AUB with a Bachelor of Science, Mrs. Feghali continued to volunteer in teaching refugee children in middle and high school. She joined International College as a member of the administration and Biology teacher where she taught and grew students into their potential for years. Her experience at IC and as a volunteer among other engagements, inspired her to setup MMKN (which means “it’s possible” in Arabic) in 2010 to help public school students pass their official exams and most importantly stay in school. She has led the MMKN Education Programs, including the Public School Support Program and the United Education Support Program since. She has also overseen the development of critical Academic Support Manuals for grades 8 and grade 9 (focusing on sciences and math), and the development of the Feel Good book and workshops for nutrition and environment awareness for the youngest. 10 years later, as the President and founder of MMKN, Mrs. Feghali continues her work to support the public school and all vulnerable students equally regardless of background, creating socially responsible citizens.
Rim Fathallah
Rim Fathallah is a doctoral candidate in Curriculum & Pedagogy at the University of Toronto’s Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE). She explores peacebuilding and intercultural dialogue through design. With an undergraduate degree in Interior Architecture and a master degree in Art, Design and Architecture Education, she is interested in intersections between peace education, culture, identity, pedagogy and design education. She is the co-founder of culturalSYNERGY, a yearly collaboration bringing together geographically dispersed undergraduate design students to conceive culturally-sensitive artefacts reflecting various identities.
Emma Ghosn
Emma Ghosn is a PhD candidate in Educational Leadership and Policy program at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), University of Toronto. Her research focuses on social justice teacher leadership and specifically how teacher leaders in Canadian schools achieve social equity. Emma has an undergraduate degree in Accounting Information System from the Lebanese International University (LIU), a diploma in Educational Management and Leadership and a master degree in Educational Administration and Policy Studies from the American University of Beirut (AUB). She has worked with Lebanese and Canadian scholars and international organizations such as UNHCR on research projects about blended and fully online learning programs and teacher leadership and has published in international journals.
Sarah El Halwany
Sarah El Halwany is a PhD candidate at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), University of Toronto. She finished her bachelor of science and her master’s in science education from the American University of Beirut, Lebanon. Her research interests include studies of affect and emotions in science education. Her dissertation explores affective politics of college STEM education. For the past six years, she has been part of the STEPWISE project (directed by Dr. Larry Bencze) and contributed to development of curriculum materials that connect fields of science and technology to issues of social and environmental justice.
Maissa El Bizri
Maissa El Bizri leads with an energetic attitude, spreading her positive energy wherever she goes. She enjoys working in a diverse community and has a genuine interest and a compassionate desire to give back to society. She has demonstrated a solid history of working and volunteering in the areas of the management, education and support for newcomer resettlement. Some of her previous projects include: managing summer camp for over 200 Syrian refugees, organizing a French club at Toronto district school Board and working in an after school program at Heart LC. Most recently, she has been volunteering on Lebanon relief campaigns with Lebanon Strong Canada. Maissa has an Accounting degree from Lebanese University and an advanced Diploma in Business and Administration – Accounting from Centennial College, Canada.
Environmental health
Dr. Iman Nouweihed
Iman is a Professor of Public Health at the Faculty of Health Science (FHS) at the American University of Beirut (AUB), where he formerly served as dean for 12 years (2008-2020). He received his MD from AUB and a Master of Public Health (MPH) and a DrPH in Occupational Health from The Johns Hopkins University. Nuwayhid is American Board Certified in Occupational Medicine and an elected fellow to the Collegium Ramazzini since 2004. He is co-editor of the landmark book on “Public Health in the Arab World” (Cambridge University Press, 2012) and a co-chair of the Lancet-AUB Commission on Syria. Nuwayhid applies a social and political lens of analysis in his research, which focuses on health of workers, including health of working children, environment and health, and conflict and health. Under his leadership as dean, FHS adopted a homegrown 360° system-network approach to public health teaching, research, practice, and policy, for which FHS received the “Global Health Leadership Award” in 2018 at the Arab Health Summit organized by the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS) in Washington, DC.
Team members
Dr. Najat Saliba
NA. Saliba is a Professor in Chemistry and the Director of the Nature Conservation Center at the American University of Beirut. Saliba developed innovative methods to characterize smoke in tobacco and non-tobacco nicotine delivery systems. Her work on air pollution focuses on understanding the levels, sources, and transformations of air pollutants. Saliba leads several environmental projects that focus on engaging the community to co-find innovative solutions to local environmental challenges. She founded the Environment Academy (EA) in 2020. She was voted among the top 100 most influential women by BBC in 2019, is the recipient of the 2019 L’Oreal-UNESCO International Award for Women in Science, the National Order of the Cedar from the President of the Lebanese Republic, the Honorary Cedar Shield from the Speaker of the Parliament of Lebanon. She was awarded the Paul Harris Fellow Pin from the Rotary Club Beirut Cedars in 2019 and in 2016 she received the Lebanese National Council for Scientific Research Award in the Environmental Category.
Dr. Nathalie Hayek
Nathalie is a research associate in analytical and atmospheric chemistry at the American University of Beirut. She received her master’s degree from the Lebanese University, and her PhD from Aix Marseille University in France. As an atmospheric chemist, she has worked on developing analytical methods to measure volatile organic compounds indoor. She has experience in atmospheric sampling and analysis of the organic composition of atmospheric aerosols and production of VOCs and secondary organic aerosols from photochemical reactions at atmospheric interfaces. In addition to identifying the emission of toxicants from electronic cigarettes, Dr. Hayeck focus in her research on understanding the chemical composition of atmospheric aerosols in polluted countries like Lebanon.
Dr. Rima Habib
Rima is a Professor of environmental, occupational, and public health (MPH, MOHS, PhD). She is also the chair of the Department of Environmental Health at the Faculty of Health Sciences, at the American University of Beirut (AUB). Habib served as the chair/co-chair of the Technical Committee on Gender and Work in the International Ergonomics Association for 9 years between 2009 and 2018. She has led research on environmental and work-related exposures and the health of displaced refugee and migrant populations. Her research highlights how the interaction between work variables, environment, and gender shapes health outcomes. Her publications have focused on the health and the living and working conditions of marginalized populations including children. Rima was awarded the Occupational Health and Safety Section’s International Award of the American Public Health Association in November 2017, and was elected a fellow of the renowned Collegium Ramazzini in 2017.
Small businesses
Dr. Lina Daouk-Oyry
Lina is an Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior at the Olayan School of Business (OSB) at the American University of Beirut and Visiting Researcher at Aalto University Finland. Lina specializes in employee assessment, development, and retention. She is specifically interested in personality and individual differences at work in relation to job variables relevant to today’s business context. Her focus is mainly in the Arab world, and the organizational context is predominantly hospitals. Daouk-Öyry has more than 15 years of experience in cross-cultural test adaptation and competency-based assessment. She was the leader of the team that developed the first model of personality in the Arab world along with its corresponding assessment tool. Daouk-Öyry’s research has appeared in several journals such as Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, International Journal of Nursing Studies, Journal of Research in Personality, and Annals of Emergency Medicine. She is also the Founding Director of the Evidence-based Healthcare Management Unit (EHMU), which is a cross-disciplinary unit based at AUB-AUBMC. Additionally, she actively engaged in consultancy for the public and private sectors in Lebanon and the region. Lina is also an activist fighting corruption and sectarianism, and calling for meritocracy, equality, and human rights.
Dr. Alain Daou
Alain is an Assistant Professor in entrepreneurship at the Olayan School of Business at the American University of Beirut. He worked for 10 years, before joining academia, with several organizations as a project manager, country manager, in house advisor and consultant in many places like Canada, Central America, Middle East and Africa. Daou completed his PhD at Laval University in Canada in 2014, and then moved to the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KU Levuven) in Belgium to complete a post-doctoral research project on social entrepreneurship. His main focus in his research is to try to understand how certain types of enterprises such as social enterprises, not-for-profit and small and medium businesses innovate, scale up and have a positive social and economic impact on stakeholders and on the society as a whole. Daou focuses on social entrepreneurship, SMEs, family business, project management, non-profit management, international development, and intellectual capital.
Team members
Mr. Houssam El Eid
Houssam has a bachelor’s degree in Marketing with more than 28 years of experience in brand and experience building and development. He was also part of the creation and growth of many successful Lebanese brands. Houssam then moved to entrepreneurship 9 years ago, where he was and still is the assistant general manager of Urbanista and YOU restaurants. El Eid is also the founding member of “Taqaddom” and lately he co-founded “Backbone” with a mission of bringing back to life and sustaining the SMEs devastated by the 4th of August Blast.
Dr. Lina Tannir
Lina is lecturer in finance at the Olayan School of Business (OSB) at the American University of Beirut. She teaches courses in corporate finance and international finance to undergraduate students. She is a specialist in micro finance and has published articles in referred journals. Tannir served as the chairperson of a leading Lebanese NGO that worked in the field of culture and education on the board of two other NGOs. She is also very active in the private sector where she served on the board of a local company in the retail industry. She also served as a mentor and juror for regional and local business plan competitions such as the MIT Pan Arab Business Plan Competition. Lina also consults and participates in workshops in the private and public sector with entrepreneurs and has developed several case studies where one of them was awarded in the MENA region. She is also a CFA charter holder with an MBA from AUB, and has over 10 years of experience in public sector reform programs.
Dr. Leila Khauli
Leila is a full time Lecturer at the Olayan School of Business at the American University of Beirut since the year 2000. She has earned her Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Bowling Green State University in 1983, then her MBA with a specialization in Econometrics in 1984. She has introduced and coordinated several highly specialized course at the School. Her main focus in her research is about how brands and organizations are adopting digital strategies in the region. She does research in Digital Transformation, Information Science and Information Systems. Khauli is also a Communication Consultant and has worked with several local and regional brands in Brand Strategy and communication. She also focuses on the creativeness of industries in Lebanon particularly the startups.
Data Analytics and Mapping Strategy
Dr. Wassim El Hajj
Wassim is an Associate Professor of Computer Science at the American University of Beirut (AUB) and Associate Dean of the Faculty of Arts & Sciences. He Chaired the Computer Science department at AUB for 6 years from 2013 to 2019. His research interests are in machine learning, wireless networks, and network security. He was awarded many research grants including major funds in 2013 and 2019 from Qatar Foundation for the amounts of $1M and $600k, respectively. His research activities culminated with more than 90 publications in reputable proceedings and journals. He also has a valuable industrial experience with Boeing and Ten Strategic Consulting.
Team members
Dr. Wissam Sammouri
Wissam is the head of the Master’s in Business Analytics (MSBA) program at the American University of Beirut with a Phd in predictive data mining and years of experience in the field. His projects have earned several international prizes including the French Tech International prize, Vivatech positive impact award in education, European Youth Award, ExpoDubai2020 grant and other. A big believer in data-driven public awareness and making information accessible to Lebanese citizens and to the public eye in general., he recently launched opendatalebanon.org, a platform that centralizes datasets, documents and files about Lebanon from already available governmental and non-governmental sources. In parallel to his previous work as CIO at a luxury apparel brand based in Paris, Wissam has been a visiting lecturer in several universities teaching Data Mining, Data-Driven Digital Marketing, Growth Hacking and E-commerce technologies, and has also been a 3-year member of the founders program at StationF, the largest startup incubator in the world, in which one of his Edtech projects resided. His fields of interest are mainly: predictive data mining, natural language processing, fake news detection, and data for social good.
Mr. Wael Itani
Wael is a licensed Engineer based in Beirut. He received has Bachelor in Mechanical Engineering from American University of Beirut (AUB), and is expected to receive his Masters in Power Engineering from Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) in 2021. In addition to his major focus area of fluid turbulence, he has experience across the spectrum in the energy field, from assessing reliability of power electronics, through analyzing turbine performance, to designing systems and preparing inventories. Apart from fluid dynamics, Itani enjoys assisting non-profits digitize their operations, and using computational tools to understand social dynamics.
Mr. Ahmad Hamandi
Ahmad is the web developer and administrator of Khaddit Beirut’s website. He is an assistant instructor and a researcher in the fields of data science, machine learning and artificial intelligence in the Department of Computer Science at the American University of Beirut (AUB). Ahmad has more than 5 years of experience in web and software development and has successfully developed dozens of websites for local and international companies.
Ms. Maria Khoury
Maria is a graduate student with a Bachelor degree in Media and Communication from the American University of Beirut (AUB). She is the editor and social media coordinator at the AUB-Nature Conservation Center. She handles communication strategies and content development. Ms. Khoury has experiences in translation, writing reports and revamping the website’s content. She also has video editing skills that she put to use when co-creating her first documentary. Currently she is handling the social media of Khaddit Beirut and working on the communication strategy.
Mr. Michele Citton
Michele holds a degree in Geology from Padova University in the year 2011. For six years, Citton worked in water and sanitation development and emergency projects as field supervisor and project manager in East Africa and Middle East (funded by the EU, UNICEF, UNHCR, and UN-OCHA). He joined the Nature Conservation Center at AUB in 2017 as a waste and water expert and conducted different projects assessing water and air pollution, mapping ecosystem services, and raising environmental awareness in schools. He has spaced different fields from Hydro-geology, Ecosystem Management and Services, to Water and Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH). Citton also managed different projects from Solid Waste Management, Environmental Impact Assessments, and M&E. Currently he is contributing for Khaddit Beirut through his support on the Geographic Information System (GIS) Management.