Meet Our Board Members

Youssef Sfeir, attorney at law and member of the Beirut Bar Association, he is a legal advisor for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent.  He is a professional mediator at the Centre De Mediation Professionelle at the University of Saint Joseph (USJ).

Sfeir is a grassroots civil society activist: he is a Lebanese Red Cross board member heading the planning and development department. As a member of the Lebanese Association for Democratic Elections (LADE) he was the observers’ coordinator for the Kesserwen district in the 2009 parliamentary elections, 2010 municipal elections and 2011 teachers’ syndicate elections.  Sfeir is an expert in election processes and campaigning, he is a lecturer on human rights and international humanitarian law and a professional trainer in leadership, planning and good governance.  He founded kesserwen.org, a website that promotes the work of civil society and development in the Kesserwen district.

Sfeir holds an MA in international affairs and diplomacy from Notre Dame University (NDU), BA in Lebanese law and BA in general law from the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik (USEK).

Chafic Daoud is a business developer and entrepreneur; he started his own business at the age of 21, competing with well-established advertising agencies in Lebanon.  He currently consults for major regional broadcasting stations in TV program production and development.  Daoud is a committed community service activist, he volunteered for over five years for St. Vicent de Paul working with elderly and the disadvantaged.

He joined MEPI-LAA in 2013 through the “One Voice Can Change” MEPI funded program.

Daoud holds a BS in mechanical engineering from the University of Balamand.

Randa Yassir is a parliamentary candidate for the 2013 elections.  She is an advocacy and media specialist with more than 15 years of experience as an editor, anchor, journalist and consultant in the fields of media, communication, advocacy, training and projects design and management.  Yassir joined the United Nations Information Center (UNIC) in 2011, after which she directed SAMRT Center, a Civil Society Organization she founded in 2007.

Yassir joined MEPI-LAA in 2011 and was elected vice president for the 2011-2014 term.  She was reappointed to the board for the 2014-2017 term.
Yassir holds a BA in Journalism from the Lebanese University. She was awarded the MEPI Leaders for Democracy Fellowship at Syracuse University in 2010.

Omar Kabbara is a project engineer in his own engineering firm and is an agent for Magma Paints and Waterproofing Company.  He was president of the Tripoli Youth Parliament (2010), a MEPI funded youth forum.  He is currently the Youth Forum treasurer, and instructor at the Tripoli Official Technical Institute.  Kabbara is also a founding member of the Emergency Body of Tripoli.  He developed the magazine of engineers of the Lebanese University (Tripoli Branch), which he edited until 2012.

Kabbara holds an MA and diploma in civil engineering from the Lebanese University.

Dolly Choucair is attorney at law and member of the Beirut Bar Association.  She is a senior associate at Alem and Associates law firm and head of its aviation practice.  She has more than 14 years of experience in business law, NGO governance, management and legal structuring.  She trained and mentored a number of civil society activists in Lebanon and the MENA region and is currently launching her rule of law initiative www.askdolly.org.  Choucair is a human rights advocate reforming personal freedom laws and supporting trafficking victims, women and children.  One of the founders of MEPI-LAA, Choucair helped incorporate more than 20 NGOs since 2000, she received the title of Arab Business Leader in 2011, and was bestowed the title of Community Ambassador in 2012.  Choucair is featured among the top 40 Lebanese Female Role Models in the UNESCO Career Guidance from Grassroots (2013).

Choucair holds an executive MBA from Duke University, an MA in comparative law from La Sagesse University, a BA in law from Saint Joseph University (USJ) and a BA in fine arts from the Lebanese University.

Dima Zeidan is the curriculum development manager at GEOprojects Education where she works with various ministries of education across the Arab region.  Zeidan manages the development of diverse curricula that range from “character education” to “Arabic as a foreign language”.  She authors and trains on bullying, good citizenship, responsibility and engagement.

She is a laureate of several prestigious scholarships such as the Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant (FLTA) (2008), the Franklin Scholarship (2008) and the International Institute for Political and Economic Studies Fellowship (2007).  She is a member of MEPI-LAA since 2011 and attended the MEPI Student Leaders Program in 2006.

Zeidan holds an MSc in applied linguistics and second language acquisition from the University of Oxford and a BA in education from the American University of Beirut (AUB), where she was the recipient of the Educator’s award.

Mazen Kadi is a program officer at Caritas Lebanon Migrant Center.  He worked as a public policy advisor for a Member of Parliament and as the Mount Lebanon coordinator with the Youth Economic Forum.  Kadi previously worked for Search for Common Ground Lebanon as a project coordinator for a regional program.  He was the Shadow Minister of Culture (2008) with Nahar Al-Shabab shadow cabinet program funded by MEPI.  Kadi joined MEPI-LAA in 2011 and served as a board member for the 2011-2014 term.  He was re-appointed in this position for the 2014-2017 term.

Kadi holds a BA in international affairs and diplomacy from the Notre Dame University (NDU).

Josephine Zgheib is a parliamentary candidate for the 2013 elections and board member of the city council of Kfardebian since 2010.  As a local woman leader she developed and implemented an environmental and ecotourism program in collaboration with USAID and launched a women’s development prototype bureau in her city and now expended it to 12 bureaus across Lebanon.

Zgheib is a young social entrepreneur. After a two-year trip touring 45 countries by foot, she founded in 2004 Auberge Beity, a hostel for youth and an incubator for activists in social development and rural tourism.  Zgheib is a board member of the Lebanese Youth Hostel Federation since 2009.  She is the vice president of the Arab affiliated Network for Social Accountability (ANSA), a network of activists from seven MENA countries funded by the World Bank.

She joined MEPI-LAA in 2013 through the “One Voice Can Change” MEPI funded program.

Zgheib holds a BA physical therapy from the Notre Dame of Lebanon Paramedical University.

Marwan Abdallah is the co-founder of Rachana Foundation (RF).  In the absence of a local government, RF is setting up a plan for sustainable development for the village of Rachana, renowned worldwide for its artistic image and bestowed by UNESCO as the world’s capital for open air sculpting.

He is a co-founder of the EDGE for Lebanon NGO which mission is to advance grass rooted, sustainable social development in targeted local communities, educational and governmental institutions throughout Lebanon.  Abdallah is a Community Ambassador for 2013.  He is a member of MEPI-LAA since 2011 and attended the MEPI Student Leaders Program in 2009 and the MEPI-COMM in 2011.

Abdallah holds an MA in diplomacy and strategic negotiations from La Sagesse University and a BA in international affairs and political science from the Lebanese American University (LAU).

Issa is the public relations and grassroots manager at the Lebanese Transparency Association (LTA), and program manager of the civic education program at Freidrich Nauman, Beirut. Issa is the founder and former chairman of the Network of Social Accountability in the Arab world (ANSA) and a member of the Committee on Global Participation and Social accountability in the World Bank (GPSA).  He is also a regional expert on anti corruption issues. He led the observers’ team during the Lebanese parliamentary elections in 2009.

Issa holds a Ph.D. in Anthropological Economics from the Lebanese University, and an MA in Sociology-Urban Anthropology.

Nada Hamzeh lectures at La Sagesse University on social media strategies for non-profits and is the member of the online safety committee at the Ministry of Social Affairs. She is a master trainer in capacity building, social media strategy and business development and has over 16 years of experience in public relations and communication.

Hamzeh worked for international organizations such as the Institute of International Education (IIE), IREX, and Management Systems International (MSI).  She directed the MEPI funded Women In Technology program which empowered over 1000 women through IT and business skills for which she was awarded the Women Empowerment ICT award in 2010. Hamzeh supported and mentored over 250 nonprofit organizations in Lebanon on various media issues.  She joined MEPI-LAA in 2011 and was elected board member for the 2011-2014 term.  She was reappointed for the same position for the 2014-2017 term.

Hamzeh holds a BA in public relations and enterprises from the Saint Joseph University (USJ).