Layla Al-Zubaidi
Director

Layla Al-Zubaidi has been the Director of the Heinrich Böll Foundation’s Middle East Office in Beirut since November 2006. She specializes in media and culture, as well as development and globalization issues. She previously served as Program Manager at the Beirut Office and at the hbs Arab Middle East Office in Ramallah, where she managed a regional women’s rights project supported by the European Commission. Prior to that she was a fellow of the Postgraduate Program in International Affairs. She worked and researched for several media, cultural and development institutions such as the German Federal Commissioner for Cultural Affairs and the Media, Deutsche Welle and the German Society for Technical Cooperation (GTZ). Layla Al-Zubaidi studied Ethnology, Middle Eastern Studies and Archaeology in Germany and the US and holds an Masters degree from Freie Universität Berlin.

Doreen Khoury
Program Manager

Doreen Khoury worked as a senior researcher and elections specialist at the Lebanese Centre for Policy Studies (LCPS)in Beirut from 2006 till 2008, and served as executive director of the Lebanese Association for Democratic Elections from 2004 till 2006. She specializes in elections, governance and anti-corruption issues. She has a B.A. in Political Studies from the American University of Beirut and an M.A. in International Affairs from the Lebanese American University. Doreen Khoury joined the Middle East Office of hbs in February 2009.

Hiba Haidar
Administrative Coordinator

Hiba Haidar completed her Bachelor Degree in Business Administration in 1986 at the College of Financial and Economic Sciences "Dr. Scandar's Hall" in Beirut. Beginning in 1987 she was in charge of external relations and administration at   "Amel Association", a local NGO and worked as financial & administrative officer at a regional Arab organization "Arab Resource Collective" (ARC), and at a project for UNDP in Baalbeck, she worked also as Assistant Information officer for  UNICEF. In 2004, Hiba Haidar  worked for three months as Polling Officer for the municipal elections in Beirut, before joining the Heinrich Böll Foundation Middle East Office as Administrative Coordinator in August 2004.

Anbara Abu-Ayyash
Program Manager

Anbara Abu-Ayyash has a professional background as a Monitoring and Evaluation Analyst for democratic governance programs at the UNDP Iraq Country Office. She previously served as a Human Rights Officer at the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq where the focus of her work was the implementation of a nation-wide program promoting human rights, and supporting both the Iraqi civil society and Iraqi government institutions in anchoring human rights principles into their respective programs and into their organizational and operational structures. During her studies at the University of Hamburg in Germany she worked as a Research Assistant at the Institute of Economic Growth. She graduated from the same university earning her master’s degree in economics with a special focus on development economics and development policies. Anbara Abu-Ayyash joined the Heinrich Boell Foundation’s Middle East Office in November 2009.

Corinne Deek
Finance Coordinator

Corinne Deek completed her Bachelor studies in Agricultural Sciences in 2000 at the American University of Beirut and continued her postgraduate studies to earn a Master degree in Ecosystem Management in 2003. Since 1998, she worked for the Lebanese Environmental NGO - Green Line as Executive and Project officer. Corinne Deek joined the Heinrich Böll Foundation Middle East Office in June 2004 as a finance coordinator. In addition to her duties as financial coordinator, she is assisting in planning and implementing activities within the Sustainable Development Program of the office.

Mohamed Atowi
Webmaster

Mohammad Atowi is a Computer Engineer, and a Civil Society activist with special interest in movements looking for alternative forms of  globalization. Mohammad Atowi joined the Middle East Office in August 2007.