Meet the PiH Team

Leena El-Ali, Director

Leena El-Ali has been Director of Muslim-Western Relations and Middle East and North Africa programmes since 2005. She is the founder of SFCG's programs in Lebanon (2008) and Pakistan (2009). Leena grew up in Lebanon, England and Sierra Leone, and studied Economics at the American University of Beirut and Oxford University. In 1989, she began her working life in London where she spent over a decade as a fund manager and debt strategist in the City before turning to an entrepreneurial career. In 2005 she joined the world of "social" entrepreneurship through SFCG in Washington. Leena is bilingual in English and Arabic and also speaks French, Spanish and the Pidgin English of Sierra Leone (Krio).

Juliette Schmidt, Assistant Director

Juliette Schmidt is Assistant Director of the Partners in Humanity program. A member of the programme since 2003, she has significant experience designing and leading training workshops in the Middle East, Southeast Asia and South Asia, and is the Senior Editor of the Common Ground News Service. Juliette's prior non-profit experience includes the Lebanese Center for Policy Studies and the Forum for Development, Culture and Dialogue, both in Beirut, and she has private sector marketing and public relations experience in Canada and the UK.  Juliette holds an M.A. in International Affairs and Conflict Resolution the Elliot School of International Affairs at the George Washington University and is fluent in both English and French

Diya Agha, Managing Editor, Common Ground News Service

Diya Agha has worked at Search for Common Ground since 2007 and is a programme coordinator and managing editor of the Common Ground News Service. She oversees the commissioning and editing of original articles for CGNews and reaches out to journalists, policymakers, activists and experts to comment on Muslim-Western issues, and also is involved with developing projects for the Partners in Humanity programme. She has a BA from Boston University in Psychology and an MA from American University in Comparative and Regional Studies, with a focus on Political Islam and US Foreign Policy. She brings experience from the Salam Institute and the private sector prior to her time in Washington, DC.

Rashad Bukhari, Urdu Editor and Pakistan Advisor

Rashad Bukhari has worked at Search for Common Ground in Islamabad, Pakistan since 2007. He oversees the Urdu edition of the Common Ground News Service, and leads Partners in Humanity programmes and workshops in Pakistan, including the trainings for religious leaders and journalists. Prior to working with Search for Common Ground, he worked as a Research Coordinator at the Institute for Policy Studies and at the International Center for Religion and Diplomacy. He holds a MA Political Science from Islamia University in Bahawalpur, Pakistan.

Laurna Strikwerda, Programme Coordinator

In her role as programme coordinator for the Partners in Humanity programme, Laurna Strikwerda provides funder proposal and report writing support and oversees monitoring and evaluation for Partners in Humanity and the Common Ground News Service. She came to Search for Common Ground in 2008 from Sojourners, after spending a summer studying Arabic in Yemen. She has an MA in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Chicago, with a focus on politics in the Arab world.

Nour Awaiss, Arabic and French Commissioning and Outreach Editor, Common Ground News Service

Nour Awaiss has worked at Search for Common Ground since 2010 and is currently responsible for reaching out to authors and media outlets in the Middle East for the Common Ground News Service. Nour is fluent in Arabic, English and French and has a strong background in media. Prior to working with SFCG, Nour worked as an editor for Al Balad, a French-language newspaper in Lebanon. She holds a MA from the University of Saint Joseph in Beirut and previously conducted media research for the Swiss Embassy in Lebanon and the University of Saint Joseph.

Iwan Dzulvan Amir, Program Coordinator/Bahasa Indonesia Editor

Iwan Dzulvan Amir began working with Search for Common Ground in February 2011. He oversees the Bahasa Indonesia edition of the Common Ground News Service, and leads Partners in Humanity programmes and workshops in South East Asia. Iwan previously worked with Oxfam, the Tifa Foundation and Eye on Aceh. He has a PhD from Monash University and a Master's degree from Australian National University.

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