Afaf Bessa – A feminist Algerian woman who has been a resident of Belgium since 2010. Defying the patriarchal society and survivor of the mandatory hijab and a pedophile sexual assault, these experiences pushed her toward her feminist journey.
With the explosion of social networks, she has been using social media to talk about women, children, rights, and women’s emancipation since 2013. She contributed to platforms such as M.A.L.I of Morocco and TBD Algeria. After using her personal Facebook, she created the Radfemdz page on Instagram during the MENA women’s strike in July 2022. On her page, she shares feminist content, and anonymously, the testimonies of victims of sexual and gender-based violence.
Aliaa Awada – Managing director of “NO2TA” The Feminist Lab that focuses on transforming society through new feminist media production. Awada has a master’s degree in journalism and more than 14 years of experience in media, advocacy, and campaigning work with special knowledge of gender and child rights issues. Awada delivers training on gender-sensitive media coverage, advocacy, and digital campaigning with a special focus on social behavioral change. Awada has led nationwide campaigns in Lebanon with many national and international organizations like Save the Children, ABAAD, International Labor Organization, Oxfam, CRTDA, and Fe-Male. Awada is a feminist activist, and she is the Co-Founder of both Fe-Male and the feminist portal Sharikawalaken.
Amanda is an award-winning director and screenwriter with 13+ years of experience, specializing in captivating and thought-provoking videos. Her expertise spans various formats and edutainment shows, docu-series, and social change campaigns. Her innovative approach combines entertainment, storytelling, and design thinking, resulting in impactful content that has garnered over half a billion views among Arab audiences.
Amanda is the founder and co-CEO of Khateera (“Dangerous”), a digital platform dedicated to reshaping the narrative around Arab women. Khateera has rapidly grown, reaching over 200 million people and amassing 1.5 million followers across platforms. Amanda is dedicated to creating empowering and inspiring content, with a focus on entertainment that drives positive change.
Amani Geha is a Lebanese journalist and a media specialist working at Al Araby TV, and is a political, human rights and feminist activist. She has a Bachelor’s degree in law. She considers herself a humble warrior trying to make a significant and substantial change for a better world to live in, as she is a mother of two daughters. Her preference falls under working in digital media over the classic television media production, as she is a firm believer that digital media is a workspace closer to people.
Aya is a content creator and actress. She has been working in content creation for eight years and as a professional actress for two years now. She studied marketing at first, then moved to study theater in the Lebanese University because it has always been her passion. From that point, she decided to use her content and acting skills hand in hand in order to create real videos that express our realities through dark comedy and performing arts.
Aya Mansour is an Iraqi journalist and writer. She has a mathematics degree. She has been working in journalism since 2014, with various agencies and websites including the Iraqi Media Network/Al-Sabah newspaper, Al-Jazeera Net, VICE Arabia, Daraj Media, and others. Her work focuses on Iraqi women within Iraqi society, by conveying their stories and struggles. She has also written a play titled “Invisible,” which was presented at the Academy of Fine Arts in Berlin, Germany, in 2016. Aya has also published four literary works that explore the concept of wars in Iraq. She has contributed to seminars and lectures on writing and journalism at several universities, including Lyon University, Nice University, the American University in Iraq, Istanbul Şehir University, and others.
Bisan is a content creator and a community and youth activist from Gaza -Palestine. She volunteers in many local and international teams and institutions. She has a business management degree. She works as a trainer in the field of advocacy, debates, and twenty-first-century skills, in addition to her work in digital content creation.
Through her work, Bisan seeks to empower youth and women, deliver their messages to the world, and build community awareness.
A Lebanese journalist and documentary producer/director with almost 33 years of experience in media and gender. Diana had covered hot zones in Lebanon, Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen and many more, where she shot more than 50 hours of documentaries, tackling socio-political issues in the MENA/Arab region and globally. They cover topics such as gender issues, minorities and human interest stories, among others. In 1993 Diana began her career as a general news reporter at Future TV. In 1999, she launched a documentary series called “Bil Ain Almujaradah”, covering hot political and social topics in conflict zones. In 2017, Diana along with two other founders launched Daraj.com; an independent media platform addressing controversial issues that are underreported in the Arab region. Diana is also a columnist and a media & gender trainer. Education: graduated from Lebanese University in 1991 (Faculty of Journalism)
Dina Zaitoun, an Egyptian visual artist and illustrator known as “Artopathic,” she uses her art to empower women, raise awareness, and combat gender-based violence.
After graduating from dentistry college, Dina pursued her passion for art, transitioning from traditional mediums to digital art, comics, and animations. Her works feature bold colors intentionally contrasted with her serious content.
Dina’s artistic journey has involved campaigns on sexual health, female genital mutilation (FGM), combating violence, and women’s rights. She collaborated with organizations like UNFPA, love matters platform, and CARE for Development.
Doja Daoud is a journalist, researcher, activist, and a human rights defender based in Beirut.
Through her 13 years of experience, Daoud worked as an editor, reporter, and writer in multiple media outlets in Lebanon and the MENA region, during which she focused on press freedom, women’s issues, and human rights in general.
In 2019, Daoud co-founded the Alternative Press Syndicate, a body that aims to protect journalists, defend their rights, and promote press freedom. From 2022, Daoud worked as the Levant correspondent for the Committee to Protect Journalists, and a Lebanon correspondent for Reporters Without Borders. She also continued her work in journalism, writing articles about media and women, managing content for the Syrian initiative Warsheh for Documentation and Advocacy, and hosting a women focused podcast, Khilqit Binit, produced by Hakawati. As a researcher, Daoud highlighted the reality and dangers of working in journalism in Lebanon, in a paper published in May, titled “Press Freedom in Lebanon: A Battle on the Margins”.
Elham Barjas, holder of a Master’s degree in Public Law. Her academic background is reflected in her work in journalism and in the field of public policies. She is a feminist political activist, with a focus on changing fundamental legal and political structures.
Elia Ghorbiah, a distinguished Palestinian journalist and accomplished content creator, boasts a decade of on-the-ground experience. With a keen grasp of emerging social media platforms, she’s a creative storyteller fervently, dedicated to shaping the future of media. Currently, she excels as a presenter and content producer at AJ+ Arabic, a part of the Al Jazeera Media Network. Previously at AJ Contrast, Al Jazeera’s immersive storytelling studio, she focused on crafting 360º videos and virtual reality content. Elia’s background includes freelance field production and video journalism based in Palestine, delivering compelling narratives for AJ+, Al Jazeera English, BBC, Middle East Eye, ZoomIn TV, Deutsche Welle, and others.
Eman Sobhy is an Egyptian girl who is an experienced Search Engine Optimization executive, she
holds a degree in communications and education. She decided to take on the mission to explore answers to 1000 what if questions, while tackling the social issues that face Arabs youth and youngsters. Mental health, patriarchy system, history and social science are the spectrum of what if show. In just two years, Eman, with her show, achieved over 550 million views, and managed to reserve a special place for her among the most influential social media channels in Egypt and the Arab world
Farah is a Senior Program Manager at Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung’s regional Political Feminism project in MENA. Through her work, Farah focuses on the re-politicization of feminist movements and the integration of intersectional feminist perspectives into discourses related to the most pressing socio-economic and political challenges facing the region. Farah has an MSc in Project Management and a background in communications.
Fatma Ibrahim is an Egyptian feminist, PhD researcher in Feminist Political Economy, examining the financial livelihood of refugee women in the United Kingdom, and an associate fellow of the British Higher Education Academy. She is the Founder and Executive Director of The Sex Talk Arabic initiative, a Human Rights Award-winning organization tackling issues of sexual violence in Arabic-speaking societies through education, advocacy and service provision. The initiative’s social media platforms aim at deconstructing social taboos and normalizing ‘The Talk’ around sex, sexualities, sexual health and rights by providing positive, inclusive and accessible sex education in Arabic.
Gehad Hamdy is the founder and manager of Speak Up, a leading Egyptian feminist initiative against sexual harassment and gender-based violence. She holds a Bachelor of Dental Surgery.
Gehad’s work focuses on breaking the cycle of violence against women in Egypt. She was named one of BBC 100’s most influential women in the world in 2022, and is the winner of the 2022 Social Change Maker of the Year in Gender Gold Award by The Stevie Awards, The Changemaker and The Humanitarian awards by Women SME Leaders Awards by Entrepreneur Middle East, the winner of the International Humanitarian award at Women4Africa, was a finalist for the Women Empowerment Award by Africa Women Innovation & Entrepreneurship Forum (AWIEF), and a finalist for the Equal Rights and Non-Discrimination award at the World Justice Forum 2022.”
Ghida Anani is the Founder & Director of ABAAD – Resource Centre for Gender Equality, a leading CSO in the region, advocating for gender equality. Ghida is putting in place the infrastructure for a sustainable system of protection against gender-based violence. She engages stakeholders that others avoid or fight: men, parliamentarians and ministries, and religious leaders. She has led a number of public opinion campaigns, notably the #Undress522 which resulted in a historical parliamentary vote, repealing Article 522 – the infamous ‘’rape-marriage’’ law – from the Lebanese Penal Code. In 2019, the campaign received the first prize “UN SDG Action Award” for the most impactful campaign globally. As an expert in GBV and Child Protection, Ghida has published a number of studies, articles, training kits and community educational materials on GBV & Child Sexual Abuse in Lebanon and the MENA region. She has also dedicated some of her time teaching at the Faculty of Public Health at the Lebanese University.
Haneen Saleh is a podcast producer at Sowt. She earned a BA in Radio Broadcasting from
Birzeit University. She was formerly a communication officer at The Palestinian Museum and other cultural initiatives. Her work focuses on the intersection of cultural practices and social justice. In 2021, Haneen was awarded the British Museum Fellowship for International Training Program.
Henda Chennaoui is a political and feminist activist, journalist and sociology researcher. She played an active role in the Tunisian revolution. She organised and
participated in the organisation of several movements over the last 13 years in Tunisia against police violence, judicial repression, social injustice, sexism and racism such as Manich Msamah.a, Chaml, Fech Nestanaw, Falgatna and the Anti-Fascist Front. In 2019, she made the first feminist video series in Tunisia on the platform look.tm. In 2020, she found the first intersectional feminist school in Tunisia in homage to the great revolutionary figure Lina Ben Mhenni.
Imène Amara, an Algerian-French feminist activist, holds a master’s degree in architectural engineering from both the University of Blida and the Clermont-Ferrand School. Additionally, she has earned a master’s degree in geography and environmentally sustainable planning from the University of Limoges. In addition to her academic achievements, Emman has delved into the fields of history, sociology, and law.
Her expertise lies in research and writing, focusing on gender-related issues, women’s rights, minority rights, and issues related to sexuality within the North Africa and Southwest Asia region. Emman actively contributes as a volunteer member to Gender Wiki and is particularly dedicated to documenting the history of women in Algeria.
Her work has been published across various platforms, including “Towards Feminist Awareness,” “Sharika Wa Laken,” “Al Joumhouriya,” “My Kali,” and others. Emman is also an active presence on social media, where she goes by the pseudonym ” the Cats Lady.”
Maya El Ammar is a feminist writer, journalist, activist and communications professional who has led nationwide feminist media campaigns on issues related to family violence, child marriage, sexual exploitation, personal status laws and the kafala system, among other topics. She currently contributes to various independent media outlets as a journalist, editor, and translator. She has been producing, since 2018, short opinion videos covering a range of feminist issues, alongside her job as a media strategist for a non-profit organization. Maya also has experience training civil society organizations and young activists in the fields of gender and media. She has a BA in journalism and an MA in communication studies. More recently, in 2023, she co-authored a research paper titled “Bridging the Gaps: Feminist Perspectives on Policymaking and Women’s Political Participation in Lebanon.”
Mayssaloun Nassar is a French- Lebanese journalist. She worked for multiple Pan-Arab TV channels and production companies in several Arab countries as documentary producer and copywriter, as well as production manager.
Early 2011, she joined France 24 TV station in Paris as news editor. Later, she was appointed as special envoy in several regions around the world (MENA, Europe, Africa and USA) to cover political, economic and sports events.
In October 2014, she started hosting a weekly TV show “The 51% – Hiya Al Hadath” (12 minutes) about women rights, empowerment and gender equality. In addition to “Hiya Al Hadath”, she launched late 2015 “Fi Falak Al Mamnou’”, a bimonthly talk show (45 minutes) that tackles social, religious and political Taboos. In 2018, she became Head of programs in France Medias Monde group.
Mohammed Shamma is an editorial manager for Canal France International CFI’s Middle East program (QARIB). Shamma is a human rights journalist with 20 years of experience and a Jordan correspondent for Reporters Without Borders (RSF). He worked for the Canadian NGO Journalists for Human Rights (JHR) as a content manager for 7 years. Over the past 20 years, Shamma has produced and presented several radio programs, documentaries and online reports on human rights for Amman-based Al-Balad radio and several news websites. He has also written numerous articles on the role of law for the Lebanese magazine Legal Agenda and has trained over 600 Arab journalists from all over the Arab world.
Mozn Senan has been a content creator for 5 years shedding light on the challenges faced by Yemeni society through social media. She holds a business management degree.
She worked as social media specialist and content writer in 4 different effective institutions in
developing and raising awareness: SMEPS, YWT, Etreek24 and Mwtana.
She is also a founding member of the Yemeni Identity Campaign, which was created as a reaction to the arbitrary laws against the dress code of Yemeni women and aims to promote their identity and support their issues. She seeks to make a real impact on raising women’s awareness regarding their rights, and to be a clear and independent voice that conveys their sufferings to the world.
Nada Abdelsamad, a veteran journalist and senior trainer with almost 35 years of experience in broadcast, digital, and print media, holds a Doctorate degree from City University London focused on the role of sectarian media in increasing sectarianism and destabilizing divided societies. Beginning her fieldwork in 1985 during her country’s civil war, she notably covered conflicts and wars. She was an early presence in post-Saddam Iraq, including Mosul and Kirkuk after his fall. Her bestselling book on Lebanon’s Jewish community earned her the Prix méditerranéen du journalisme and Anna Linth Journalist Award. In 2011, she received the Cutting Edge Award at the International Media Awards in London. Shifting her focus to long-form programs in 2012, Nada hosted a groundbreaking show challenging stereotypes about women’s representation on television, involving over 500 women from the Arab world.
Nedal Adham, from Egypt, is a culture content creator and feminist activist. She graduated as a dentist and is currently completing her master degree in development and gender studies.
She is the creator of the Youtube Channel “Nedal Reads”, since June 2015, which has more than 328,000 followers and presents summaries of a variety of books. She has since then taken part in many Ted Talks and Podcasts focusing on women’s potentials.
Nour Emam is the co-founder & CEO of Motherbeing, a healthtech company that is transforming women’s healthcare in the region, by providing hybrid healthcare services through its flagship clinic in Cairo, as well as digital healthcare plans that cater to every stage of a woman’s life. Their mission is to deliver safe, widely accessible, culture-centric and judgment-free care to all women. Motherbeing has over 2.7 million followers across social media, has been featured in the New York Times and was #1 on Apple Podcasts in the MENA region for its two seasons show “The Motherbeing Podcast”.
Rana Khoury, Executive Creative Director and Social Entrepreneur, is behind most of the gender equality award winning campaigns coming out from the Arab region.
Her work has won many international awards amongst which 21 Cannes Lions, but also from D&AD, EPICA, EFFIES, CAPLES, LYNX to name a few. She also served in local, regional and international juries.
She has dedicated the last years of her career to campaigns that would bring real change on the ground, and many of those she worked on have had a huge impact on the community in both Lebanon and the region and contributed to real change on institutional levels.
Khoury also taught at the American University of Beirut a Creative Writing class for Media and Communication.
Rasha Hilwi is a Palestinian writer, mother of twin girls, journalist, editor in chief of Raseef22, DJ, storyteller, feminist and cultural activist. She was born and raised in the city of Akka and now based in Amsterdam.
Rawaa Auge is a Lebanese journalist, presenter at Al Jazeera Media network since 2014, blogger and content creator. She holds a master’s degree in geopolitics from Paris8 university, and a master’s degree in Mass communication from balamand University. Currently presenting podcast “Baad Ams” for Al Jazeera, and podcast “Lana” for Doha debates. She is also working on the launch of a new tv program for Al Jazeera AJ360 platform, related to children of wars. Previously produced and hosted an award-winning show about arab women, called “بكسر التاء” aired on Al Jazeera arabic tv channel. She presented news with Al Jazeera and previously with france24, and writes with Al Araby Al Jadeed newspaper. She is also a media trainer in the field of TV, presenting, building human stories, and public speaking. Her field work covered many countries, including: Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq, Somalia, Central African republic, Libya, Bosnia.
She is a feminist journalist, editor, and political science researcher from Tunisia. She studied at the School of Journalism and then pursued a Master’s degree in Political Science in Tunisia. She wrote her Master’s thesis on sexual work in Tunisia and started working on her doctoral thesis on penal institutions. However, she left academia after five years due to its stagnation and bureaucracy.
She has been working as a journalist and editor for 13 years, and from the beginning, she has been interested in working on the margins and exploring unofficial history through a feminist lens. She worked as an editor for the JEEM website, which specializes in gender and sexuality issues. She writes and edits independently with various independent media institutions such as Al-Jumhouriya.net and the Counter Academy for Arabe Journalism.
Salam is a content producer who creates interactive, informative & fun scientific content. She aims to make science more accessible in the Arab world. Even though she couldn’t get an official higher education & a university degree, she managed to educate herself about science and spread her knowledge to hundreds of thousands of people on social media.
Sanaa Khoury is a Lebanese journalist. She studied French literature and journalism at the Lebanese University. She’s an active feminist commentator on social media and is interested in all matters related to cats. Since 2008, she has worked with and contributed to several Arab newspapers and websites, starting from the newspapers “Al-Akhbar” and “Al-Safir,” to “Vice Arabia,” “7ibr,” and “Raseef 22.” She currently works with BBC News as a reporter and writer for Arabic Online.
Tala Elissa is the Editor in Chief at Khateera. She is interested in exploring interlocked areas between Journalism and Social Sciences. Before joining Khateera, Tala was the Managing Producer at Sowt Podcasts where she produced early seasons of “Blank Maps”, “Eib” and “Matryoshka”. She has also worked at Wamda, Reuters, 7iber and Amman Net. She holds a BA degree in Journalism and an MA degree in Socio-Cultural Anthropology. Her previous work can be found at: www.talaelissa.com.
Wardé Bou Daher is a Lebanese psychologist and social activist dedicating her career and life to break social and psychological taboos in the language she loves most: Arabic. This is done through workshops, social media, and the podcast she hosts “Taboo”. She was chosen to host a mental health show on Anghami for Mental Health Awareness Month. She is known for how passionate, simple, and natural she is on her platforms. This made her content reachable for Arabic speakers all over the world. She is a graduate from the American University of Beirut and the University of Nottingham. Her main area of expertise is sexual exploitation and abuse.
Yara is the Program Manager of the Women Economic Empowerment program with UN Women – Lebanon office. She has an MA in Political Science from the Lebanese University, and after graduation she worked with Lebanese Association for Democratic Elections (LADE) on different projects from 2005 and served as LADE’s Executive Director from January 2009 until June 2017. During her work at LADE, Yara worked across the region, training on a range of gender and governance issues. Between July 2017 and October 2020, Yara worked with the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) Lebanon as a Senior Program Manager overseeing projects on gender equality, national socio-economic growth and governance in Lebanon.
Zaina Erhaim is an award-winning journalist and feminist working as a media and gender consultant with different organizations in the Arab region. She has an MA in International Journalism from City University of London.
Zaina contributed to five books related to journalism and women, including ‘Our Women on the Ground’. She is on the board of The New Humanitarian, and a judge in the Press Freedom Awards of the Reporters Without Borders.
Zeina Abdel Khalik – Executive director of the Doria Feminist fund – Lebanon
Zeina is a feminist and human rights advocate. She has a BS in Biology and Masters in Public Health from The American University of Beirut. She is a certified gender trainer from KIT University- Amsterdam and has been working in the field of women’s rights and gender equality for the past 15 years. She is a development and gender expert with solid experience in programming, policy work, research and organizational development in critical areas related to gender mainstreaming, GBV, promoting women’s participation in the decision-making spheres and strengthening feminist movements. She is currently the Executive of Doria Feminist Fund, the first feminist fund from the MENA region and the Co-Chair of the NGOCSW Arab States Caucus.