The Policy Initiative - Team

Dr. Sami Atallah is the Founding Director of The Policy Initiative. He is trained in economics and political science, and was the director of the Lebanese Center for Policy Studies from January 2011 till December 2020. He led several policy studies on political and social sectarianism, the performance of parliament, government monitoring, electoral behavior, the role of municipalities in dealing with the Syrian refugee crisis, municipal finance, economic diversification and industrial policy, and oil and gas governance. He has several policy and academic publications. He is the editor of Towards Achieving a Transparent and Accountable National Budget in Lebanon (Beirut: LCPS 2013), co-editor of Local Governments and Public Goods: Assessing Decentralization in the Arab World (with Mona Harb, Beirut: LCPS 2015), co-editor of Hollowing out the Lebanese Parliament (2009-2017) (with Nayla Geagea, Beirut: LCPS 2018), and co-editor of The Future of Oil in Lebanon: Energy, Politics, and Economic Growth (with Bassam Fattouh, I.B. Tauris 2020). In addition to his research, Atallah served on the committee established by the Lebanese prime minister to draft a decentralization law and participated in the deliberations of the parliamentary committee which reviewed the draft law. He holds an MA in International and Development Economics from Yale University, an MA in Quantitative Methods from Columbia University, and a PhD in Politics from New York University.

Akl Al Kassouf is the Finance Manager at The Policy Initiative. His work focuses on performing daily financial activities that offer management insights and guidance to make the best financial decisions. His work includes preparing all financial reports, setting up budgets, cost analysis, revenue management, and overseeing the center's accounting operations to maintain the organization's financial health.  Akl previously worked as a Financial and Accounting Consultant for multiple entities including Non-Profit Organizations. He holds an IFRS Certification from The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA, London), a B.A. in Accounting from the American University of Culture and Education, and a T.S. in Accounting from Notre-Dame de la Consolata.

Nadim El Kak is a Political Sociologist at The Policy Initiative. He leads research projects on Lebanon's growing landscape of anti-establishment actors, with an aim to make empirical knowledge on political alternatives publicly available and more nuanced. Previously, Nadim worked at the Lebanese Center for Policy Studies, where he studied sectarian politics, the 2018 parliamentary elections, collective actions, and alternative political groups. He also helped found the Alternative Frequencies podcast, which he co-hosted and produced. Since 2019, Nadim's work has been published in the New Middle Eastern Studies journal as well as by Jadaliyya, openDemocracy, The Public Source, Arab Reform Initiative, FES-Lebanon, and the Asfari Institute amongst others. He’s also the author of a book chapter on Lebanon's alternative labor movement in a forthcoming edited volume titled “The Lebanon Uprising of 2019: Voices from the Revolution” to be published by I.B. Tauris and Bloomsbury. Nadim holds a double BA in Political Science and Middle Eastern Studies from Amherst College and is completing his MA in Sociology at the American University of Beirut. His academic research focuses on the interplay between (counter)revolutions, neoliberal rationality, and radical political imaginaries.

Hind Khaled is the Strategic Communication and Advocacy lead at The Policy Initiative. She aims to support the effective dissemination of the critical research content produced by TPI to strengthen public policy debates and advocate for evidence-based decision-making in a way that is accessible, intelligible, and suitable for Lebanese policymakers and civil society actors. Previously, her work focused on socio-political communication, editorial strategies, cross-cultural communication, and crisis and corporate communication. Hind also worked in multiple local and regional news outlets, consulted for UN agencies, notably UN-ESCWA, and headed social and political advertising campaigns for governmental and non-governmental entities in Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan, and Oman. She produced extended news packages for the coverage of presidential and parliamentary elections held between 2014 and 2019 in Lebanon, Iraq, Iran, France, and the United States. Hind is trained in Communication Design at the City University of New York and has been providing pro-bono communication and advocacy support for activist groups in Lebanon since 2005.

Ibrahim Mantoufi is a Senior Art Director and Producer at The Policy Initiative. His work centers around translating data and written research into visual and digital content to be used on different dissemination platforms. He has an extensive design repertoire working with different multinational agencies, specializing his work in marketing and advertising and holds a BA in Graphic Design from the Lebanese University, and an MA in Design from the University of New South Wales, Sydney.

Suzan Massaad Sfeir is the Project and Administrative Assistant at The Policy Initiative. Her work focuses on all the administrative work, including updating the website and disseminating all publications. She is also in charge of conferences, coordinating with participants, and works closely with the accounting department. Suzan previously worked at the Lebanese Center for Policy Studies as the center’s project and administrative assistant, and at the Middle East publications as executive secretary. She holds an executive secretary degree from the Young Women Christian Association.

Sami Zoughaib is an Economist and Research Manager at The Policy Initiative. His research focuses on Lebanon's political economy, governance structures, macroeconomics, and local economic development. In addition to managing the research team, he also coordinates and conceptualizes TPI's research projects. Prior to joining TPI, Sami was a researcher at the Lebanese Center for Policy Studies, where he led and worked on several projects related to international donor conferences, parliamentary elections, and monitoring legislative production and reform. In addition to his affiliate platforms, Sami's research has been published in Governance, Economic Research Forum, openDemocracy, L'Orient-Le Jour, L'Orient Today, Annahar, and Al-Akhbar. Sami holds an M.A. in Public Policy from the University of Reading and a B.A. in Economics from the American University of Beirut.

Najib Zoghaib is a Data Officer and Researcher at The Policy Initiative. He supports the research and communications teams with data collection, analysis, and project management. He has contributed to TPI’s research on Lebanon’s financial crisis, foreign aid, elections, and the recovery of the Beirut port. Najib is also responsible for mapping Lebanon’s legislative output, tracking the progress on macroeconomic reforms, and updating the Financial Crisis Dashboard. He holds a B.S in Banking and Finance and a minor in Data Analytics from the Lebanese American University.