Network
A number of talented people are no longer with the VP team, but deserve credit for the substantial contributions they have made to our past work.
Also, check out our current team or our previous team.
Hani Asfour
Design Partner
Hani is an architect and a creative thought leader with twenty years of experience. A graduate of MIT and Harvard, Hani is a founding partner of Polypod, a multidisciplinary award-winning studio in Beirut offering integrated design services in web development, information design, graphic design, branding, architecture and interior design.
Philippe Ghabayen
Designer
Philippe's experience has been very varied in the past three years; coming from a background in multimedia, working for a production house, and then finding himself in art direction was a tough but smooth ride. He is detail oriented, resourceful and efficient, he works best with competitive/driven people.
Marwa Boukarim
Designer
Marwa Boukarim is a Lebanese visual and web design professional currently based in Milan, Italy. She is also an aspiring front-end web developer.
Danny Khoury
Designer
Danny is an experimental graphic designer, specialized in print: branding, packaging, and product design; involved in web design, animation, installation, photomontage, and illustration; and interested in architecture, music, and cinematography.
He believes that design is not a commercial end in itself, but rather an experimental process to establish and to communicate to people visually compelling brand identities and forms, which in turn attract the mind of the viewer in a consumer world.
Julia Tierney
Researcher
Julia is a researcher with Visualizing Impact and a doctoral student in urban planning at the University of California, Berkeley. She is writing her dissertation about security and the struggle for public space in Beirut. She brings a public scholarship perspective to her work with Visualizing Impact, bridging detailed research with policies oriented towards social justice. She previously worked on urban development programs with the World Bank in Brazil.
Leena Barakat
San Francisco Chapter Lead
Leena is working at the intersection of social impact, business development and project management.She is passionate about both identifying and advancing innovative solutions to social justice issues around the world.
With over 8 years experience in the non-profit segment and working with a number social enterprise start-ups, she now works with various organizations to help define their strategy, develop their business/programming, and manage their projects to achieve lasting, positive social impact objectives.
Shireen Tawil
Researcher
Shireen is a consultant, researcher, and human rights activist with a Masters in Public Health from Columbia University. Her work has focused on the intersections of human rights violations and mental health in protracted conflict, and reproductive health issues in marginalized communities. She has worked with NGOs in the US and Lebanon on domestic and regional public health issues, as well as with several UN bodies. Her published work includes academic research and social commentary. (Profile updated 2017).
Anna Ogden Smith
Designer
Born in Beirut in 1984, Anna Ogden-Smith graduated with a BA in Graphic Design from the American University of Beirut in 2006. She pursued a Masters Degree in Visual Communication at the Royal College of Art. In parallel to her professional design practice, her recent work as a visual artist experiments with several mediums crafted around specific narratives that aim to engage the audience through different modes of reading. She has been exploring the theme of “Boredom" that takes shape in an academic research as well as a visual project in the summer of 2013. Her work has been part of collective exhibitions and screenings at the Royal College of Art in London, UK in 2012. Her videos “The Dream (1989-1994)” and “The Lie (1994)” were shown at the New Museum in New York, 2011 as part of the Beirut Art Center screening program “Closer”. They were also shown at the Musée du Jeu de Paume, Paris, Haus Der Kulturen Der Welt, Berlin and Reine Sofia National Museum, Madrid in 2008 as part of the “Rencontres Internationales”. She has performed “Iconoclast Scriptures” at the New Player’s Theater in London in 2006. She designed the art book “ A Lost Summer, Postcards from Lebanon” published by Saqi Books in 2007.
Diala Lteif
Information Architect
Diala is an information and process designer with experience in visualization, community work and field research. Her interests orbit around design-led research, participatory methods, systems thinking and storytelling, all tools she uses to address pressing social issues and complex problems. She has an MFA in transdisciplinary Design from Parsons the New School for Design. She is currently part-time faculty in the design department at A.L.B.A (Académie Libanaise des Beaux-Arts) where she teaches the global design studio to first year masters students. She is also a design collaborator at Mirada Madrid, a Beirut based strategic consultancy, a writer at the Outpost magazine and an avid podcast listener.
Said Swayssi
Illustrator
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Ramzy Haddad
Video Editor
An experienced TV production professional with an inventive touch to developing story ideas and a creative approach to problem solving. Track record at managing the editorial, creative, technical and financial aspects of small and large productions.
Salem Al Qassimi
Web Designer
Salem Al-Qassimi is a graphic designer and entrepreneur born and raised in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates (UAE). He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Multimedia Design from the American University of Sharjah (AUS), and a Master of Fine Arts in Graphic Design from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), during which he also served as a teaching assistant and instructor. His thesis was an investigation of the "Arabish" (Arabic and English) culture in the United Arab Emirates.
Through different media in art and design, Al-Qassimi’s work addresses the emerging “Arabish” culture from a personal and global perspective. He questions it, and comments on it in an attempt to render a clearer understanding of what it is, and what it can become.
Salem worked at various companies in the UAE and abroad before founding Fikra in 2006—a multidisciplinary and research-driven design studio that works in the intersections of islamic values, culture, and design.
Fikra works in print and new media, including: identity creation, book design, environmental graphics, data-visualizations, interaction design, and web design.
Salem is an Assistant Professor teaching design at the American University of Sharjah in the College of Architecture, Art and Design.
He is based in Sharjah, UAE, and New York, USA.
Dima Boulad
Animator
Dima Boulad is a Lebanese designer with a passion for art, multimedia and positive social change. After finishing her studies in graphic design from the American University of Beirut in 2007, she moved to Paris to continue a Master's Degree in multimedia with a focus on motion graphics.
She graduated in 2008 and worked for various companies, including French television TF1, before returning to Lebanon. In 2011, she co- founded the Beirut Green Project, a collective aimed at creating more public green spaces in Beirut.
She's also created her own artist exploration project and blog; "Dessine-moi un oeil", and "Look around You".
Dima Boulad's portfolio website
Sidharth Sreekumar
Communication Intern
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Yasir Tineh
Communications Intern
Yasir Tineh is an aspiring writer currently studying Mass Communication and Media at the American University of Kuwait.
Vanessa Bassal
Research Intern
Vanessa is an undergraduate Arts Student at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. She is member of the Honors program in the Middle East Studies department, where she focuses on the history of the modern Middle East. Her interests include human rights, culture, and languages.
Sari Hallaj
Research Intern
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Joe Sahyouni
Design Intern
Joe first joined VI in Summer 2014 as a design intern under the supervision of the Senior Art Director. He is currently studying graphic design and visual communication at the American University of Sciences and Technology and is set to graduate in 2015. Joe also does freelance graphic design and illustration work.
Erini Fahim
Information Designer
Erini is a versatile graphic designer with strong conceptual roots and experience creating award winning branding, illustration and packaging work.
Joumana Ibrahim
Designer
Joumana Ibrahim graduated with an MA from the London College of Communications (LCC) after obtaining a BA in graphic design and a minor in fine arts from the Lebanese American University.
Her focus at LCC was on information design, including her Master's thesis, concentrating on a spatial analysis of Hamra and Jeitawi streets in Beirut.
Upon returning to Lebanon, she worked as an art director at Leo Burnett, serving a vast array of leading Lebanese and international brands, and winning a number of regional and international awards.
Joumana is currently working as a freelance graphic designer/art director for local and international brands, and is teaching in several universities across Lebanon. Her portfolio also includes design research and data visualization projects for publications and NGOs.
Joumanaibrahim.com
Elba Bendo
Probono Lawyer
Elba Bendo received her J.D. from the University of Western Ontario, where she was the recipient of the Labour Law Achievement Award, Mary Warner Prize in Human Rights, and Alex R. McIntyre Award. While at law school, Elba worked as a caseworker for the Immigration Division of Western's Community Legal Services, a researcher for Pro Bono Canada, and a presenter for Western's Community Workshops on Consumer Protection. Elba also served as an Executive Editor for the Western Journal of Legal Studies and as the Co-President of the Labour Law Society. Elba has interned at the International Labour Organization in Geneva, Switzerland in the Programme for Promoting the Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. Prior to law school, Elba earned her B.A. from McGill University in Political Science and East Asian Studies. Elba is the author of Paving the Way for Overtime Class Actions, The Canadian Class Action Review: Volume 9, Issue 2.
Elba enjoys reading, watching documentaries and can almost always be found attending a local theatre production.
Firas Abuzaid
Web Developer Intern
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Flora Mory
Research Intern
Flora has completed her Bachelor of Social Sciences at the IEP Paris ("SciencesPo Paris") and at the American University of Beirut ("AUB"). She is passionate about understanding the causes and reasons behind social injustices and conflict, and strives to apply what she has learned to promoting universal values of equality and dignity. She joined VI because she had previously worked in communications and because of her genuine belief that visualizing reputable data on crucial issues has the power to transform.
Yara Idriss
Research Intern
Information to be added soon
Basima Sisemore
Research Intern
Basima is a researcher and activist with the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM). Her research focuses on reproductive health and resistance in Palestine, and the physical and political landscape of Israel's incarceral regime. She has worked extensively with non-profit organizations in San Francisco, managing social justice centered programs that strive to improve the quality of life of youth and immigrant communities. She received her Masters in Research Architecture from Goldsmiths, University of London.
Musab Hayatli
Arabic Translator
Musab is a translator and linguist who grew up in Syria with Palestinian parents. Musab studied in Homs, Damascus, and Oxford universities. He is a member of the Institute of Translation and Interpreting in the UK, and also worked for a while as an editor of the Arabic edition of Forced Migration Review, published by the Refugee Studies Centre at the University of Oxford. (Profile updated 2016).
Giorgio Uboldi
Designer
Giorgio Uboldi is a multidisciplinary designer from Italy, specialized in digital media, graphic design and information visualization.
He is a designer and research assistant at DensityDesign Research Lab (Politecnico di Milano) where he handles different design projects and carries out research in the field of information visualization and communication design. During his Master studies he developed a specific interest for Information Design and Digital Humanities. Giorgio obtained his Master degree in Communication Design at Politecnico di Milano in 2013. For his thesis project, he worked on an interface for the study of social networks in the Humanities in collaboration with DensityDesign and Stanford University.
In the last years he has also been involved in different research and teaching activities at Politecnico di Milano and multiple freelance collaborations.
http://www.giorgiouboldi.com/
Mostafa Shaat
Freelance Researcher
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Farah Shash
Freelance Researcher
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Francesca Nassif
Research Intern
Francesca Nassif is a student at McGill University studying Political Science, International Development, and International Relations. Francesca is also the Vice President External for McGill's Chapter of War Child. What has particularly captured Francesca’s attention in VP/VI was its exceptionality in addressing a number of social and political issues by transmitting messages through meticulously constructed images. As a person passionate about humanitarian and political issues around the world and especially those afflicting in the Middle-East, Francesca wants to learn more about the nuances of conflicts and wants to contribute to bringing not only awareness, but change as well.
Umbreen Shaikh
Research Intern
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Tamara Ben-Halim
Communications and Impact Tracking
Tamara Ben-Halim has worked in non-profit and civil society for over 6 years. She has a background in project management, outreach and community mobilisation, and communication. Tamara is co-founder and head of Cycling4Gaza. Her documentary film, Ain El Hilweh, was nominated for an award at the California Arab Film Festival in 2011. Tamara holds an MA in Modern European Languages from the University of Edinburgh and a first class MSc in Human Rights from the London School of Economics.
Ramsey George
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Ramsey George loves working with communities around the Middle East on storytelling and technology as an outlet of expression, to develop spaces for critical conversations and to build progressive and sustainable new media. Ramsey is a co-founder of 7iber.com, and currently works for Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism, ARIJ.net. Ramsey has worked with thousands of youth in Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, Palestine, Libya, Tunisia, and Morocco. Currently living in Amman, Jordan with his wife, Ramsey was raised in rural America to a Palestinian mother and an American father. He has a B.S. in rhetoric and communication and an M.S. in technical communication.
Xenon Fallaha
Digital Media Intern
Xenon is a student at international College of Beirut. He interned with VP in summer 2013.
His main role as an Intern was to contribute and work within the boundaries of social media and communication: this included the relations on various social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, etc. he would be working with, or at times in charge, of raising awareness and gathering followers via Visualizing Impact.
In addition, he initiated a small project within Visualizing Impact to involve gaming: "developing the early stages of an online game inspired by the data and stories on Visualizing Palestine", As well as proposing, developing, and leading a fundraising campaign on Indiegogo.com.
Reem Farah
Research and Projects Coordinator
Reem is a graduate of the University of Toronto with a joint specialist bachelor degree in International Relations and Peace, Conflict, and Justice Studies. She has been involved in civil society organizing in the Arab world, ground research in Bosnia-Herzgovina, and an equity development project in Colombia. She is passionate about social justice, solidarity activism, and speaking truth to power. (Profile updated 2016).
Nour Bishouty
Interdisciplinary Artist
Nour Bishouty is an interdisciplinary artist and designer based in Toronto. Her work, which takes the forms of image, video, object and text, explores issues pertaining to identity and the production of history. Nour holds a Master of Fine Arts Degree from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was a fellow at the 2014/15 Home Workspace Program at Ashkal Alwan in Beirut. She was an inaugural resident artist at Twenty-Three Days at Sea, traveling artist residency. Her work has been exhibited in venues such as Access Gallery in Vancouver, Beirut Art Centre, Makan House in Amman, Helen Day Art Centre in Stowe VT; Casa Arabe in Madrid and Cordoba SP; and the Mosaic Rooms in London.