Board Members

Ghassan Khatib is vice president for advancement, and lecturer of Cultural Studies and international Studies at Birzeit University. Previously, he served as vice president for community ourtreach (2012-2016), director of the Palestinian Authority Government Media Center (2009-2012), Minister of Labor in 2002 and Minister of Planning (2005-2006), founded and directed the Jerusalem Media and Communication center. He was a member of the Palestinian delegation for the Madrid Middle East Peace Conference in 1991 and the subsequent bilateral negotiations in Washington from 1991-93. Khatib holds a PhD in Middle East politics from the University of Durham, and is author of Palestinian Politics and the Middle East Peace Process: Consensus and Competition in the Palestinian Negotiation Team

Zahi W. Khouri, a Palestinian- American born in Jaffa, is the Founder, and former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Coca-Cola Co Palestine and is co-founder of key publicly held companies in Palestine such as Paltel , the leading telecom co and Padico, the largest holding co in the country. He holds a number of executive positions and Board Memberships in the above and other companies in Palestine and the USA. He is a key founder and general partner of the first innovation fund in Palestine, the Ibtikar Fund.

Previously, Mr. Khouri was an Executive Board Member of the Olayan Group in Saudi-Arabia and USA for over 20 years and co-founder of American Express Middle-East , their merchant banking arm in the Middle-East.

Mr. Khouri is presently the Chairman of the NGO’s Development Center in Jerusalem (NDC) and the Chairman of the Board of Trustees at Dar Al Kalima University in Bethlehem. He is a recipient of the Business for Peace Award 2015, Oslo, Norway and the merit of the “Cavaliere” from the Republic of Italy. He was a finalist in the Global Thinkers Forum for 2017.

Mr. Khouri has an M.B.A. from INSEAD, Fontainebleau, France and an M.Sc. in Engineering from the Technische Hochschule in Stuttgart, Germany. He is fluent in 5 languages.

Zayne is a co-founder and Director of Research at Momentum Labs. He is an expert in economic research with an in-depth understanding of various sectors in the Palestinian economy. He is also an avid reader, and host of the progressive and arabic-language Masa7a Podcast

Nour is a designer, educator, and entrepreneur who’s passionate about design and technology solutions to climate and social justice issues. She co-founded Scopio, a photography platform and marketplace with the goal of centering images and stories told by people from underrepresented communities and regions. She was a professor at the Parsons School of Design, teaching Responsible Innovation and how to design solutions for environmental and social issues. She co-authored and curated “The Year Time Stopped: The Global Pandemic in Photos”, a photobook about the year 2020 narrated in photos and stories from around the world. She has been featured in Forbes 30 Under 30 in recognition for her work. She sits on the board and advises nonprofits that advocate for Palestine through digital campaigning and policy shift.

Mona Shtaya is the Campaigns and Partnerships Manager (MENA) and Corporate Engagement Lead at Digital Actions. She is also a non-resident fellow at the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy (TIMEP) focusing on surveillance and digital rights in the MENA region. Additionally, she’s a non-resident scholar for the Middle East Institute (MEI) in the Cyber Security and Emerging Technology Program and the Palestine-Israel program. She previously worked as the Advocacy and Communications Manager at 7amleh- The Arab Center for the Advancement of Social Media, and as the community outreach specialist and Social Media Specialist at Transparency Palestine, the national chapter of Transparency International. She holds a MA in Social Media and Digital Communication from the University of Westminster.

Samih Al-Abed Ph.D. heads the Palestinian Housing Council, a nonprofit institution that provides development plans, loans and other forms of support to help meet Palestinian housing needs in the West Bank, Gaza and Jerusalem. Dr. Al-Abed is also the Diana Tamari Sabbagh Fellow in Middle Eastern Studies under the auspices of the institute’s Conflict Resolution Program, at Rice University TX. He participates in the Baker Institute Israeli-Palestinian Working Group, both at the institute and in the Middle East. As the Palestinian Authority unity government’s minister of public works and housing (2007) and deputy minister of planning and international coordination (1995-2007), he developed planning policies at the regional and national levels, coordinated with various ministries to put a unified strategic development plan for Palestine before the cabinet, and negotiated with donor countries to establish programs for an economically viable Palestine. Previously, as head of the Committee for Borders and Territory, Al-Abed was integrally involved in a final status agreement between Palestine and Israel. In addition, he was a key participant in negotiations during the Camp David, Taba and Annapolis processes in pursuit of peace and stability in the region. Al-Abed has been involved in the planning and development of the West Bank for more than 30 years.  Samih Al-Abed was the Champion and Coordinator for Gaza Vision 2050 in Ramallah. Also, he is involved recently as the coordinator of the Spatial Planning Development team for the West Bank. He was a consultant for the Palestinian Investment Fund, an independent firm that aims to strengthen the local economy and generate investor returns through projects that create jobs and other benefits for Palestinian citizens.

Dr. Sara Husseini is Director of the British Palestinian Committee, an independent voice on British policy towards Palestine. In previous roles, Sara has served as an advisor to senior Palestinian officials, including the Chief Negotiator and the Palestinian Ambassador to Germany, and has supported the work of civil society organisations in Palestine and the Diaspora. Along with PIPD, she currently sits on the boards of BuildPalestine and The Britain Palestine Media Centre. Sara holds a BA in German Studies and European History, a masters in Islamic Studies, and a PhD in early Christian-Muslim relations, all from the University of Birmingham, UK.