In her own words...
Hi. I’m Maha, and I have found strength and meaning in working with survivors, inspiring me to focus on women’s rights and gender-based violence in conflict and post-conflict settings through development. Born in Beirut, I witnessed firsthand the raw impact of the cultural and ideological framework oppressing women in unstable settings.

​I am a Senior Program Coordinator, Middle East and North Africa (MENA) on the Human Rights team at Vital Voices Global Partnership. I provide regional and linguistic expertise on the MENA region to the Voices Against Violence project, managing extreme cases of gender-based violence supported through the emergency assistance fund.

I also coordinate programming related to MENA including Early/Forced Marriage and the Iraq program. I lead the Global Urgent Assistance Referral Directory, a global mapping of GBV service providers, as well as provide expertise to the Balkans Project, a yearlong fellowship that brings together women leaders who are at the forefront of GBV/refugee service provision and advocacy efforts in the Balkans region.

Before my current role, I was a client services coordinator and case manager at the Rape and Domestic Violence Information Center in West Virginia, where I supported operations in a supervisory role for three counties. The high rate of drug-assisted rape at West Virginia University inspired me to pilot Mountaineers Stand Against Violence, a WVU-focused campaign raising awareness around sexual assault on campus.

Prior to moving to the US, I lived, worked, and studied in Canada and Lebanon. In 2011, I joined Catholic Social Services, which serves UNHCR resettled refugees and immigrants, as an immigration and resettlement counselor. For a little over a decade, I served as a freelance language and communications consultant, Arabic-English translator/interpreter, teacher, and ESL department coordinator.