American University of Beirut

Lina Abou-Habib
Director

Lina Abou-Habib is an expert in mainstreaming gender in development policies and practices and in building capacities for gender mainstreaming in regional and international agencies as well as public institutions. She serves as the Chair of the Collective for Research and Training of Development-Action and is a Strategic MENA Advisor for the Global Fund for Women.  She is a member of the editorial board of the Gender and Development journal published by Oxfam and Routledge. Abou-Habib was the former Executive Director of WLP Lebanon/Collective for Research and Training on Development–Action (CRTD-A) and of Women's Learning Partnership based in Washington. She holds an M.A. in Public Health from American University in Beirut and was a Ph.D. candidate in gender and public policy at AUT in New Zealand. She has published several research articles in international journals on action-oriented research on the impact of the denial of citizenship rights to women in MENA countries; active citizenship and gendered social entitlements in Lebanon, Palestine, and Egypt; and topics related to women's political participation, invisible care work, economic contribution in rural communities and access to markets, faith-based organizations, migrant women and refugees, and women in post-war Lebanon.

Carla Akil
Assistant to the Director

Carla Akil is a researcher and a project coordinator who has extensive experience in advocacy for gender equality, including developing and implementing social media campaigns as well as organizing and moderating webinars. Her research work is focused on women's rights and gender equality in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, including internalized misogyny, feminist funding narratives, and feminist collective action. Carla has a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the American University of Beirut.

Hala Yanni
Finance and Grants Manager

Ms. Hala Yanni manages the administrative and financial matters of the Institute, including budgeting, financial reporting, systemizing office logistics, and University liaison. She is directly responsible for all the financial matters of the office, including the recording and tracking of grants and their proposals. She monitors and coordinates the administration of post-award grants to ensure that budgeting and administrative policies, procedures, allowable and non-allowable costs, reporting and funding agency requirements are being followed. Prior to joining the Asfari Institute, Ms. Yanni served as a Financial Analyst at the Office of Financial Planning at AUB (2013-2014); Executive Officer at the Vice President for Facilities at AUB (2012-2013); Internal Auditor at BLOM Bank (2008-2012); Administrative Officer at the Auxiliary Services at AUB (2004-2008); and External Auditor at KPMG (2002-2004). Ms. Yanni received her MBA with an emphasis in internal audit from the Lebanese American University (LAU) in June 2010.

Fatima Nasser
Administrative Officer

Fatima Nasser graduated from AUB with a MA in Public Administration focusing on Consultancy Management and Public Policy. Her thesis is on “Women Leadership in Disaster Management: Case of Beirut Blast". She has a BA in Public Administration from AUB. Nasser has received Erasmus+ Staff training certification on Celebrating 50 years of Inclusivity and Sustainability in International Education at the University of Limerick in Ireland (2022). Before joining the Asfari Institute, she was an intern at the Issam Fares Institute (2017-2018) and World Vision (2017-2018). Nasser received two training workshop certifications on Innovation and Entrepreneurship with Nawaya-UNICEF and the Switchmed Program. She has also worked as a part-time work-study student in several departments at AUB and AUBMC (2015-2018).​

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