We are pleased to announce the hiring of Lamia (Mia) Sadek for the position of Managing Director of WILPF US. Lamia’s international work, cross sector collaboration and nonprofit and private sector experience made her stand out among the many applicants.

President Mary Hanson Harrison is looking forward to the application of the new managing director’s knowledge of women’s organizing and grassroots activism. “Mia brings to WILPF US a complement of technical and financial expertise along with an in-depth understanding of women’s leadership from the grassroots perspective, all of which is unique and much needed,” says Harrison.

Mia was brought up in Cary, North Carolina.  She studied business management and information technology as an undergraduate, then obtained a masters in training and development from North Carolina State University.  She is finishing up a PhD in Global Leadership from Indiana Institute of Technology and currently resides in San Diego. She will be working remotely with intermittent visits to Boston.

She has worked in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, United Arab Emirartes (UAE), the Sudanese border, Australia, Gaza, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and the United Kingdom (UK). Most recently, Lamia served as country director with Islamic Relief Worldwide (IRW) based in Birmingham, UK. Previously, Lamia worked with Plan International where she designed economic empowerment programs, with a gender equity cross-cutting theme, for the most marginalized groups residing in informal settlements (slum areas) in North Africa. Prior to that, she worked with the Education for Employment Foundation as programs manager where she helped design capacity building programs for under- privileged youths with the help of the business sector. In 2010, Lamia was among an international humanitarian delegation to Gaza.