Biography

Dr. Rubina Abu Zeinab is the Executive Director of the Hariri Foundation for Sustainable Human Development, where she leads the Foundation’s strategic direction and oversees the design, development and implementation of programs across education, active citizenship, policy dialogue, urban resilience, sustainability, socio-economic development, public health and culture, in partnership with national, regional and international institutions.

With more than 26 years of experience in sustainable human development, public policy and institutional coordination, Dr. Abu Zeinab has also served since 2017 as Lebanon’s National Coordinator for Preventing Violent Extremism at the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, and since 2021 as National Coordinator of the Central Management Unit of the Reform, Recovery and Reconstruction Framework (3RF). She has worked closely with ministries, public institutions, civil society and international partners on policy development, reform coordination and implementation. She led the development of Lebanon’s National Strategy and National Action Plan for Preventing Violent Extremism.

Dr. Abu Zeinab is a member of Lebanon’s National Committee on the Sustainable Development Goals and contributed to the country’s 2018 Voluntary National Review. She is also a writer and commentator on sustainable human development, public policy and social issues, and has contributed to publications addressing women, youth, culture, urban and local development. Dr. Abou Zeinab is the author of “Rethinking Development” and “Pathways to Violent Extremism”.

She holds a PhD in Business Administration from the Lebanese University, a Master’s Degree in Public Administration and a Bachelor’s Degree in Public Administration and Political Studies from the American University of Beirut. She also completed the Harvard Kennedy School Executive Education Middle East Initiative program, Leading for the Future: The Arab Region in a Changing World.