Trainers and Experts

Meet the experts driving DW Akademie’s mission to combat gendered disinformation and cyber violence in the MENA region.

Suha Oda

Suha Oda is an Iraqi media expert and researcher with over 12 years of experience working in conflict areas. She has a deep passion for storytelling, specializing in accountability, human rights, and issues related to armed conflict, social justice, corruption, and abuse of power. Suha is the founder and director of the Women’s Voice for Peacebuilding (WVPB), a nonprofit organization established in 2018 and registered in Iraq. She has been recognized for her work, receiving the Najiba Hamrouni Prize in 2019 for her article “Women of Mosul after ISIS: Who said that the challenges and practices disappeared with its departure?”.

Throughout her career, Suha has worked as a gender consultant and journalist trainer with international organizations, focusing on media development, project management, and media institutions. She has collaborated with organizations such as Internews Yemen, Deutsche Welle Academy, and CFI. Suha has also mentored Syrian and Egyptian journalists in writing about climate change through the Candid Foundation.

In Iraq, she managed several media projects, including a radio projects aimed at promoting transitional justice in post-ISIS conflict areas. Suha has served as a consultant with the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) on topics related to women, security, and reconciliation. Her expertise extends to researching the impact of conflict, extremism, and militarization on gender issues in Iraq.
Suha is also skilled in moderating plenary sessions, Visual programs, and podcasts.

Taghreed Taki

Taghreed Taki, MIL Consultant and TOT Trainer is an advocate for Media and Information Literacy (MIL) with a deep commitment to promoting peace, tolerance, and diversity in community, especially during social and other conflicts. With a background rooted in educational initiatives, dedicated to equipping youth with essential media literacy skills, empowering them to navigate digital spaces responsibly and critically.
In addition to developing curriculums for MIL, include preparing engaging content on topics such as responsible online behavior and the impacts of harmful digital interactions to foster informed, resilient generations.
Been working for DWA since 2016 as MIL Trainer, TOT trainer, and MIL manual/curriculum developer in projects implemented in MENA region, using various approaches such as human-centered design approach.
Holds MBA in Educational Management and a Diploma in Digital Media and Journalism.

Rouba El Helou

Rouba El Helou is currently a Forge fellow for the Future of Rights and Governance at New York University (NYU) School of Law, where she is researching and working on an applied research project titled Human Rights of Human Resources (HRofHR). Additionally, she serves as a board member, secretary general of the Lebanese Center for Human Rights (CLDH). El Helou is a journalist, educator, trainer, university lecturer and consultant specialized in academic planning and quality assurance. She has extensive experience as a media practitioner in the fields of organizational development, communications and media, policy design and implementation, and structural reform, both as an academic and a practitioner. El Helou has developed and designed several training tools and publications on open educational resources (OER), organizational reform and communication, the network society, as well as peer-reviewed articles on feminist studies, masculinities, postcolonial cultural studies, intersectionality, and autoethnography. Her areas of inquiry include political communication, gender-based violence (GBV), intersectional gender studies, media self-regulation, digital rights, and the rule of law.

Mohammad started his career as an art director at Rubicon. After 6 years of work experience, he joined the blogging world in 2005, and created his popular blog “Khobbeizeh”, which was the first video-blog in the Arab region, and a key project in his career, which led to him joining 7iber as a co-founder and trainer. As a trainer, Mohammad helps the trainees to tell their digital stories visually, and creatively, as well as advocates them. He directed Fikrezyon and the renowned New Think Theater event. Mohammad is currently a self-employed art director, art consultant, Independent Film and Media Producer, and trainer. Stay tuned for more videos and singing projects.

Jocelyne Abi Gebrayel

Jocelyne Abi Gebrayel was born in Lebanon and studied audiovisual arts at the Holy Spirit University.
She worked as a cinematographer on numerous short, feature, and documentary films that have won many awards.

Daad Ibrahim

Daad Ibrahim, Im a project manager at Deutsche Welle Akademie, with a extensive experience in project management and psychotherapy. I’m specialized in desiging and implementing projects centered on dialogue and media literacy. Also, I have a background experience including significant work with violated women, providing therapeutic psycholgical support to help them rebuild their lives.

Mayssaloun Nassar

Mayssaloun Nassar is a French-Lebanese editor-in-chief with experience at various Pan-Arab TV channels and production companies. In early 2011, she joined France 24 in Paris as a news editor, covering political, economic, and sports events as a special envoy to regions including the MENA, Europe, Africa, and the USA. In October 2014, she began hosting “The 51% – Hiya Al Hadath,” a weekly show focused on women’s rights and gender equality. In late 2015, she launched “Fi Falak Al Mamnou’,” a bimonthly talk show addressing social and political taboos. By 2018, she became Head of Programs at France Médias Monde, overseeing France 24, RFI, and Monte Carlo Doualiya. In 2021, she introduced “You Were Told – Qalou Lakom,” a weekly show combating stereotypes and fake news. She is actually the deputy manager of Ici Beyrouth and This is Beirut media platforms.

Ilda Al-Ghoussain

Journalist from Lebanon

Samar Al Halal

Samar Al Halal is a digital security expert and technology leader from Lebanon with extensive experience in empowering individuals and organizations in the MENA region to navigate cyber threats. As the Technology Unit Leader and Digital Security Helpdesk Manager at SMEX, she spearheaded initiatives to combat online harassment, enhance journalists’ safety, and address digital gender-based violence. A frequent speaker at various events, she is passionate about advancing human rights in digital spaces through collaboration and innovation. Samar holds a double master’s degree in System and Network Engineering and is fluent in Arabic, English, and French.

Farah Salhab

Social worker and experienced consultant specializing in gender-based violence, women’s and girls’ empowerment, and diversity and inclusion, with over 11 years of experience working in Lebanon and the region with international and local organizations as well as governmental agencies. Passionate about challenging stereotypical narratives about women and advocating for the rights of survivors.