Our Team
A diverse team of practitioners, diplomats, advisors, and specialists committed to fostering resilience and peace in the Middle East and North Africa.
Staff & Advisors
Humam Rajab
Founder & Executive Director
Humam Rajab is the Founder and Executive Director at Aligning Cultures. He is a stabilization and international development professional with over 20 years of technical training and program management experience in conflict prevention in the MENA region. He served as the Director of Conflict Prevention and Resolution practice area at DT Institute. Mr. Rajab has managed programming and provided trainings across the MENA region on CVE, conflict mitigation and facilitation skills, and conflict-sensitive media content creation. He holds a Master of Public Policy from the University of Maryland and a Bachelor of Law from the University of Baghdad.
Michelle Girard
Trauma Advisor
Michelle Girard is the Trauma Advisor at Aligning Cultures. She is an international development professional with over 20 years of experience designing and managing stabilization, community resilience and countering violent extremism programs in the Middle East, Afghanistan, Central Asia, and Zimbabwe. She believes that addressing social harm caused by conflict and violence is a critical aspect of stabilization and conflict mitigation programming. She established Third i Paradigm, a consulting firm dedicated to trauma-informed international development approaches.
Patricia Karam
Business Development Advisor
Patricia Karam is the Business Development Advisor at Aligning Cultures. She has over 20 years of innovative and strategic leadership in international development and democracy-building in complex, conflict-ridden, and transitional settings. She has established and led field-based teams and overseen governance programs with concrete implications on long-term local institutional capacity and resilience to instability and conflict. Patricia has a proven track record in business development, running initiatives that build the brand, foster strategic partnerships, and expand relationships with policymakers, donors, and stakeholders.
Dr. Elie Abouaoun
Technical Advisor
Dr. Elie is the Technical Advisor at Aligning Cultures. With a professional journey extending over two decades, Elie brings substantial expertise in peace and conflict studies, humanitarian aid, and human rights. He is currently Managing Partner, Senior Consultant & Trainer at Ottawa-based Elephas Consulting, and has been instrumental in leading and providing strategic counsel to various international, regional, and local nonprofit organizations.
Ambassador Lina Arafat
Rule of Law, Diplomacy & Gender Advisor
Ambassador Lina Arafat is the Rule of Law, Diplomacy, and Gender Advisor at Aligning Cultures. Ambassador Arafat has wide experience working with programs advocating for rule of law, international affairs, and diplomacy. Her professional experience within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, the United Nations, EU, USAID, and US-Middle East Partnership Initiative focused on formal and public diplomacy, constraints on government policy, and policy reform — particularly issues affecting women's fundamental rights and access to civil justice.
Dr. Stephanie Haase
Leadership Development Advisor
Dr. Stephanie Haase is the Leadership Development Advisor at Aligning Cultures. She recently launched a leadership development consultancy. Previously, she led RNW Media's Love Matters Africa, using innovative approaches to discuss sexual and reproductive health and rights with young people in conservative contexts. She joined the Amani Institute in 2019, where she had previously studied social innovation management, serving as Monitoring & Evaluation Manager.
Dr. Ghaith Hamid
Technical Advisor
Dr. Ghaith Hamid is the Technical Advisor at Aligning Cultures. He served as a Regional Program Manager for DT Institute in Iraq and has provided trainings on conflict mitigation and trauma-sensitive approaches as part of the PRMV project in Iraq. He brings over 8 years of program management experience and providing training to civil society organizations in Iraq, including work with Mercy Hands and cooperation with international organizations.
Rose Nassem
Grants Advisor
Rose Naseem is a Grants Advisor at Aligning Cultures. She is an experienced Iraqi professional with over nine years of experience in project and program management, especially in economic and youth empowerment and workforce development in Iraq. Rose has vast experience working with international organizations like IREX, GIZ, and DT Institute. Her expertise includes grants management, research, stakeholder engagement, and business/program development.
Berj Mihranian
Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning Advisor
Berj Mihranian is the MEL Advisor at Aligning Cultures. He has supported MEL initiatives across a variety of USAID and Department of State-funded projects, proposals, and grant programs. Berj served as MEL Senior Manager at the International Republican Institute (IRI), providing MEL, project management, technical, and business development support to projects funded by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor.
Board of Directors
Sloan Mann
Board Member
Sloan Mann is President of DT Global in the United States, overseeing corporate strategy and operations. Prior to DT Global, Sloan co-founded Development Transformations in 2009 after fifteen years working in the military and international development spaces. His civilian-military background shaped his vision of more effective and locally-owned development programming.
Brenda Oppermann
Board Member
Brenda serves as the founder of GameChangers 360, a social enterprise dedicated to helping organizations and individuals effect positive change by identifying under-recognized actors and issues. As a 'pracademic,' Brenda complements her decades of experience working on organizational change, gender equality, rule of law, and women and security for DoD, USAID, the UN, OSCE, and assorted NGOs in Africa, Central Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.
Ilan Cooper
Board Member
Ilan Cooper serves as DT Global US Vice President for Business Development. Ilan leads US business development strategy, oversees proposal development, and manages the US Business Development team to ensure continued growth. He also serves as the DT Global US representative on the global growth team and has worked for legacy DT Global companies for the past thirteen years.
Our Services
Aligning Cultures delivers nine specialized services across the Middle East, North Africa, and the Horn of Africa — from conflict prevention and CVE rehabilitation to fiscal sponsorship for local organizations.
Conflict Prevention & Stabilization
Locally led crisis committees, IDP reintegration, and social cohesion programming that interrupt cycles of violence in Iraq, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen.
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Strategic Communications & Narrative Change
Counter-narrative content, counter-disinformation programs, and community messaging champion training that interrupt extremist narratives and build resilience to false information across Iraq, Yemen, and MENA.
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Gender Equality & Women's Empowerment
Gender-transformative programs advancing women's political participation, economic independence, and GBV prevention — engaging men as accountable partners for change across Iraq, Yemen, and the MENA region.
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Youth Employment & Livelihoods
Market-driven youth livelihoods programs combining labor market research, digital skills training, employer engagement, and MSME support — reaching 8,000+ youth across Iraq with explicit inclusion targets.
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Local Partner Capacity Building
Tailored organizational development for civil society organizations — proposal writing, MEL frameworks, fundraising strategy, and donor compliance — supporting 25 local organizations across Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Yemen, and Somalia.
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Fiscal Sponsorship for MENA Organizations
A US 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsorship umbrella enabling civil society organizations in Jordan, Yemen, Sudan, Iraq, and Syria to access international donor funding, manage grants compliantly, and build donor credibility.
Learn MoreAlso offering: CVE & Rehabilitation, MEL, and Technology & GenAI for Development
See All 9 Services