Executive Committee

CEO & Founder: Issam Khoury 

Issam Khoury, a journalist and political activist from Syria, currently resides in New York, US. With over fifteen years of experience, Khoury focuses on various topics including governance, Islamist terrorist groups, citizenship rights, culture and arts, and news media in the Middle East and North Africa. His work exposes human rights violations and government crackdowns, often leading to direct confrontation with those opposing press freedom worldwide. Khoury has authored four books, written over 700 reports, and is an expert on political and social trends. He was one of the first investigative journalists to report on the Syrian revolution while in the country. Recently, he served as an International Journalist Fellow at the CUNY J-school in New York City and Senior Advisor at Strategy XXI Partners, specializing in the Middle East and North Africa division. Currently, he holds the position of Senior Advisor at the Czech-Slovak Institute of Oriental Studies, in addition to his role as CEO of The Center for Environmental and Social Development.

Juvenile Justice and International Human Rights Law: Khawla Almumani

Khawla Al-Mamni is a renowned lawyer and human rights activist known for her advocacy on women’s and children’s issues, as well as development in the Middle East region. She has been actively involved in several Arab and international organizations, such as Care International, where she has implemented various programs to empower Syrian refugees and monitor and document humanitarian aid. Khawla has played a significant role in documenting numerous stories in Syrian refugee camps in Jordan, such as Zaatari, and has also supervised several children with the aim of nominating them for international awards, in coordination with the Center for Environmental and Social Development.

Kurdish Affairs Specialist:  Hessen Prro

Hassan Baro, a Syrian lawyer and journalist, is currently residing in the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. He is well-known for his advocacy on behalf of Syrian political detainees and has written numerous articles published in online newspapers. He specializes in Kurdish affairs and has collaborated with the Center for Environmental and Social Development to document and produce the report on the Yazidi religion, titled “The Hidden God.” Additionally, he works at the Center for Environmental and Social Development to disseminate and document human rights violations against Kurdish, Assyrian, Yazidi, Chaldean, and Syriac minorities occurring in the Kurdistan region of Iraq and the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria

Auditor: Raymond Chidraoui

President, T.C.A.Income Tax & Accounting, Corp., with over thirty years of Accounting,
Has BS, MS, Also, NYS Certified Teacher of Accounting.

Raymond has been volunteering since the establishment of the center for Environmental and Social Development, assisting in organizing the organization’s accounts and preparing its legal documents. Additionally, his company is responsible for monitoring the organization’s financial records to ensure the absence of any discrepancies in its accounts.

Researcher on North Africa: Ali Bekki 

Ali Bekki is a Linguist, researcher, poet, Media Editor & Social Media Analyst, from Algeria with more than twelve years of experience in providing consulting services related to social media news threads, and specializes in emerging social media platforms, human psychology and Sociological Trends & social media marketing/ influencing tactics. Ali is an Army Veteran, an expert in SIGINT collection, DOMEX & DOCEX, Islamist & extremist terrorist groups.

Ali works as a translator at the United Nations, and volunteers to edit and revise articles published at the Center for Environmental and Social Development. Additionally, Ali possesses a book entitled “Memoirs of Iblis.”

Director of Development heritage projects: Rasha Boulos

Rasha Boulos is a founding member of the Center for Environmental and Social Development. With over ten years of experience in small project management, she played a crucial role in organizing the “RashaFood” program, aimed at empowering refugees in the United States by opening Middle Eastern restaurants that cater to Americans. The project lasted for four years. Additionally, Rasha volunteers at the Center for Environmental and Social Development, contributing to electronic article publishing and editing.

Before settling in the United States, Rasha worked in the education sector in Syria for three years. This experience has equipped her with expertise in managing projects focused on children and women in our center.

IT & Design: Sibar Soumi

Sibar Soumi specializes in website development and troubleshooting for non-profit organizations. He holds degrees in Information Technology and Computer Systems Engineering from Mamoun University in Syria, as well as a degree in Computer Science from Paderborn University in Germany.

Sibar volunteered in the establishment of the first website for the Center for Environmental and Social Development., and contributed to training a team from the center to complete the process of publishing articles and establishing other affiliated websites in multiple languages.

Research Assistant/Proofreading: Adam November 

Adam November holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Brooklyn College. He specializes in Middle Eastern affairs, human rights, and global relations. He has worked with non-profit organizations in their commitment to providing urgent humanitarian aid and medical treatment to families in Syria and West Africa. November plans to pursue an MSW, and provide services to refugees and migrants in New York.