Wafa Hallam is the Development Manager at DAWN. Previously, she served as Editor-in-Chief at Inside Arabia which she helped launch from the first months of its inception by playing a pivotal role in growing the organization's brand and digital footprint, as well as shaping its story and strategy. She has a lifelong passion for the Middle East and North Africa's ongoing struggle for human rights and democracy.

Wafa was also a Vice President and Senior Financial Advisor at Merrill Lynch in New York for a decade where she managed high-net-worth clients' assets and financial matters.

Wafa has traveled to some 50 countries around the world,14 of them solo in 2017 and 2018. She is the author of a memoir, The Road from Morocco.

Wafa earned a Master's Degree in international affairs and Middle Eastern Studies from New York University. She was awarded a Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation Award and Doctoral Fellowship for her dissertation research on peace and conflict resolution in the Middle East.