Maysa Jalbout is the CEO of the Abdulla Al Ghurair Foundation for Education, a new landmark philanthropic initiative focused on supporting under-served Arab youth in pursuing high quality education. The foundation is based in Dubai and has an ambitious target of reaching 15,000 youth over 10 years.
Maysa has been a senior adviser to leaders, governments and philanthropic organizations on global education. She has created, led and contributed to innovative policies, multi-country programs, foundations and NGOs in North America, Middle East and the developing world. She has built new initiatives, campaigns, and organizations that challenge the status quo and set higher standards for achievement. Maysa has been actively involved in channeling more funding to education goals, setting gender equity policies in education, developing programs for hard to reach communities including conflict zones, and promoting alternative approaches to increasing access to quality education.
Maysa spent five years in Jordan where she first held the position of director of research and strategy at the office of Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah and later became the CEO of the Queen Rania Foundation and the vice-chair of the Jordan River Foundation. In Ottawa, Canada, Maysa spent over ten years working for the Government of Canada. She was assistant director for the Social Policy Directorate and senior adviser for the Education Group at the Canadian International Development Agency. Prior to that, she was senior policy adviser in the Social Policy Group and Youth Employment Directorate at Human Resources Development Canada. Maysa started her career with AIESEC—an international youth leadership organization that promotes cultural understanding through exchanges.
Maysa is a member of the Board of Governance of The International Baccalaureate.
As nonresident fellow with the Center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institution, Maysa focuses on four education research areas: refugee education, skills development, financing, and technology in education.
