Mhanna, Ayman

Ayman Mhanna is the executive director of the Beirut-based Samir Kassir Foundation. Through its SKeyes Center for Media and Cultural Freedom, the foundation monitors violations of press and cultural freedom in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Palestine, and provides support and legal assistance to persecuted journalists. Mhanna holds a bachelor's degree in economics from Saint Joseph University in Beirut and a Master’s degree in international affairs from Sciences Po, Paris. He is also a lecturer in the Master’s program of Saint Joseph University’s faculty of economics, where he teaches policy development and communications.

Prior to joining the Samir Kassir Foundation, Mhanna worked as senior program officer for the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, supervising local and international election observation missions and political process monitoring initiatives. He has trained political party officials and civil society activists on e-democracy tools and strategic communications and advocacy programs in Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, Germany, the U.K. and Togo.

Mhanna is a member of various Lebanese non-governmental organizations and is the coordinator for Tajaddod Youth, the youth branch of the Democratic Renewal Movement (DRM), a social liberal cross-sectarian Lebanese political party.