Yasmin Kayali is a Mid Career MPA student at Harvard Kennedy School and a fellow at the Center for Public Leadership under the Emirates Leadership Initiative. She is the President of the Harvard Arab Students Association. She holds an MBA and a BA in PSPA from the American University of Beirut. Previously a marketeer with P&G and then an entrepreneur, she pivoted careers in response to the Syrian refugee crisis in 2012 co-founding Basmeh & Zeitooneh; a grassroots organization servicing Syrian Refugees and their host communities in the Levant region. Awarded 2020 Honoree by the Women Refugee Commission and the Leaders for Peace Award in 2022. She is a Vital Voices fellow and was rapporteur representing Lebanese Civil Society in Brussels in 2020 and 2021.