Maha Yahya is director of the Carnegie Middle East Center. Her work focuses broadly on political violence and governance, the challenges of pluralism, development and social justice, and the political and socio-economic implications of the migration/refugee crisis. Prior to joining Carnegie, she led work on Participatory Development and Social Justice at UN-ESCWA and worked with international and private sector organizations on socioeconomic development and post conflict policies in various countries including Lebanon, Pakistan, Oman, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Iran. Yahya has two PhDs in the social sciences and humanities from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Architectural Association (AA) in London. She serves on several advisory boards including the Asfari Institute for Civil Society and Citizenship, Refugees Deeply and The Arab Forum for Alternatives.