Shabnam Jafari is the Deputy Director of the Center for Education at The Middle East Institute. In her position, she focuses on creating educational opportunties for people in the United States. She manages MEI's Language Program for Arabic, Persian and Turkish classes. Alongside Paul Salem, she leads the Regional Studies Program. She is also the head of the Young Leadership Development Program at MEI.
Ms. Jafari works to promote educational quality and the expansion of educational innovations. As the head of the education deprtment, she believes that using creativity to improve the educational establishment can solve systematic problems.
Her career in Washington, D.C. began as a Technology Fellow for the Democratic National Committee. She then worked in political consulting specializing in voter targeting and brand messaging for national campaigns. She has created her own start-up focusing on digital media for small businesses while attending law school in San Diego, California. She has received her B.A. in International Studies with a focus on American Foreign Policy and Middle East Peace and Conflict resolution, with a minor in French.
In her spare time, Ms. Jafari likes to capture the beautiful moments in life with photography - from pizza to politics.
Languages
English, Persian and French
