Wissam S. Yafi was born and raised in Lebanon. He obtained economic development expertise and training from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government having studied under Jeffrey Sachs and Dany Rodrik. He has been writing on subjects ranging from Middle East politics to economics, to technology policy and has published Op-Eds in the Middle East through newspapers and outlets such as The Daily Star and Al Jazeera.

A technologist by trade, Mr. Yafi has travelled extensively- and within the Middle East and North Africa region from the Mashreq to the Maghreb giving him the opportunity to meet leaders, policy makers, academicians, religious figures, and citizens at large. A field comparative study conducted for Harvard University on the MENA region gave him deeper insight into the regional needs and wants, while matching it with constraints and realities. The study received recognition at the Kennedy School of Government’s Center for International Development. More recently and running an E-learning organization helping governments, non-profits, and businesses around the world reach their audiences has also allowed Wissam to live extensively in Latin America and travel around Africa, Europe and South Asia.

Mr. Yafi’s first published book, Inevitable Democracy in the Arab World: New Realities in an Ancient Land, was published by Palgrave MacMillan and received acclaim. Mr. Yafi has been invited to lecture about democracy, the Arab World, and the role technology is playing in the developing world and the Middle East at venues such as Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, Stanford, Carnegie Endowment for Peace, Georgetown, George Mason, and other venues.