Myrna Atalla is the executive director of Alfanar, the Arab region’s first venture philanthropy organisation. She has overseen the growth and expansion of Alfanar since 2010, providing strategic social investment, high-engagement management support and real-time impact evaluation to 35 ambitious social enterprises working to improve children’s education, economically empower women and employ youth in vulnerable communities. Under Atalla’s leadership, Alfanar has expanded within Egypt and to Lebanon, Jordan and refugee communities. To date, Alfanar has directly improved over 65,000 lives and enabled investees to self-generate over $5 million USD to grow their impact. Prior to Alfanar, Atalla worked for the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) in Beirut, managing its civil society strengthening work and supporting the training of women and youth candidates. Atalla also contributed to regional initiatives, including international election observation missions to Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco and Yemen. Atalla holds a BA in International Relations from Brown University and a dual degree Masters in Public Administration (MPA) from Columbia University and the London School of Economics (LSE).